Pitt
25-20
Penn State
26-23
Eighth Inning Leads Penn State to Win over Pitt
5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH -- A five-run eighth inning allowed Penn State to capture an 11-6 victory over Pitt in the final game of a home-and-home series, Wednesday evening at Charles L. Cost Field.
Pitt (25-19-0) maintained a lead for the majority of the game before Penn State (26-23-0) was able to record five runs in the eighth to earn the win.
The Nittany Lions offense kicked off the game with a pair of early runs, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first frame. A single and walk put two on, as a single from Tyler Kendall and a double from Willie Burger scored two.
Pitt answered the bottom of the inning, getting one back off of a single down the right field line that scored Jacob Wright, who had reached on a double to start the inning.
Starter Sam Mersing calmed down in the second inning, retiring three of the four batters he faced to hold the score at 2-1 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
The Panthers would take the lead in the bottom of the second, scoring two to jump out to a 3-2 lead. Back-to-back walks ushered to Matt Johnson and Manny Pazos put two on with no outs for Wright who would reach on an error by the Penn State third baseman, allowing Johnson to score. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Charles Leblanc plated Pazos, giving Pitt its first lead of the outing.
Mersing sat the Nittany Lions down in order in the third as he would retire six of the next seven batters faced through the fourth inning. In the home half of the frame, Pitt manufactured two more runs, extending its lead to 5-2. Wright would take a pitch to the leg, moving to second on a groundout by Leblanc and stealing third. Nick Yarnall sent a single to center field to score Wright, before a single up the middle off the bat of Frank Maldonado would bring Yarnall home.
Penn State got one back in the top of the fifth, as a double down the right field line from Kendall made the score 5-3 in favor of the Panthers. The Nittany Lions scored another in the sixth to pull within one, as a sacrifice fly cut Pitt's lead to 5-4.
An RBI single from P.J. DeMeo would give the Panthers a two-run lead as the junior designated hitter sent a shot through the right side to score Maldonado.
After a single and walk from Mersing, head coach Joe Jordano summoned the bullpen, calling on Garrett Wrambel. The senior faced a tough start, surrendering an RBI single through the right side in his first pitch to put Pitt's lead at just one. The Nittany Lions would tie things up as a foul out would allow a run to score before Pazos and Leblanc would eventually turn a double play, ending the inning tied at 6-6.
In the bottom of seventh, the Panthers threatened, but could not bring a run around, as the score remained knotted up at 6-6.
Penn State regained the lead in the eighth, as a pair of singles and a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with one out. Alex Malinsky would send a single through the right side to score one, as Penn State took a 7-6 advantage. The Nittany Lions would extend their lead to 8-6 as an error on the catcher allowed Conlin Hughes to score.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Jordano called on righty Isaac Mattson, whose first pitch resulted in a three-run bomb to right field.
Pitt managed to load the bases in the bottom of the frame, but once again came up empty handed as Penn State took a commanding 11-6 lead through eight.
Neither team registered a significant chance in the ninth as Penn State would walk away with the 11-6 victory to sweep the home-and-home series.
With the loss, Pitt falls to 25-19-0 on the season. The Panthers will return to action this weekend, traveling to Miami to take on the nationally-ranked Hurricanes in a highly anticipated ACC matchup. Those games will be available live on ESPN3 as Pitt is in search of its first ACC tournament berth since joining the league three seasons ago.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Forsyth (2-3)
L: Wrambel, Garrett (2-1)
S: Anderson (12)
Batting:
2B: Kendall 1 ; Burger 1 ; Helsel 1
HR: Guers 1
RBI: Riotto 1 ; Guers 3 ; Kendall 3 ; Burger 2 ; Hughes 1 ; Malinsky 1
SF: Burger 1 ; Hughes 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Riotto 2 ; Haley 2 ; Guers 3 ; Helsel 2 ; Hughes 1 ; Riggins 1
Batting:
2B: Wright, Jacob 1
RBI: Wright, Jacob 1 ; Leblanc, Charles 1 ; Yarnall, Nick 2 ; Maldonado, Frank 1 ; DeMeo, P.J. 1
SH: Wright, Jacob 1
SF: Leblanc, Charles 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wright, Jacob 2 ; Yarnall, Nick 1 ; Maldonado, Frank 1 ; Johnson, Matt 1 ; Pazos, Manny 1
SB: Wright, Jacob 1 ; Yarnall, Nick 1 ; Chentouf, Yaya 1
CS: Wright, Jacob 1
HBP: Wright, Jacob 1 ; Leblanc, Charles 1 ; Johnson, Matt 1
