Pitt Falls to Virginia Tech in Weekend Opener

Friday, March 15

Pittsburgh, PA

3 PM

Pitt

6-10, 0-4

Virginia Tech

12-5, 2-2

Virginia Tech

Pittsburgh

Pitt Falls to Virginia Tech in Weekend Opener

3/15/2019 7:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Season Statistics (PDF)Box Score (PDF)

Panthers, Hokies Return to Action Saturday Afternoon

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team dropped the opening contest of a three-game series against ACC foe Virginia Tech Friday afternoon, falling 11-4 at Charles L. Cost Field.

"We saw some very encouraging things from a young team today, we just have to do a better job on the front end of eliminating free passes, with the walks and hit by pitches," said head coach Mike Bell. "You have to tip your cap to Virginia Tech, they did a good job of capitalizing once they had guys on base. In the game of baseball you have to have a short term memory. The beautiful thing about baseball is that we have another opportunity tomorrow. We're going to try and win inning by inning, pitch by pitch and try and find that ACC victory."

Pitt (6-10, 0-4 ACC) fell into an early deficit, as the Hokies (12-5, 2-2 ACC) managed to jump out to an early lead. The Hokies would score twice in the second, extending the advantage to 3-0 in the third. The visitors would score once in the fifth before taking a 9-0 lead in the sixth.

Pitt battled back in the bottom of the frame, plating four to cut the lead to five. Freshman infielder Andres Antonini connected on his first career triple, dropping a three-run, three-bagger into left center to cut the lead. Antonini would score on a passed ball, as the Hokies lead moved to 9-4.

The Hokies would add a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, holding on for an 11-4 victory.

Freshman Billy Corcoran (0-1) made his second start of the season, going 2.0 innings, allowing two earned runs off of two hits, and striking out one. Junior Christian Camacho tossed 2.0 strong innings of relief, letting up one unearned run off of one hit, and striking out three. Freshman Mason Ronan had a strong showing in his second career ACC outing, closing out the final frame, allowing one hit and striking out two.

Offensively, Antonini registered his first multi-RBI performance, while Cole MacLaren wrapped up the game going 2-4 with a run scored.

The Panthers return to action tomorrow for the second game of the weekend, as Dan Hammer is set to make the start on the mound in a 3 p.m. first pitch.

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