Pitt
16-11, 3-6
Boston College
13-12, 5-7
Pitt Falls in Rubber Match to Boston College, 3-2
3/30/2025 3:47:00 PM | Baseball
Brighton, MA – Pitt (16-11, 3-6) dropped their rubber match to Boston College on Sunday afternoon, 3-2. For the second-consecutive game, the Eagles won in walk-off fashion.
All three games this weekend were decided by one run.
Panther starting pitcher Drew Lafferty shined in what was one of the best starts of his career. Lafferty did not allow a single run over his first six innings while he only faced two batters over the minimum. The redshirt sophomore would surrender two runs in the seventh. Lafferty allowed two runs on two hits while striking out one on Sunday.
Luke Cantwell hit his first home run of the season as he went 2-4 with a walk in the series finale. Jayden Melendez and Ryan Zuckerman each tacked on doubles. Zuckerman has reached base safely in all 27 games this season. Caden Dulin added another hit this weekend while freshman Julian Irizarry collected the first hit of his career in a pinch-hitting effort in the ninth inning.
Lafferty retired to first six batters he faced on Sunday as he kept the Eagles scoreless through two.
Luke Cantwell led off the top of the third inning with a solo home run to right for his first long ball of the season. Pitt would load the bases without a ball leaving the infield, reaching on two errors before Caden Dulin reached on an infield single. Sebastian Pisacreta worked an RBI walk and the Panthers led 2-0 after three.
Lafferty continued to blank Boston College over the next four innings as he faced just two batters over the minimum. Through six innings, he allowed just one hit and two walks without surrendering a run.
The first two batters in the seventh inning reached for the Eagles and Aidan Coleman entered in relief to replace Lafferty. Boston College would score two runs and tie Sunday's rubber match in the seventh.
Zuckerman lined his 12th double of the year to right in the eighth inning but would be stranded as the game remained knotted at two.
Boston College threatened in the bottom half of the inning with a runner at third and one out. With Daniel McAuliff now on the mound, he induced a ground ball to first that Cantwell fielded and fired home to cut down the runner dashing for the plate. Pitt and Boston College headed to the ninth still tied.
Pinch-hitting in the ninth inning, Julian Irizarry shot the first hit of his career up the middle to lead off the inning. After reaching second following a sacrifice bunt, the Panthers would be unable to drive in Irizarry.
A walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth inning put runners on the corners for Boston College who would win on a safety squeeze walk-off to take the game and the series.
Up Next
The Panthers travel to Morgantown, WV on Wednesday, April 2, to face West Virginia in the first installment of the Backyard Brawl of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kipp, K. (3-1)
L: McAuliff, Daniel (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 1
HR: Cantwell, Luke 1
RBI: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1
SH: Duffy, Logan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
Batting:
2B: Larson, C. 1
RBI: Johnson, G. 1 ; McNulty, S. 1 ; Garcia, E. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Toomey, J. 1 ; Magpoc, A. 1 ; Johnson, G. 1
SB: Garcia, E. 1
CS: Roche, P. 1
PO: Larson, C. 1
