Pitt
11-7, 1-2
Georgia Tech
16-4, 4-2
Panthers Complete Comeback Behind Firoved’s Gutsy Performance
3/16/2025 5:54:00 PM | Baseball
Atlanta, GA - The Panthers earned their first ACC win of the season in comeback fashion on Sunday afternoon with a 12-10 win at Georgia Tech.
Today marked Pitt's fourth win of the season when they trailed in the sixth inning or later. It was also their second comeback victory of six or more runs this year.
Facing a 6-0 deficit after the first three innings, the Panthers responded with three runs in the fourth inning, three runs in the fifth innings and four runs in the sixth inning, earning their first ACC win of the 2025 campaign.
In his longest outing as a Panther, Ethan Firoved fired 5.1 innings in relief. He struck out a season-high nine batters and allowed just one earned run on four hits. Firoved relieved Pitt starter Drew Lafferty with two outs in the second inning and did not look back. The senior kept the Panthers in Sunday's game and earned his first win of the season. Over seven appearances this year, Firoved has four saves, one win and 31 strikeouts while maintaining a 1.19 ERA.
Daniel McAuliff relieved Firoved of his duties to start the eighth inning and earned his second save of the season.
Luke Cantwell notched his second three-hit game of the weekend, and third of the week, as he went 3-6 with two runs scored and an RBI double in the sixth inning. David Pedanou had his second three-hit game this week as well, going 3-5 with two runs scored and a two-run double that gave Pitt the lead today. Ryan Zuckerman jumpstarted Pitt's offense on Sunday with his team-leading fifth home run of the season, a three-run blast in the fourth inning.
Caden Dulin collected two more hits in the series finale and scored a run. AJ Nessler, Jayden Melendez, Sebastian Pisacreta and Jake Kendro all had hits as well. Nessler's RBI double in the fifth extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Zuckerman and Carrier continue their hot streaks and have now reached base safely in every game this season.
The Panthers cut the Yellow Jacket lead in half in the top of the fourth inning on a Ryan Zuckerman three-run blast with one out. Jayden Melendez and Lorenzo Carrier each drew walks to lead off the inning, putting two runners on for the sophomore Zuckerman. On an 0-1 pitch, Pitt's third baseman shot his team-leading fifth home run of the year into the trees beyond the right centerfield wall. The Panthers trailed 6-3.
Georgia Tech added one in the bottom of the fourth and led 7-4.
With the bases loaded the top of the fifth inning, Lorenzo Carrier worked a full-count walk and got a run back for the Panthers. After a pitching change, and with the bases still juiced, AJ Nessler ripped a two-run double that short-hopped the rightfield wall and brought the Panthers within a run. They trailed 7-6 after five.
Pitt broke the game open in the top of the sixth inning, scoring four runs and four hits to take their first lead of the weekend. Sebastian Pisacreta led off the inning with a walk and advanced all the way to third on a Jake Kendro double. Centerfielder David Pedanou put the Panthers in front with a two-run double down the leftfield line, scoring Pisacreta and Kendro.
Luke Cantwell followed that up with an RBI double of his own, driving in Pedanou and extending the Panther lead to two. After Jayden Melendez singled through the left side, Pitt had runners at the corners with just one out. AJ Nessler drove in Cantwell from third on an RBI fielder's choice and the Panthers now led 10-7. The Yellow Jackets added a run in the bottom half of the inning, but the Panthers still led 10-8.
Pitt added much needed insurance in the top of the ninth innings with two run on three hits to take a 12-8 lead. After Zuckerman walked and Dulin singled, Pisacreta shot an RBI single to right center. With Dulin now at third, Jake Kendro lifted a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Pitt's 12th run of the ballgame.
Georgia Tech added two of their own in the bottom of the ninth but it would not be enough as Daniel McAuliff shut the door on the Yellow Jackets and earned his second save of the season.
Up Next
The Panthers get ready for a five-game homestand. They will kick it off with midweek games Akron and Kent State before opening up their home ACC slate with NC State next weekend.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Firoved, Ethan (1-1)
L: Sam Swygert (0-1)
S: McAuliff, Daniel (2)
Batting:
2B: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Pedanou, David 1
HR: Zuckerman, Ryan 1
RBI: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Carrier, Lorenzo 1 ; Nessler, AJ 3 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 3 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Pedanou, David 2
SF: Kendro, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cantwell, Luke 2 ; Melendez, Jayden 2 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 2 ; Dulin, Caden 1 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1 ; Pedanou, David 2
CS: Melendez, Jayden 1
HBP: Kendro, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Kyle Lodise 1 ; Drew Burress 2 ; Kent Schmidt 1
HR: Drew Burress 1 ; Alex Hernandez 2 ; Caleb Daniel 1
RBI: Drew Burress 1 ; Kent Schmidt 1 ; Alex Hernandez 6 ; Caleb Daniel 2
SF: Alex Hernandez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kyle Lodise 1 ; Drew Burress 3 ; Kent Schmidt 2 ; Alex Hernandez 2 ; Will Baker 1 ; Caleb Daniel 1
SB: Tyler Neises 1
HBP: Drew Burress 1 ; Nathan Waugh 1 ; John Giesler 1
