University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
2-0
Eastern Michigan
0-2
Panthers Take Series with Second-Straight Comeback Victory
2/15/2025 5:53:00 PM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - Pitt erased a deficit in the later innings for the second-straight game as they came back to defeat Eastern Michigan and take the series on Saturday afternoon.
Down four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Panther offense exploded for a seven-running inning. Pitt would go up by three and not look back, ultimately winning Saturday's contest 11-8. The Panthers have now won their season-opening series in each of the last two years.
Six Panthers combined for nine hits this afternoon as Luke Cantwell, Lorenzo Carrier and David Pedanou each recorded two hits. Cantwell and Pedanou would also drive in a pair of runs. Cantwell has started the season off with two multiple-RBI games and has already drawn five walks. AJ Nessler launched an opposite-field three-run homer to left center in the bottom of the first inning for his first long ball since returning to Pitt.
Daniel McAuliff and Ethan Firoved provided quality innings in relief, combining for four shutout innings out of the bullpen. McAuliff earned the first win of his career in his first appearance as a Panther, striking out two batters over 1.1 innings. Firoved earned the second save of his career in his first appearance of 2025. The left-handed senior allowed no runs on no hits and struck four in 2.2 innings.
The Panthers jumped to an early lead out of the gate on an AJ Nessler three-run home run in the top of the first inning. Cantwell led off the inning with his fourth walk of the season and advanced to second on Pisacreta's single to third. Nessler launched an opposite field homer to left center, outing the Panthers up three runs early.
In his first at-bat as a Panther, centerfielder David Pedanou flew around the bases for a triple, leadingboff the bottom of the second inning with a line drive into the left-centerfield gap. Luke Cantwell ripped a double down the first base line two at-bats later and drove in Pedanou from third. Pitt led 4-0 after the first two frames.
Eastern Michigan responded with four runs on four hits in the top of the third inning as they tied things up. They added one run in the top of the fourth and three runs in the top of the fifth as they led 8-4 through five.
For the second-straight game, the Panthers came roaring back and erased a deficit in the later-innings, scoring seven runs on the bottom of the sixth inning.
Gavin Miller, David Pedanou and Jake Kendro all worked walks to lead off the inning as Pitt loaded the bases with no one out for Luke Cantwell. Cantwell moved everyone up a base on his RBI single to left. Sebastian Piscareta lined a sacrifice fly to center that scored Pedanou from third and the Panthers cut the lead to just two. After Lorenzo Carrier was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, Ryan Zuckerman reached on a fielder's choice that scored Kendro from third. Pitt now trailed by just one.
AJ Nessler worked a walk and loaded the bases for the fourth time in the inning. Pitt would tie the game on a Jayden Melendez hit-by-pitch and then regain the lead as Gavin Miller worked a walk, making it 9-8 Panthers. David Pedanou followed that with a two-run single to center, extending Pitt's lead to three. The Panthers would go on to win 11-8 and take the series.
Pitt looks to complete the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 12 PM at Centennial Park in Port Charlotte, FL. With a win, the Panthers would begin the year with a season-opening sweep for the second-straight season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McAuliff, Daniel (1-0)
L: MORAND, DJ (0-1)
S: Firoved, Ethan (1)
Batting:
3B: HUGO, Logan 1
HR: TRAVIS, Harrison 2 ; STECKO, Ty 1
RBI: TRAVIS, Harrison 3 ; HUGO, Logan 1 ; KRILL, Kevin 1 ; STECKO, Ty 1 ; WALSH, Connor 1
SF: WALSH, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HALE, John 1 ; TRAVIS, Harrison 2 ; JELLISON, Bruce 2 ; HUGO, Logan 1 ; STECKO, Ty 1 ; VANCE, Cooper 1
HBP: VANCE, Cooper 1
Batting:
2B: Cantwell, Luke 1
3B: Pedanou, David 1
HR: Nessler, AJ 1
RBI: Cantwell, Luke 2 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 1 ; Nessler, AJ 3 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Miller, Gavin 1 ; Pedanou, David 2
SF: Pisacreta, Sebastian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cantwell, Luke 2 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 1 ; Nessler, AJ 2 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Miller, Gavin 1 ; Pedanou, David 2 ; Kendro, Jake 1
HBP: Carrier, Lorenzo 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
