Sunday, March 5
DeLand, FL
2 PM
Pitt
7-5
9
at
2
Stetson
8-4
1
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Pittsburgh
4
0
0
0
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2
0
3
9
8
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Stetson
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0
0
1
0
0
1
0
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2
5
2
Panthers Close Out Weekend with Win Over Stetson
3/5/2023 5:48:00 PM | Baseball
DELAND, Fla. – The Pitt baseball team (7-5) closed out the third week of the 2023 season with a decisive 9-2 victory over Stetson (8-4) on Sunday at Melching Field at Conrad Park.
"Very resilient to come back after a very tough loss in a great ballgame and a great atmosphere last night," head coach Mike Bell said of his team bouncing back from a 6-5 walk-off loss to the Hatters the previous night. "I thought our guys responded well. I thought the whole key to our game today was discipline, discipline in all facets."
The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Pitt scored nine runs on eight hits and took advantage of two Stetson errors while limiting the Hatters to just two runs on five hits and playing a clean game in the field.
"We showed a lot of discipline up and down the lineup, and that was a big part for us getting off to a good start," Bell said.
Noah Martinez put together another big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with his team-high fifth home run of the season, a walk, two RBI and three runs scored. AJ Nessler finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a run scored.
On the mound, Erubiel Candelario earned his first pitching victory as a Panther. He permitted just one earned run on two hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out one. Jonathan Bautista, Dylan Simmons and Nash Bryan combined to throw the final four frames. Bautista struck out one in 1.2 innings. Simmons fanned three in 1.1 scoreless innings while Bryan tossed a scoreless ninth, retiring the side.
"Candelario was good through five and kept us in the ballgame, attacked the zone," Bell said. "I thought the middle innings with Simmons and Bautista were phenomenal. Great to get Nash Bryan back on the mound again after a tough loss last night."
The Panthers took advantage of several Stetson miscues to build their early lead in the first. Martinez got things started with a two-out single up the middle. Jack Anderson and Justin Acal both reached on fielding errors by Stetson, with Martinez scoring on the miscue that put Acal on base. After Anderson and Acal both advanced 90 feet on a balk, Nessler drew a walk to load up the bases. Tommy Tavarez and Jayden Melendez were hit by pitches in back-to-back at-bats to push across Anderson and Acal, respectively. Nessler then scored Pitt's fourth run when Dom Popa drew a walk.
The Hatters plated a run on a sacrifice fly in the home half of the fourth to make it a three-run game.
Pitt upped its lead to five runs thanks to one swing of the bat by Martinez in the seventh. CJ Funk drew a leadoff walk to set the stage for Martinez to blast his two-run homer to right.
"The big blow in the seventh, Noah Martinez with the two-run homer," Bell said "It kind of stretched things a little bit. We had a commanding lead, but things just kind of fell in a lull for a little bit. They (Stetson) did an outstanding job of pitching out of some jams. But it was Noah doing what he does best, depositing one into right field."
Stetson got a run back in the seventh on another sacrifice fly, but the Panthers put the game out of reach with a three-run ninth. Funk coaxed another leadoff walk to get the inning started. Martinez and Anderson hit back-to-back singles through the right side, with Funk scoring on the base hit by Anderson. Caleb Sturtevant entered the game to pinch run for Anderson and came up with his first collegiate stolen base as he swiped second. Nessler then delivered a two-RBI single to right that scored both Martinez and Sturtevant.
"We really put the ball in play with some solid line-drive approaches in the ninth to extend things out," Bell said.
Pitt's spring break trip continues with a visit to South Florida for a midweek game on Tuesday (March 7). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
"Very resilient to come back after a very tough loss in a great ballgame and a great atmosphere last night," head coach Mike Bell said of his team bouncing back from a 6-5 walk-off loss to the Hatters the previous night. "I thought our guys responded well. I thought the whole key to our game today was discipline, discipline in all facets."
The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Pitt scored nine runs on eight hits and took advantage of two Stetson errors while limiting the Hatters to just two runs on five hits and playing a clean game in the field.
"We showed a lot of discipline up and down the lineup, and that was a big part for us getting off to a good start," Bell said.
Noah Martinez put together another big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with his team-high fifth home run of the season, a walk, two RBI and three runs scored. AJ Nessler finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a run scored.
On the mound, Erubiel Candelario earned his first pitching victory as a Panther. He permitted just one earned run on two hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out one. Jonathan Bautista, Dylan Simmons and Nash Bryan combined to throw the final four frames. Bautista struck out one in 1.2 innings. Simmons fanned three in 1.1 scoreless innings while Bryan tossed a scoreless ninth, retiring the side.
"Candelario was good through five and kept us in the ballgame, attacked the zone," Bell said. "I thought the middle innings with Simmons and Bautista were phenomenal. Great to get Nash Bryan back on the mound again after a tough loss last night."
The Panthers took advantage of several Stetson miscues to build their early lead in the first. Martinez got things started with a two-out single up the middle. Jack Anderson and Justin Acal both reached on fielding errors by Stetson, with Martinez scoring on the miscue that put Acal on base. After Anderson and Acal both advanced 90 feet on a balk, Nessler drew a walk to load up the bases. Tommy Tavarez and Jayden Melendez were hit by pitches in back-to-back at-bats to push across Anderson and Acal, respectively. Nessler then scored Pitt's fourth run when Dom Popa drew a walk.
The Hatters plated a run on a sacrifice fly in the home half of the fourth to make it a three-run game.
Pitt upped its lead to five runs thanks to one swing of the bat by Martinez in the seventh. CJ Funk drew a leadoff walk to set the stage for Martinez to blast his two-run homer to right.
"The big blow in the seventh, Noah Martinez with the two-run homer," Bell said "It kind of stretched things a little bit. We had a commanding lead, but things just kind of fell in a lull for a little bit. They (Stetson) did an outstanding job of pitching out of some jams. But it was Noah doing what he does best, depositing one into right field."
Stetson got a run back in the seventh on another sacrifice fly, but the Panthers put the game out of reach with a three-run ninth. Funk coaxed another leadoff walk to get the inning started. Martinez and Anderson hit back-to-back singles through the right side, with Funk scoring on the base hit by Anderson. Caleb Sturtevant entered the game to pinch run for Anderson and came up with his first collegiate stolen base as he swiped second. Nessler then delivered a two-RBI single to right that scored both Martinez and Sturtevant.
"We really put the ball in play with some solid line-drive approaches in the ninth to extend things out," Bell said.
Pitt's spring break trip continues with a visit to South Florida for a midweek game on Tuesday (March 7). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Candelario, Erubiel (1-0)
L: Jacobs, Dylan (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Martinez, Noah 1
RBI: Martinez, Noah 2 ; Anderson, Jack 1 ; Nessler, AJ 2 ; Tavarez, Tommy 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Popa, Dom 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Funk, C.J. 2 ; Martinez, Noah 3 ; Anderson, Jack 1 ; Sturtevant, Caleb 1 ; Acal, Justin 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1
SB: Sturtevant, Caleb 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1
HBP: Tavarez, Tommy 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
Batting:
2B: Moran, Landon 1
RBI: Griffis, Evan 1 ; Pregent, Christian 1
SF: Griffis, Evan 1 ; Pregent, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moran, Landon 1 ; Estrella, Andrew 1
SB: Estrella, Andrew 1
CS: Dessureault, Yohann 1
HBP: Hylton, Jayden 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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P
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RHP
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RHP
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OF
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INF
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