Late Comeback Sends Clemson to 4-3 Win Over Panthers

Sunday, April 3

Clemson, S.C.

1:00 PM

Pitt

13-11, 5-7

Clemson

21-7, 7-5

Pitt

Clemson

Late Comeback Sends Clemson to 4-3 Win Over Panthers

4/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 3, 2016

Box Score

CLEMSON, S.C. – A one-run eighth inning lifted the nationally-ranked Clemson Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the University of Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

The Tigers claimed the series victory, having claimed a win on Friday.

"It was a good baseball game," said head coach Joe Jordano. "We had a couple of opportunities to extend the lead early and we did not execute the at bats. On the mound, we walked a few guys and that hurt us and ultimately a lead off walk in the bottom of the eighth was the game winner for Clemson. We now look forward to continuing our non-conference schedule against Penn State on Tuesday and hosting a very tough Georgia Tech team next weekend." 

Scoring in the first inning for the fourth consecutive time, the Panthers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. Charles Leblanc continued his impressive streak, sending a single to right center. A double from Nick Yarnall down the right field line scored Leblanc, as Yarnall advanced to third on a fielding error by the right fielder.

Aaron Sandefur was hot from the go, retiring seven of the first nine batters faced. The Tigers got the run back in the third when Chris Okey smacked a hard shot to Leblanc to bring home K.J. Bryant, who had singled, advanced to second on a walk and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt from Manny Pazos.

Pazos led off the fifth inning with a single through the left side, advancing to second on a wild pitch before a dropped ball in right field would allow Jacob Wright to head all the way to third, scoring Pazos. The error would prove even more costly for the Tigers as Leblanc singled in the next at bat, scoring Wright and giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

Sandefur found his groove, retiring six of seven batters faced in the fourth and fifth innings to retain the Pitt lead. The starter got in a bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth as he put a pair of runners on with no outs following back-to-back singles from Okey and Seth Better. A walk to Reed Rohlman would load the bases as Jordano opted to remove Sandefur in favor of Isaac Mattson.

Mattson would retire the first two batters he faced but allowed a two-RBI single to Chris Williams to tie the game at 3-3. A fly out to Frank Maldonado would end the inning with the score tied for the second time in the contest.

Pitt went down in order in the seventh as the Panther bullpen called on Friday starter Josh Falk. The righty sat down three of the four batters he faced in the seventh and returned to the bump for Pitt in the eighth.

Falk issued a lead-off walk to Rohlman in the eighth, as the left fielder was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Weston Wilson. A wild pitch brought Rohlman to third before an RBI single by Jordan Green gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage. Falk would strike out Chris Williams and get Bryant to foul out to end the inning.

Heading to the ninth down by one, the Panthers put all of their cards on the table, pinch hitting P.J. DeMeo, Ron Sherman and Yaya Chentouf. Sherman managed a two-out single to right center but did not advance past the initial base as the Tigers held on for a 4-3 victory. 

With the loss, the Panthers fall to 4-3-0 on the season and 5-7-0 in ACC play. Falk was awarded the loss, falling to 2-4 on the year.

Offensively, Leblanc led the way again, going 2-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Pazos added a pair of hits, with a run scored.

Pitt will travel to State College, Pa., for a Tuesday night meeting with Penn State under the lights before returning home for a three-game series with Georgia Tech from Charles L. Cost Field. Friday and Saturday’s action can be seen live on ESPN3.

Notes: The Panthers fall to 2-4 all-time against Clemson … Charles Leblanc has now recorded 15 multiple hit games this season … Manny Pazos posted his first multiple hit game of the season … Aaron Schnurbusch snapped a 13-game reached base streak … P.J. DeMeo snapped a 10-game reached baes streak … Leblanc extended his reached base streak to nine. … both Leblanc and Ron Sherman have now hit safely in four straight outings … Pitt falls to 6-7 on the road and 4-5 in road ACC games … the Panthers fall to 3-6 against teams ranked in the top 25 … Pitt drops to 12-7 in day games and 8-8 in games played on grass … Pitt drops 6-4 in games wearing blue jerseys and 2-1 in one-run games … Pitt is now 0-1 when tied after six and falls to 0-10 when trailing after eight … Pitt falls to 1-8 when being out-hit by the opponent and 7-6 when committing one or less errors … the Panthers fall to 1-2 in the month of April and 4-2 on Sunday games.

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