Maryland Eastern Shore Rallies Past Pitt Baseball

PITTSBURGH – A seven-run eighth inning from the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks lifted them to a 9-6 victory over the University of Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon at Charles L. Cost Field.

(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)

After starter Sam Mersing pitched a four-hit, two-run seven innings of work, the Pitt bullpen faltered, surrendering seven runs to yield the lead.

Pitt started out hot, plating a pair in the first and fourth innings to jump out to an early lead.

In the second, a single from Jacob Wright, hit by pitch to Charles Leblanc and walk to Nick Yarnall would load the bases with no outs. Alex Kowalczyk would send a single through the left side to score Wright and Leblanc, putting Pitt on top 2-0.

Frank Maldonado led off the fourth inning with a hit by pitch, followed by a walk to Yaya Chentouf. P.J. DeMeo would lay down a sacrifice bunt to put the runners in scoring position before Maldonado scored on a wild pitch that allowed Chentouf to move to third. A sacrifice fly from Wright would bring Chentouf home and give the Panthers a 4-1 advantage.

Pitt added two more in the sixth as David Yanni led things off with a walk, moving to second on a wild pitch and reaching third on a sacrifice bunt by Maldonado. An infield single from Chentouf would bring Yanni around in the next at bat. Chentouf then showcased some excellent base running skills as the freshman stole second and moved to third on a groundout by DeMeo. For the first time on the season a Pitt runner would steal home as Chentouf gave Pitt a 6-1 lead.

The Hawks cut Pitt’s lead to 6-2 in the seventh before the breakout eighth inning. Pitt would use three pitchers in the eighth, facing 11 batters, surrendering six hits for the seven runs.

With the loss, Pitt falls to 22-18-0 and 1-1 all-time against the Hawks.

The Panthers will return to action this weekend, traveling to Notre Dame for a three-game series with the Fighting Irish Friday,Saturday and Sunday.