Pitt
5-2
Bucknell
4-3
Melendez Homers as Pitt Falls in Home Opener
2/25/2025 8:18:00 PM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH – The Panthers fell in their home opener to Bucknell on Tuesday afternoon, 7-3.
Jayden Melendez went 2-5 with a home run and a single in the Panthers' first game at Charles L. Cost Field this season. Melendez's long ball in the fifth inning was his first of the year. Shortstop Caden Dulin made his first start of the season this afternoon. He laced a double down the leftfield line and made a handful of stellar plays in the infield.
Left-handed reliever Matt Porter threw another scoreless outing in his second appearance this season. Freshman Antonio Doganiero worked a scoreless frame in the first outing of his career, striking out one.
Bucknell hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning an took the first lead of the ballgame.
The Panthers answered in the bottom half of the inning with a run of their own to tie it up. Pisacreta and Pedanou were each struck with pitches and Luke Cantwell drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Ryan Zuckerman drew the third hit by pitch of the inning and knotted the game at one as Pisacreta jogged home from third as a result.
The Bison took the lead again with a run in the top of the third inning and a pair of runs in the top of the fourth as they led 4-1 after four.
Jayden Melendez led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo blast to right for his first home run of the season. The Panthers would draw two walks and had another hit by pitch to load the bases with one out. Luke Cantwell drove in Gavin Miller on an RBI fielder's choice to bring the Panthers within one. They trailed 4-3 after five full frames.
Bucknell added a run in each of the each of the next three innings as they went on to win 7-3. Pitt had a pair of runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning but were unable to get the game-tying run to the plate.
Up Next
The Panthers head on an eleven-day road trip with their first stop being in Greensboro, NC for a three-game series at UNC Greensboro this weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dante Pavone (1-0)
L: Coleman, Aidan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Billy Kender 1 ; Michael Trommer 1 ; Ryan Facinelli 1
HR: Luke Nascimento 1
RBI: Michael Trommer 1 ; Ryan Facinelli 1 ; Luke Nascimento 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Billy Kender 1 ; Ryan Facinelli 1 ; Luke Nascimento 2 ; Matt Alexander 1 ; Billy Fluharty 1 ; Brady Karp 1
HBP: Brady Karp 2
PO: Ryan Facinelli 1
Batting:
2B: Dulin, Caden 1
HR: Melendez, Jayden 1
RBI: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Miller, Gavin 1 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1
HBP: Zuckerman, Ryan 1 ; Carrier, Lorenzo 1 ; Miller, Gavin 1 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Pedanou, David 1
