Panthers Blank Zips, 11-0

Wednesday, April 30

Pittsburgh, PA

3 PM

Pitt

21-21

Akron

13-30

Akron Zips

PITTSBURGH

4/30/2025 7:30:00 PM | Baseball

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PITTSBURGH - Pitt (21-21, 6-15) shutout Akron, 11-0, in just seven innings on Wednesday afternoon.

It's Pitt's first shutout since their 10-0 victory at home against Penn State last May. The Panthers only needed eight innings to finish off the Nittany Lions in that contest.

The Panthers have registered double-digit hits and runs in each of their last two midweek games. Their four stolen bases today were a season-high and their most in a game since April 7, 2023 against Notre Dame.

Drew Lafferty gave Pitt a great start on the mound, tossing four scoreless innings and striking out three while surrendering just three hits. Sam Bryan did not allow a single base runner in the 1.1 innings he threw on Wednesday. Andrew Gaines struck out the side in the seventh as he closed out Pitt's midweek vs. Akron emphatically.

Ten different Panthers recorded a hit on Wednesday. Luke Cantwell hit his third home run of the year on a two-run shot in the bottom of the second inning. AJ Nessler went 1-2 with a walk and a two-run single in the third. Caden Dulin drove in a run and scored three. He went 1-2 with two walks as well. Dulin has scored three runs in each of Pitt's last two midweek games. David Pedanou, Julian Irizarry and Jake Kendro all drove in runs on RBI singles.

Caden Dulin worked a walk in the bottom of the first inning and would scamper all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt by Akron's starting pitcher. Dulin dashed home on a wild pitch a few batters later to give Pitt their first run of the day. They led 1-0 after the first.

The Panthers added four more runs, all with two outs, in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to five. Julian Irizarry worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on a groundout. David Pedanou drove Irizarry in on an RBI single to right. Pedanou stole second to put himself in scoring position for Caden Dulin who lined an RBI double into the right center gap. Luke Cantwell launched a two-run blast, his third home run of the year, to right center. Pitt led 5-0 after two innings.

Pitt came right back in the bottom of the third and added four more runs to lead Akron 9-0 after three. Sebastian Pisacreta led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Julian Irizarry drove in him on an RBI single to right and would advance to third on an Anthony LaSala single to center. Caden Dulin worked his second walk of the game to load the bases with one out. Luke Cantwell followed suit and had a four-pitch walk to bring home another run for the Panthers. With two outs, AJ Nessler lined a two-run single up the middle, scoring LaSala and Dulin and extending Pitt's lead to nine.

Two more runs came home in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Panthers grew their lead to 11. Pitt led off the inning with two hit-by-pitches to Carrier and Pisacreta and a walk by Irizarry to load the bases with no one out. In a pinch-hitting role, Jake Kendro lined an RBI single through the left side to drive in Carrier from third. Pisacreta trotted home and scored Pitt's 11th run of the ballgame on a balk one at-bat later.

Andrew Gaines came out of the bullpen and struck out the side in the seventh inning to end Wednesday's contest early. The Panthers rolled past the Zips, 11-0.

Up Next

Pitt hosts the Virginia Tech Hokies for a three-game set at Charles L. Cost Field. Game one is scheduled for Friday, May 2 at 6 PM.