Friday, May 10
Pittsburgh, PA
6 PM
Pitt
19-30, 6-19
7
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North Carolina
35-13, 15-10
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North Carolina
0
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Pittsburgh
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7
13
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Panthers Stun No. 11 North Carolina to Open Series
5/10/2019 10:09:00 PM | Baseball
Pitt Collects Fifth Straight Series Opening Win
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team captured its fifth-straight series opening victory Friday night, taking down No. 11 North Carolina 7-1 at Charles L. Cost Field.
The game marks the second consecutive outing in which the Panthers have downed a nationally-ranked North Carolina team, as the two teams met for the first time since Pitt's thrilling win over the then fifth-ranked Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
Pitt took an early lead and never let up, putting up four against North Carolina starter Tyler Baum, who had gone five straight without a loss, his last coming against Virginia Tech on March 22.
"It was another outstanding team effort," said head coach Mike Bell. "The pitching and defense was great from the start. Derek [West] will tell you that he didn't have his best stuff, but he gutted through a gutsy performance tonight. Offensively, some big hits from Zach [Klapak], Connor [Perry], Bryce [O'Farrell] and Cole [MacLaren] really set the tone for us at the beginning of the game and allowed us to extend things late. Overall, it was a great team effort."
The Panthers struck in the first, scoring a pair to take the 2-0 lead. Cole MacLaren would get the inning going with a single through the left side, coming home on a double into the left field corner from Connor Perry. After a ground out moved Perry to third, David Yanni would drop a single into shallow center to score the runner, what would be the game winner.
North Carolina cut the lead in half in the sixth, as a double and single made it 2-1 in favor of the Panthers.
Pitt didn't let up, scoring two in the sixth to regain a commanding advantage. A double from Bryce O'Farrell got the inning started, as the first baseman would come home on a Kyle Hess single. Zach Klapak would bring Hess around on a double into left center, forcing a North Carolina pitching change.
Two more came across for the Panthers in the seventh. Perry led things off with a single into right field as a single from Nico Popa put runners on the corners. With two outs, Popa would swipe second before O'Farrell continued his hot night, singling up the middle to plate Perry. A wild pitch would allow Popa to come around as Pitt took a 6-1 lead.
The Panthers made it 7-1 in the eighth, a lead they would hold on to for the remainder of the game. Sky Duff would draw a one-out walk, moving to second when MacLaren was hit by a pitch. A single from Popa allowed Duff to score as Pitt captured the win.
Starter Derek West (3-2) earned his second straight ACC victory of the season, going 6.0 innings, allowing just one run off three hits and five walks, striking out six. Chris Gomez would collect a crucial two outs, allowing one hit and one walk before Chase Smith entered to earn his fifth save of the season, letting up just one walk, holding the Tar Heels without a hit and striking out one in 2.1 innings.
O'Farrell led the offense, going 3-5 with an RBI and a run scored as Pitt collected 13 hits on the evening. Perry, Popa and Yanni each collected a pair of hits as eight different batters tallied a knock.
The Panthers and Tar Heels will conclude the series Saturday, taking part in a doubleheader at Cost Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with the finale to follow approximately 45 minutes after game one. Senior Day festivities will be held prior to game one.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The game marks the second consecutive outing in which the Panthers have downed a nationally-ranked North Carolina team, as the two teams met for the first time since Pitt's thrilling win over the then fifth-ranked Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
Pitt took an early lead and never let up, putting up four against North Carolina starter Tyler Baum, who had gone five straight without a loss, his last coming against Virginia Tech on March 22.
"It was another outstanding team effort," said head coach Mike Bell. "The pitching and defense was great from the start. Derek [West] will tell you that he didn't have his best stuff, but he gutted through a gutsy performance tonight. Offensively, some big hits from Zach [Klapak], Connor [Perry], Bryce [O'Farrell] and Cole [MacLaren] really set the tone for us at the beginning of the game and allowed us to extend things late. Overall, it was a great team effort."
The Panthers struck in the first, scoring a pair to take the 2-0 lead. Cole MacLaren would get the inning going with a single through the left side, coming home on a double into the left field corner from Connor Perry. After a ground out moved Perry to third, David Yanni would drop a single into shallow center to score the runner, what would be the game winner.
North Carolina cut the lead in half in the sixth, as a double and single made it 2-1 in favor of the Panthers.
Pitt didn't let up, scoring two in the sixth to regain a commanding advantage. A double from Bryce O'Farrell got the inning started, as the first baseman would come home on a Kyle Hess single. Zach Klapak would bring Hess around on a double into left center, forcing a North Carolina pitching change.
Two more came across for the Panthers in the seventh. Perry led things off with a single into right field as a single from Nico Popa put runners on the corners. With two outs, Popa would swipe second before O'Farrell continued his hot night, singling up the middle to plate Perry. A wild pitch would allow Popa to come around as Pitt took a 6-1 lead.
The Panthers made it 7-1 in the eighth, a lead they would hold on to for the remainder of the game. Sky Duff would draw a one-out walk, moving to second when MacLaren was hit by a pitch. A single from Popa allowed Duff to score as Pitt captured the win.
Starter Derek West (3-2) earned his second straight ACC victory of the season, going 6.0 innings, allowing just one run off three hits and five walks, striking out six. Chris Gomez would collect a crucial two outs, allowing one hit and one walk before Chase Smith entered to earn his fifth save of the season, letting up just one walk, holding the Tar Heels without a hit and striking out one in 2.1 innings.
O'Farrell led the offense, going 3-5 with an RBI and a run scored as Pitt collected 13 hits on the evening. Perry, Popa and Yanni each collected a pair of hits as eight different batters tallied a knock.
The Panthers and Tar Heels will conclude the series Saturday, taking part in a doubleheader at Cost Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with the finale to follow approximately 45 minutes after game one. Senior Day festivities will be held prior to game one.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: West, Derek (3-2)
L: Baum (7-3)
S: Smith, Chase (5)
Batting:
2B: Freeman 1
RBI: Hesterlee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Freeman 1
HBP: McGee 1
Batting:
2B: Duff, Sky 1 ; Perry, Connor 1 ; O'Farrell, Bryce 1 ; Klapak, Zach 1
RBI: Perry, Connor 1 ; Popa, Nico 1 ; Yanni, David 1 ; O'Farrell, Bryce 1 ; Hess, Kyle 1 ; Klapak, Zach 1
SH: Ryan Jr., Gregory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duff, Sky 1 ; MacLaren, Cole 1 ; Perry, Connor 2 ; Popa, Nico 1 ; O'Farrell, Bryce 1 ; Hess, Kyle 1
SB: Popa, Nico 1
HBP: MacLaren, Cole 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
C/INF
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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