Saturday, April 1
Durham, NC
3 PM
Pitt
7
at
11
Duke
Panthers Defeated at Duke
4/1/2023 7:18:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. – The Pitt baseball team (12-12, 4-5 ACC) was defeated by host Duke (17-10, 5-6 ACC), 11-7, on Saturday at Jack Coombs Field in the second game of the weekend series between ACC Coastal Division foes.
The Panthers and Blue Devils combined for 18 runs and 29 hits on a windy afternoon in Durham.
Pitt fell despite tallying seven extra-base hitts and four players producing multi-hit games. AJ Nessler went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and an RBI. Johnny Long III collected three singles and scored a run. Sky Duff finished 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. CJ Funk doubled, singled, drove in two runs and scored two more.
Duke struck first in the bottom of the first by manufacturing a run on three hits and a Pitt error.
Pitt tied it up in the top of the second as Funk drew a one-out walk and later scored on a Duke throwing error that put Long III on base.
The Blue Devils regained the lead in the home half of the second by way of a two-out solo home run to center.
The Panthers answered right back with a three-run frame in the top of the third. Duff led off with a base hit to left, then Jack Anderson doubled to center to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Two outs later, Funk gave Pitt the lead with a single to center that scored both Duff and Anderson. Nessler then tripled to right center to drive in Funk and make it a two-run lead for Pitt.
The back-and-forth battle raged on in the bottom of the third as the Blue Devils plated three runs to retake the lead.
Pitt wasted no time jumping back in front, though. Long III led off the fourth with a single to center and scored one out later on a double down the left field line by Duff. Duff then scored on a two-out triple down the right field line by Kyle Hess.
Duke made it a tie game again in the home half of the fourth, pushing across a run with an RBI double to square it up at six-all.
The Blue Devils scored three runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-6 lead, but Noah Martinez cut into Pitt's deficit in the top of the seventh with a one-out solo home run to straightaway center, his seventh homer of the season.
Duke added onto its lead, though, with a two-run bottom of the seventh to extend its advantage to four runs.
Pitt loaded up the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth after a leadoff walk by Anderson, a one-out walk by Martinez and a two-out single to right by Nessler. Unfortunately for the Panthers, a strikeout ended the comeback attempt.
Pitt will go for the series win in the rubber match against Duke on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The Panthers and Blue Devils combined for 18 runs and 29 hits on a windy afternoon in Durham.
Pitt fell despite tallying seven extra-base hitts and four players producing multi-hit games. AJ Nessler went 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and an RBI. Johnny Long III collected three singles and scored a run. Sky Duff finished 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. CJ Funk doubled, singled, drove in two runs and scored two more.
Duke struck first in the bottom of the first by manufacturing a run on three hits and a Pitt error.
Pitt tied it up in the top of the second as Funk drew a one-out walk and later scored on a Duke throwing error that put Long III on base.
The Blue Devils regained the lead in the home half of the second by way of a two-out solo home run to center.
The Panthers answered right back with a three-run frame in the top of the third. Duff led off with a base hit to left, then Jack Anderson doubled to center to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Two outs later, Funk gave Pitt the lead with a single to center that scored both Duff and Anderson. Nessler then tripled to right center to drive in Funk and make it a two-run lead for Pitt.
The back-and-forth battle raged on in the bottom of the third as the Blue Devils plated three runs to retake the lead.
Pitt wasted no time jumping back in front, though. Long III led off the fourth with a single to center and scored one out later on a double down the left field line by Duff. Duff then scored on a two-out triple down the right field line by Kyle Hess.
Duke made it a tie game again in the home half of the fourth, pushing across a run with an RBI double to square it up at six-all.
The Blue Devils scored three runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-6 lead, but Noah Martinez cut into Pitt's deficit in the top of the seventh with a one-out solo home run to straightaway center, his seventh homer of the season.
Duke added onto its lead, though, with a two-run bottom of the seventh to extend its advantage to four runs.
Pitt loaded up the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth after a leadoff walk by Anderson, a one-out walk by Martinez and a two-out single to right by Nessler. Unfortunately for the Panthers, a strikeout ended the comeback attempt.
Pitt will go for the series win in the rubber match against Duke on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Players Mentioned
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