Pitt
13-14, 4-7
Notre Dame
16-11, 6-7
Pitt Rally Falls Short Against Notre Dame
4/6/2023 7:04:00 PM | Baseball
The Panthers entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 10-7. Kyle Hess hit a one-out single to right, Noah Martinez reached on a fielding error and CJ Funk drew a walk to load up the bases. AJ Nessler was then hit by a pitch to push across Hess and make it a two-run ballgame. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the rally was halted by a game ending double play.
Pitt found itself down early after Notre Dame plated six runs on five hits in the top of the first. The Panthers cut into the deficit in the home half of the frame. Sky Duff led off with a double down the left field line. Two outs later, he scored on a single to right by Martinez. Martinez then scored on a double down the left field by Funk to cut it to 6-2.
The Panthers and the Fighting Irish traded leadoff home runs in the second. Notre Dame led off the top half with a homer to right center, but Justin Acal answered with a round tripper to left field, his fifth home run of the year.
Notre Dame extended its lead to 10-3 with a three-run, three-hit fourth inning that included a two-run home run.
Matthew Fernandez kept Pitt in it with his work out of the bullpen, striking out eight over 5.2 frames of relief while allowing just one hit and one walk.
Fernandez's pitching set up a four-run seventh inning that put Pitt back in the ballgame. Duff led off with a double down the right field line, then Jack Anderson drew a walk. One out later, Martinez singled home Duff with a base hit to right. Funk then served up a three-run homer to left center to make it a three-run game. Funk's home run was his team-high 10th of the season.
The Panthers put pressure on the Fighting Irish in the ninth but could not quite complete the comeback.
Four Pitt batters accounted for eight of the Panthers' 11 hits. Duff finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Hess collected a pair of singles. Martinez went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Funk doubled, homered, walked twice and finished with four RBI.
Pitt will look to even the series when it takes on Notre Dame again on Saturday in the second game of the set. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Will Mercer (2-0)
L: Sokol, Jack (3-2)
S: Sammy Cooper (2)
Batting:
2B: Carter Putz 1
HR: Jack Penney 1 ; Zack Prajzner 1 ; Danny Neri 1
RBI: Jack Penney 2 ; Zack Prajzner 2 ; Vinny Martinez 2 ; Estevan Moreno 1 ; Danny Neri 3
SH: DM Jefferson 1
SF: Jack Penney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jack Penney 1 ; Zack Prajzner 1 ; Carter Putz 1 ; Brooks Coetzee 1 ; Vinny Martinez 1 ; DM Jefferson 1 ; Estevan Moreno 1 ; Danny Neri 2 ; TJ Williams 1
SB: Brooks Coetzee 1
CS: Estevan Moreno 1
Batting:
2B: Duff, Sky 2 ; Funk, C.J. 1
HR: Funk, C.J. 1 ; Acal, Justin 1
RBI: Martinez, Noah 2 ; Funk, C.J. 4 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Acal, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duff, Sky 2 ; Anderson, Jack 1 ; Hess, Kyle 1 ; Martinez, Noah 2 ; Funk, C.J. 1 ; Acal, Justin 1
HBP: Nessler, AJ 1 ; Long III, Johnny 1
