Sunday, March 26
Pittsburgh, PA
1 PM
Pitt
11-10, 3-4
5
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Virginia Tech
14-9, 2-7
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Pitt
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Panthers Claw Back to Beat Virginia Tech, Take Series From Hokies
3/26/2023 5:20:00 PM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH – Sky Duff came through with the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning to cap a 5-4 comeback win for the Pitt baseball team (11-10, 3-4 ACC) over Virginia Tech (14-9, 2-7 ACC) on Sunday at Charles Cost Field.
The rubber match victory clinched the weekend for the Panthers against their ACC Coastal Division foes. Pitt also came back to beat Virginia Tech, 5-4, in the series opener on Friday.
"It was a total team effort," head coach Mike Bell said. "Things didn't really start out the way we wanted early on, but our guys showed a lot of mental toughness hanging in there in the middle frames. That's a very, very good Virginia Tech offensive lineup. To keep them in check and win a couple close ballgames in this league shows a lot of the fight and resilience that our guys showed as they're growing together as a team. It's a great team win up and down."
Pitt found itself down 4-0 after the Hokies plated two runs in the first, another in the fourth and a fourth in the fifth.
The Panthers got their comeback started in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out home run to left by Johnny Long III. Long III's second homer of the season breathed life into Pitt's rally.
The sixth saw Jack Anderson coax a one-out walk and later score on a fielder's choice that put CJ Funk on base.
Justin Acal drew a leadoff walk to start the seventh and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Long III. That set up a pinch-hit double off the left field wall by Brett Heckert that plated Acal and made it a one-run affair.
Funk then knotted the game on a leadoff home run to left, his team leading eighth round-tripper of the year. Acal was hit by a pitch one out later, then Long III singled to center. One out later, Duff produced what proved to be the decisive hit as he doubled to center to bring home Acal and give Pitt the lead.
"Better late than never with the offense when you look at scoring five runs over the last four innings," Bell said.
Pitt's bullpen kept Virginia Tech at bay from the sixth inning on, putting up zeros on the scoreboard in each of the final four frames. Jonathan Bautista retired the side in the sixth and seventh. Nash Bryan came on in the eighth and got Virginia Tech to line into an inning ending double play. He then came back out for the ninth and retired the Hokies in order to seal the victory.
"I thought Bautista was phenomenal, giving us some length, and then Nash Bryan coming in and closing things out," Bell said.
Long III led Pitt at the plate, accounting for two of the Panthers' six hits.
Pitt hits the road for a midweek game on Tuesday (March 28), visiting Penn State in a 6 p.m. matchup.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The rubber match victory clinched the weekend for the Panthers against their ACC Coastal Division foes. Pitt also came back to beat Virginia Tech, 5-4, in the series opener on Friday.
"It was a total team effort," head coach Mike Bell said. "Things didn't really start out the way we wanted early on, but our guys showed a lot of mental toughness hanging in there in the middle frames. That's a very, very good Virginia Tech offensive lineup. To keep them in check and win a couple close ballgames in this league shows a lot of the fight and resilience that our guys showed as they're growing together as a team. It's a great team win up and down."
Pitt found itself down 4-0 after the Hokies plated two runs in the first, another in the fourth and a fourth in the fifth.
The Panthers got their comeback started in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out home run to left by Johnny Long III. Long III's second homer of the season breathed life into Pitt's rally.
The sixth saw Jack Anderson coax a one-out walk and later score on a fielder's choice that put CJ Funk on base.
Justin Acal drew a leadoff walk to start the seventh and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Long III. That set up a pinch-hit double off the left field wall by Brett Heckert that plated Acal and made it a one-run affair.
Funk then knotted the game on a leadoff home run to left, his team leading eighth round-tripper of the year. Acal was hit by a pitch one out later, then Long III singled to center. One out later, Duff produced what proved to be the decisive hit as he doubled to center to bring home Acal and give Pitt the lead.
"Better late than never with the offense when you look at scoring five runs over the last four innings," Bell said.
Pitt's bullpen kept Virginia Tech at bay from the sixth inning on, putting up zeros on the scoreboard in each of the final four frames. Jonathan Bautista retired the side in the sixth and seventh. Nash Bryan came on in the eighth and got Virginia Tech to line into an inning ending double play. He then came back out for the ninth and retired the Hokies in order to seal the victory.
"I thought Bautista was phenomenal, giving us some length, and then Nash Bryan coming in and closing things out," Bell said.
Long III led Pitt at the plate, accounting for two of the Panthers' six hits.
Pitt hits the road for a midweek game on Tuesday (March 28), visiting Penn State in a 6 p.m. matchup.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bryan, Nash (4-2)
L: Tyler Dean (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Christian Martin 1 ; Eddie Eisert 1
RBI: Jack Hurley 1 ; Christian Martin 2 ; Garrett Michel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: David Bryant 1 ; Jack Hurley 1 ; Carson DeMartini 1 ; Carson Jones 1
HBP: Clay Grady 1
Batting:
2B: Duff, Sky 1 ; Heckert, Brett 1
HR: Funk, C.J. 1 ; Long III, Johnny 1
RBI: Duff, Sky 1 ; Funk, C.J. 2 ; Long III, Johnny 1 ; Heckert, Brett 1
SH: Long III, Johnny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Anderson, Jack 1 ; Funk, C.J. 1 ; Acal, Justin 2 ; Long III, Johnny 1
HBP: Acal, Justin 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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1B/C
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
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C
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