Saturday, March 4
DeLand, FL
1 PM
Pitt
6-4
10
vs
2
Mount St. Mary's (Md.)
6-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Pitssburgh
2
0
4
1
0
0
0
2
1
10
11
0
MountSt.Mary's
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
4
1
Strong All-Around Effort by Panthers Leads to Win Over Mount St. Mary's
3/4/2023 5:03:00 PM | Baseball
DELAND, Fla. – Jack Sokol struck out a season-high 10 and Justin Acal smacked his first two home runs as a Panther as the Pitt baseball team (6-4) knocked off Mount St. Mary's (6-5), 10-2, on Saturday afternoon at Stetson's Melching Field at Conrad Park.
"Great bounce back for our guys," head coach Mike Bell said. "We talk about in the game of baseball, you're going to have some good days and some bad days. The beautiful thing about it is the sun rises the next day and you get an opportunity to compete. I think our guys did right from the get-go."
Sokol totaled double-digit strikeouts over seven frames of work. He gave up just two earned runs on three hits and a walk en route to his second pitching victory of the year to improve to 2-0 on the season.
"Scoring a couple early allowed Jack to settle in. He was outstanding," Bell said. "Going deep in the game was a key for us today. Great combination with his fastball and slider."
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Sky Duff drew a leadoff walk, then Noah Martinez put runners on the corners with one out on a single through the left side. Jack Anderson capitalized with a base hit down the right field line that scored Duff. Martinez then scored on an RBI fielder's choice that put AJ Nessler on.
The Mount responded with a two-run home run by Brady Drawbaugh in the home half of the second, but Pitt wasted little time regaining command of the contest, plating four runs in the third. The Panthers filled the bases courtesy of a leadoff walk by CJ Funk, a single to right by Martinez and Anderson getting hit by a pitch. Nessler cashed in with a two-RBI single through the right side, then Acal served up a two-run home run to left to make it a 6-2 advantage for Pitt.
Pitt added its seventh run in the fourth when Dom Popa coaxed a leadoff walk and then scored on a double to right by Duff.
Sokol kept the Mountaineers at bay by retiring the side in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, totaling three strikeouts over the three frames. After striking out the first batter he faced in the seventh, he ran into a jam in the seventh when he hit a batter and walked another but got out of it with two more strikeouts.
The eighth inning saw history repeat itself as Popa drew another leadoff walk and scored on another double by Duff, this one down the right field line. Duff then scored on a two-out infield single to third by Anderson to make it a seven-run affair.
Acal then made it a 10-2 lead for Pitt in the top of the ninth with a leadoff shot to left center.
"Justin Acal continues to drive the baseball to all fields and put himself in good situations," Bell said.
Dylan Simmons came on in relief of Sokol in the eighth and finished his two scoreless innings of work with two strikeouts while permitting just one hit and one walk.
Acal finished with a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with his pair of homers, three RBI and a walk. Duff finished with a pair of doubles, drove in a pair of runs and scored a pair of runs in addition to drawing a walk. Anderson added two singles and two RBI while Martinez collected a pair of singles. In his season debut, Kyle Hess hit a pinch-hit double in the ninth.
"I think more importantly, when you look up at the scoreboard and see that zero at the end of the column there with zero errors, we just didn't allow them to chip away or get back in the game and feel comfortable," Bell said. "We kept piling on."
Pitt is back in action Saturday evening, taking on Stetson at 6:30 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
"Great bounce back for our guys," head coach Mike Bell said. "We talk about in the game of baseball, you're going to have some good days and some bad days. The beautiful thing about it is the sun rises the next day and you get an opportunity to compete. I think our guys did right from the get-go."
Sokol totaled double-digit strikeouts over seven frames of work. He gave up just two earned runs on three hits and a walk en route to his second pitching victory of the year to improve to 2-0 on the season.
"Scoring a couple early allowed Jack to settle in. He was outstanding," Bell said. "Going deep in the game was a key for us today. Great combination with his fastball and slider."
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Sky Duff drew a leadoff walk, then Noah Martinez put runners on the corners with one out on a single through the left side. Jack Anderson capitalized with a base hit down the right field line that scored Duff. Martinez then scored on an RBI fielder's choice that put AJ Nessler on.
The Mount responded with a two-run home run by Brady Drawbaugh in the home half of the second, but Pitt wasted little time regaining command of the contest, plating four runs in the third. The Panthers filled the bases courtesy of a leadoff walk by CJ Funk, a single to right by Martinez and Anderson getting hit by a pitch. Nessler cashed in with a two-RBI single through the right side, then Acal served up a two-run home run to left to make it a 6-2 advantage for Pitt.
Pitt added its seventh run in the fourth when Dom Popa coaxed a leadoff walk and then scored on a double to right by Duff.
Sokol kept the Mountaineers at bay by retiring the side in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, totaling three strikeouts over the three frames. After striking out the first batter he faced in the seventh, he ran into a jam in the seventh when he hit a batter and walked another but got out of it with two more strikeouts.
The eighth inning saw history repeat itself as Popa drew another leadoff walk and scored on another double by Duff, this one down the right field line. Duff then scored on a two-out infield single to third by Anderson to make it a seven-run affair.
Acal then made it a 10-2 lead for Pitt in the top of the ninth with a leadoff shot to left center.
"Justin Acal continues to drive the baseball to all fields and put himself in good situations," Bell said.
Dylan Simmons came on in relief of Sokol in the eighth and finished his two scoreless innings of work with two strikeouts while permitting just one hit and one walk.
Acal finished with a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with his pair of homers, three RBI and a walk. Duff finished with a pair of doubles, drove in a pair of runs and scored a pair of runs in addition to drawing a walk. Anderson added two singles and two RBI while Martinez collected a pair of singles. In his season debut, Kyle Hess hit a pinch-hit double in the ninth.
"I think more importantly, when you look up at the scoreboard and see that zero at the end of the column there with zero errors, we just didn't allow them to chip away or get back in the game and feel comfortable," Bell said. "We kept piling on."
Pitt is back in action Saturday evening, taking on Stetson at 6:30 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sokol, Jack (2-0)
L: PRYOR,LUKE (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Duff, Sky 2 ; Hess, Kyle 1
HR: Acal, Justin 2
RBI: Duff, Sky 2 ; Anderson, Jack 2 ; Nessler, AJ 3 ; Acal, Justin 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Duff, Sky 2 ; Funk, C.J. 1 ; Martinez, Noah 2 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Acal, Justin 2 ; Popa, Dom 2
HBP: Anderson, Jack 1
Batting:
HR: DRAWBAUGH,BRADY 1
RBI: DRAWBAUGH,BRADY 2
Base Running:
RUNS: CORREA,EFRAIN JR 1 ; DRAWBAUGH,BRADY 1
SB: MCALISTER,TRISTAN 1
HBP: CORREA,EFRAIN JR 2 ; WOCKLEY,SHANE 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
1B/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
UTL
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballPitt Baseball | The Cardiac Cats do it again and defeat Louisville 13-11!
Wednesday, May 21
Pitt's Jayden Melendez Hits The Bull
Wednesday, May 21
Pitt First Baseman Luke Cantwell's Beautiful Basket Catch
Wednesday, May 21
Highlights | Pitt 13, Louisville 11 | ACC Tournament
Tuesday, May 20