Pitt’s baseball and softball teams both won Sunday to take weekend series.
(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)
BASEBALL WINS SERIES AT VIRGINIA TECH
BLACKSBURG, Va. – A strong start from the Panthers’ hot bats lifted the University of Pittsburgh baseball team to an 8-3 victory over Virginia Tech in the series finale Sunday afternoon at English Field at Union Park.
With the victory, the Panthers captured the series win, taking two-of-three from the Hokies to improve to 8-9-0 in the ACC. The series win is the second of the season for the Panthers, who improve to 17-14-0 overall.
Pitt stormed out in the first inning as Frank Maldonado got things going with a single up the middle. A walk to Charles Leblanc put a pair on for Alex Kowalczyk who sent a double down the left field line, scoring the pair.
In the second, David Yanni singled to left field, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from Matt Johnson. Jacob Wright would single up the middle to score Yanni and give Pitt a 3-0 lead.
The Panther bats continued to shine in the third, as the Panthers scored five runs to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Kowalczyk sent his second double down the left field line to lead off the inning and a homerun from Nick Yarnall would bring the duo home.
Ron Sherman would draw a walk and move to second on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Parry. Yanni singled up the middle to bring Sherman home and put Pitt up 6-0. Yanni would advance to second on a ground out by Matt Johnson. Wright would strike out swinging but took first on a wild pitch, moving to second on a throwing error by the catcher, allowing Yanni to score. Maldonado would continue his impressive weekend with a single up the middle, scoring Wright and giving Pitt an 8-0 advantage.
Starter Josh Falk was effective for the Panthers from the get go, retiring nine of the first 11 batters he faced through the third inning.
Falk got into a bit of trouble in the fourth, as the Hokies scored three to cut the lead to 8-3. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases before Falk would get Andrew Mogg to strike out swinging. In the next at bat, a single through the left side would score two. Matt Dauby would take a ball to the back to put runners on first and second. A sacrifice fly scored the third runner of the inning for the Hokies.
The scoring quieted for the remainder of the game as neither team was able to get on the board and Pitt held on for an 8-3 victory
Garrett Wrambel entered the game in the fifth and was lights out for the Panthers, 12 of 14 faced, including five straight from the fifth to the seventh. The senior earned his second win of the season, going five innings deep. Wrambel finished the game giving up just one hit, not surrendering a run or a walk and fanning two batters.
Falk went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs off of six hits, walking one and striking out three.
On the offensive side, Yarnall led the way for the Panthers, going 3-of-5 with a two-run home run. Maldonado went 2-of-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Kowalczyk was 2-of-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
With the victory, the Panthers improve to 17-14-0 (8-9-0 ACC) and capture their second series victory of the season.
The Panthers will return to action on Tuesday with a mid-week dual at Youngstown State. Pitt will welcome non-conference foe Miami (Oh) for a three-game stand the following weekend.
NOTES: The victory was the 811th career win for head coach Joe Jordano and the 528th in his tenure at Pitt … the Panthers improve to 17-14-0 and 8-9-0 in the ACC … Nick Yarnall recorded his eighth home run of the season, 12th of his career … Frank Maldonado improved his hit streak to six … Charles Leblanc improved his hit streak to five … Maldonado, Leblanc and Nick Yarnall improved their consecutive reached base streaks to six … Maldonado recorded two hits for the seventh time this season, bringing his multiple hit game total to 11 … Alex Kowalczyk recorded two hits for the sixth time this season, bringing his multiple hit game total to 11 … Yarnall posted three hits in the game for the first time this season, bringing his multiple hit game total to six … David Yanni registered three hits for the first time this season, bringing his multiple hit game total to five … Kowalczyk posted a pair of RBIs for the sixth time this season, bringing his multiple RBI game total to 10 … Yarnall added two RBIs for the third time this season, bringing his multiple RBI game total to six … Pitt is now 9-9 on the road and 4-5 in road ACC games … Pitt moves to 15-9 in day games and 9-5 in games played on turf … the Panthers move to 5-4 when wearing gray jerseys … Pitt moves to 9-4 against left handed starting pitchers … Pitt is now 14-2 when leading after six and 16-1 when leading after eight … the Panthers move to 10-4 when scoring first and 11-3 when scoring six or more runs … Pitt improves to 15-1 when out hitting the opponent and 12-4 when recording at least one home run … the Panthers move to 9-9 when committing one or no errors … Pitt is now 5-5 in the month of April and 6-2 on Sundays.
SOFTBALL WINS RUBBER MATCH OVER GEORGIA TECH
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh softball team topped Georgia Tech 9-4 Sunday afternoon at Vartabedian Field to secure a 2-1 series win over the Yellow Jackets.
The Panthers improve to 28-15 overall and 7-9 in ACC play, as Georgia Tech falls to 17-27 on the season and 4-10 in conference play.
After trailing 3-0 following the top half of the first inning, Pitt responded in the bottom half to take a 4-3 lead.
“We knew what situation we were in and they knew that they needed to go in there, take one pitch at a time, one bat at a time and crawl their way back in the game,” head coach Holly Aprile said. “We were able to do that. From the get go we had good at-bats. We scored right there in the first inning to come back. That’s the team and I just remind them of what to do.”
Following a tie game 4-4, the Panthers regained the lead in the third and then continued its offensive success throughout the game to earn its 28th win of the season.
Sophomore Erin Hershman led the team offensively recording three hits, including a solo shot in the third inning to put the Panthers ahead. The Pittsburgh native finished the game with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. Pitt concluded the match-up with 11 hits.
Senior Jenna Modic earned the win on the mound for the Panthers after relieving sophomore Kayla Harris at the beginning of the third inning. Modic allowed just three hits during her five innings of work and shutout the Yellow Jackets through the remainder of the game.
Pitt 9, Georgia Tech 4
· The Yellow Jackets took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning following to a three-run long ball by Courtney Ziese, scoring runners on first and second.
· The Panthers answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four to pull ahead, 4-3. With runners on first and third with one out, sophomore Giorgiana Zeremenko sent home senior Maggie Sevilla on a single to center to put up the first run of the inning. A Hershman single loaded the bases for freshman Olivia Gray, who drew a walk to send home Modic for run number two. A double to left by junior Kaitlin Manuel would put the Panthers ahead 4-3 as both Hershman and Duran came around.
· Georgia Tech would tie the game 4-4 in the top of the second, scoring a single run on two hits. With two away, Samantha Pierannunzi was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a stolen base and moved into scoring position on a single by Kelsey Chisholm. In the next at-bat, Ziese singled through the right side to send home a Pierannunzi. This would be the final run scored for the Yellow Jackets as Modic would relieve Harris and shut out Georgia Tech the next five innings.
· Hershman’s solo shot to right field regained the lead for the Panthers, bringing the score to 5-4 at the end of three innings.
· Pitt extended its lead in the bottom of the fifth to 6-5, as the Panthers scored a single run on a hit up the middle by Gray that brought around Hershman.
· Pitt scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to take home the 9-4 win.
Up Next
· The Panthers will travel to Kent State for its final nonconference play of the season on Wednesday, April 20. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
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