Friday, March 24
Pittsburgh, PA
3 PM
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10-9, 2-3
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13-8, 1-6
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Panthers Rally to Beat Virginia Tech in Series Opener
3/24/2023 7:29:00 PM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH – Justin Acal drew a go-ahead bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning to help the Pitt baseball team (10-9, 2-3 ACC) earn a 5-4 comeback win over Virginia Tech (13-8, 1-6 ACC) on Friday at Charles Cost Field in the series opener between the two ACC Coastal Division foes.
"We knew it was going to be a tough day," head coach Mike Bell said. "Virginia Tech always plays the game so hard, so aggressive. A tough fought game on both sides."
The Panthers trailed the Hokies, 4-3, heading into the bottom of the seventh. Pitt got its rally started when Sky Duff coaxed a one-out walk. One out later, Noah Martinez singled to center to put two on with two out for Jack Anderson, who delivered a game tying single to right to score Duff. Anderson then stole second, and AJ Nessler drew a walk to load up the bases for Acal. Acal pushed Martinez across by drawing a walk, giving the Panthers the lead.
"Discipline late in the game," Bell said of his team's comeback. "Jack Anderson with a big RBI and Acal with the RBI walk there really allowed us to breathe a little bit."
Dylan Simmons worked around a one-out walk to keep Virginia Tech at bay in the eighth. Nash Bryan then came on to pitch the ninth. The Hokies put the tying run at second on a Pitt error, but Bryan got the final out on a ground out to Tommy Tavarez at short.
Simmons, who worked three innings of relief and struck out five, earned his first win of the season while Bryan nailed down his second save of the year.
"I thought he really settled in great to hand the ball to Nash and finish things off," said Bell of Simmons.
Virginia Tech landed the game's first punch with a three-run home run in the top of the first. Pitt responded quickly, though, with a three-run frame in the bottom half. Kyle Hess led off with a single, and Duff followed with a base hit to left. CJ Funk drove in Hess with a single to right. Martinez plated Duff with a base hit to left. Funk then tied the game when he scored on a single to right by Anderson.
"The big three-run homer for them with two-outs, two strikes in the first inning really gave them some momentum early on," Bell said. "But our guys responded with five hits and three runs. Really, just putting the ball in play with two strikes, finding some holes, putting some quality at-bats together."
After giving up the three-run homer in the first, junior right-handed starting pitcher Jack Sokol settled in and struck out nine while permitting just one walk over five innings.
Virginia Tech retook the lead in the sixth by leading off the frame with a home run, but the Panthers rallied in the next inning and held on for the one-run win.
Three Panthers accounted for seven of Pitt's 11 hits on the day. Martinez went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Anderson finished 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Duff collected a pair of singles and scored two runs.
Pitt will look to take the weekend series from Virginia Tech when the teams meet again on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
"We knew it was going to be a tough day," head coach Mike Bell said. "Virginia Tech always plays the game so hard, so aggressive. A tough fought game on both sides."
The Panthers trailed the Hokies, 4-3, heading into the bottom of the seventh. Pitt got its rally started when Sky Duff coaxed a one-out walk. One out later, Noah Martinez singled to center to put two on with two out for Jack Anderson, who delivered a game tying single to right to score Duff. Anderson then stole second, and AJ Nessler drew a walk to load up the bases for Acal. Acal pushed Martinez across by drawing a walk, giving the Panthers the lead.
"Discipline late in the game," Bell said of his team's comeback. "Jack Anderson with a big RBI and Acal with the RBI walk there really allowed us to breathe a little bit."
Dylan Simmons worked around a one-out walk to keep Virginia Tech at bay in the eighth. Nash Bryan then came on to pitch the ninth. The Hokies put the tying run at second on a Pitt error, but Bryan got the final out on a ground out to Tommy Tavarez at short.
Simmons, who worked three innings of relief and struck out five, earned his first win of the season while Bryan nailed down his second save of the year.
"I thought he really settled in great to hand the ball to Nash and finish things off," said Bell of Simmons.
Virginia Tech landed the game's first punch with a three-run home run in the top of the first. Pitt responded quickly, though, with a three-run frame in the bottom half. Kyle Hess led off with a single, and Duff followed with a base hit to left. CJ Funk drove in Hess with a single to right. Martinez plated Duff with a base hit to left. Funk then tied the game when he scored on a single to right by Anderson.
"The big three-run homer for them with two-outs, two strikes in the first inning really gave them some momentum early on," Bell said. "But our guys responded with five hits and three runs. Really, just putting the ball in play with two strikes, finding some holes, putting some quality at-bats together."
After giving up the three-run homer in the first, junior right-handed starting pitcher Jack Sokol settled in and struck out nine while permitting just one walk over five innings.
Virginia Tech retook the lead in the sixth by leading off the frame with a home run, but the Panthers rallied in the next inning and held on for the one-run win.
Three Panthers accounted for seven of Pitt's 11 hits on the day. Martinez went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Anderson finished 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. Duff collected a pair of singles and scored two runs.
Pitt will look to take the weekend series from Virginia Tech when the teams meet again on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Simmons, Dylan (1-0)
L: Drue Hackenberg (1-3)
S: Bryan, Nash (2)
Batting:
HR: Jack Hurley 2
RBI: Jack Hurley 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Chris Cannizzaro 1 ; Carson DeMartini 1 ; Jack Hurley 2
SB: Christian Martin 1 ; Carson DeMartini 1
CS: Jack Hurley 1
Batting:
RBI: Funk, C.J. 1 ; Martinez, Noah 1 ; Anderson, Jack 2 ; Acal, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hess, Kyle 1 ; Duff, Sky 2 ; Funk, C.J. 1 ; Martinez, Noah 1
SB: Anderson, Jack 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
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1B/C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
UTL
/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
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INF
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