Pitt Splits Doubleheader at No. 6 Clemson, Loses Series

Saturday, April 20

Clemson, SC

1 PM

Pitt

16-20, 5-15

Clemson

31-7, 12-5

Pittsburgh

Clemson

Pitt Splits Doubleheader at No. 6 Clemson, Loses Series

4/20/2024 8:32:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (Game 1)Box Score (Game 2)Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

CLEMSON, Sc. – Pitt split Saturday's doubleheader at No. 6 Clemson taking game one, 8-4, in an offensive ambush over the first four innings.

The Panthers were unable to get the bats going in game two on Saturday, dropping the back half of the doubleheader and losing the series.

Game one of the doubleheader was highlighted by the pitching performance of Jack Sokol. Sokol threw six shutout innings and earned his team-leading fourth win of the year.

Game 1:

Pitt's bats tallied 12 hits in just the first four innings, scoring eight runs in that time frame as well. Tyler Bischke recorded his third three-hit game of the season, going 3-5 with a double and two runs scored. Josh Spiegel hit his fourth home run of the year on a mammoth three-run shot on the fourth inning. C.J. Funk went 2-5 with two RBIs on a run-scoring double and a bases loaded walk. Dom Popa extended his hitting streak to 12 games on his first inning two-RBI single to left.

Jack Sokol gave the Panthers arguably their best start of the season, throwing six scoreless innings while striking out four Tigers. Sokol allowed just seven base runners all game and earned his team-leading fourth win of the season. Sokol's last two starts have come against top-ten opponents, keeping them scoreless through the first five innings in both of those outings.

The Panthers grabbed the first lead of the ballgame for the second straight game, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. After the first two Panthers were retired, Justin Fogel and Tyler Bischke lined back-to-back singles and the Panthers were threatening. After both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, Dom Popa lined a single through the left side and put the Panthers up 2-0 in the first.

Pitt kept their foot on the gas and scored again in the top of the second inning after a quick nine-pitch inning from Sokol in the bottom half of the first. Jake Kendro singled to left and Ryan Zuckerman worked a full count walk to put runners at first and second for the top of the order. Leadoff man, Luke Cantwell, laced an RBI single into the center and tacked on another run for the Panthers. Pitt led by three after three.

The Panther offense tacked four more runs on the board in the top of the third inning to lead No. 6 Clemson 7-0. Tyler Bischke led off the inning with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a fielder's choice that Dom Popa reached first on. C.J. Funk lined a double into the right-center field gap on the eighth pitch of his at-bat to put the Panthers up four. Two pitches later, Josh Spiegel hit a towering three-run shot over the seats in left field that left the stadium entirely.

Pitt scored again in the top of the fourth inning. Jayden Melendez walked to lead off the inning and was followed up by back-to-back singles from Justin Fogel and Tyler Bischke and the Panthers had the bases loaded with no one out. C.J. Funk worked a one-out walk one batter later and extended Pitt's lead to eight. The Panthers led 8-0 after four.

Jack Sokol shutout the No. 6 ranked Tigers over his 6 innings pitched today. It was his first scoreless outing of the season and his second-consecutive outing where he kept his opponent scoreless through the first five innings.

The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning on a fielder's choice to Bischke at second as Pitt was trying to turn an inning-ending double play. Pitt led 8-1 after seven.

They would get three more runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning on a three-run home run to left. Phil Fox then came in and retired two batters to even the series for the Panthers and take game one of Saturday's doubleheader 8-4.

Game 2:

Luke Cantwell led all Panthers in game two with two hits, going 2-4 with a walk. Fogel, Popa and Burroughs all recorded hits as well, Popa's single in the sixth inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Pitt's centerfielder has now had two hitting streaks of 13 or more games this season as he strung together 19 consecutive games with a hit earlier in the season.

In a change of pace from the first two games this series, Clemson drew first blood and scored two in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run to left. They added another run on an RBI double to right in the third and led 3-0 after three.

Clemson added three more in the bottom of the fifth on two home runs, extending their lead to six as they led 6-0 after five. The tacked on one more run in the bottom of sixth inning, leading 7-0 through six.

The Panthers got two runs in the top of the eighth inning on two-consecutive wild pitches. Justin Fogel and Tyler Bischke each worked walks to lead off the inning which put runners at first and second. Clemon then threw three-straight wild pitches that brought home two Panthers runs. The first wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, the second scored Fogel and the third scored Bischke. Pitt cut the lead to five and trailed 7-2.

The Tigers matched Pitt's two spot with two solo home runs in the bottom of thee eighth, extending the lead back to seven and winning the series finale 9-2.