Pitt Comes Back, Falls in Rubber Match on Walk-Off

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Pitt Panthers (24-24, 7-11 ACC) lost Sunday's rubber match at Virginia Tech (19-19, 9-12 ACC) on a walk-off home run after they came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning.

Trailing by one run, and down to their final strike, Joey Baran tied Sunday's series finale with an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning. The Hokies would hit a walk-off home run in the first at-bat of the bottom of the ninth to clinch the series.

Caden Dulin continued his hot streak with a four-hit, three RBI performance on Sunday and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He's recorded a hit in each of the last seventeen games; Pitt's longest such streak in two years. Dulin slugged a three-run home run in the third inning for his ninth of the season and Pitt's 77^th of the year. Pitt's 77 home runs this season leave them three shy of breaking the program record for home runs in a single season.

Lorenzo Carrier (1-for-4, RBI) drove in a run on an RBI single in the fifth and worked his ACC-leading 44th walk. Joey Baran (2-for-2, 2B, RBI), who pinch-hit for the Panthers in the eighth inning, had a hit in both of his at-bats. Trey Fenderson (1-for-4, R) collected a hit for the fourth game in a row as he finished the weekend with six hits.

Drew Lafferty gave Pitt another solid start on the mound, going 3.1 innings on Sunday. True freshman Brandon Reiter had another scoreless outing for the Panthers, striking out two while surrendering just one hit over 1.2 innings. Reither has not allowed a single run in the first seven appearances of his career.

Virginia Tech got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning. The Panthers responded immediately with a three-run top of the third inning to take a two-run lead.

A Julian Irizarry walk, and AJ Nessler single, put runners on the corners for Caden Dulin who hit a three-run home run that put Pitt up 3-1 in the third.

With the Hokies threatening in the bottom half of the inning, the Panthers turned an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play to maintain their two-run lead through three innings.

The Panthers and Hokies traded runs in the fourth and fifth innings as Pitt led 4-2 through four.

Caden Dulin led off the top of the fifth inning with his third hit of the day on a double to right field. Lorenzo Carrier drove him in on an RBI single in the ensuing at-bat to extend Pitt's lead back to two.

Virginia Tech took their second lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-out, three-run, home run. Pitt left the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning as the Hokies held their 5-4 lead heading to the ninth.

Trey Fenderson led off the top of the ninth inning with a hit-by-pitch and would advance to third with two outs. Joey Baran, who pinch-hit in the eighth inning, lined an RBI double down the right field line to tie at the game at five.

The Hokies hit a walk-off home run in the first at-bat of the bottom of the ninth inning to win the rubber match and series on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

Pitt heads to Morgantown, WV on Tuesday, April 21, for a Backyard Brawl matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers.