Panthers Piece Together Two Late-Inning Comebacks, Split Doubleheader at Boston College

Friday, March 28

Chestnut Hill, MA

1 PM

Pitt

16-9, 3-4

Boston College

11-12, 3-7

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Panthers Piece Together Two Late-Inning Comebacks, Split Doubleheader at Boston College

3/28/2025 10:19:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game One Box Score Game Two Box Score

Brighton, MA – Pitt and Boston College indulged in 22 innings of baseball on Friday as the Panthers split their doubleheader with the Eagles.

The Panthers mustered late-inning comebacks in each of Friday's games.

Down 8-7 in the eighth inning of game one, Jackson Cooke hit a game-winning, pinch-hit, two-run home run. All three of his pinch-hits this year have been extra bases (2 HR, 2B) and four of his five hits have been home runs. It was Pitt's sixth win this year when they trailed in the fifth inning or later as they took game one, 9-8.

Caden Dulin went 4-4 with three singles, a double and an RBI in game one. Pitt's bullpen of Kyle Demi, Daniel McAuliff and Ethan Firoved combined for 5.1 scoreless innings.

Pitt fought back in game two and scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game and send it to extra innings but would fall in the 13^th inning, 6-5. It's the second time this year that Pitt went to extra innings after trailing in the ninth.

Game two starter, Ryan Reed struck out 10 batters as Pitt's pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts in game two. It was their second-most in a game this season. The Panthers struck out 17 batters at UNC Greensboro a month ago, a game that Reed also started.

Ethan Firoved made an appearance in each game this afternoon. He struck out five batters over four scoreless innings on Friday and earned the save in game one.

Game One

Ryan Zuckerman and the Panthers jumped out to an early lead with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. Luke Cantwell singled to lead off the game, Jayden Melendez reached on a fielder's choice that nabbed Cantwell and AJ Nessler walked to put runners at first and second. Ryan Zuckerman launched his ninth long ball of the season to left field to give Pitt an early 3-0 lead.

Boston College got two in the bottom half of the inning, but the Panthers still led 3-2 after one.

Pitt added to their lead with a four-run top of the third inning. After Nessler singled and Zuckerman was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Caden Dulin laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. Sebastian Pisacreta lined a two-run double down the left field line that scored both Nessler and Zuckerman. Pisacreta would score one pitch late as David Pedanou also doubled down the left field line and extended Pitt's lead to four. Pedanou stole third and scored when Logan Duffy drove him in on a sacrifice fly to shallow right field. The Panthers led 7-2 after the top half of the third inning.

The Eagles responded with six runs in the bottom of the third and took their first lead of the game. They led 8-7 after the first three frames.

The Panther bullpen kept Boston College scoreless for the rest of the game as Kyle Demi, Daniel McAuliff and Ethan Firoved combined for 5.1 scoreless innings in relief.

Pitt mounted another late-inning comeback when Jackson Cook hit a pinch-hit two-run home run to take the lead in the eighth inning. It was their sixth win this season when they trailed in the fifth inning or later. Cooke has five hits this year, four have been long balls. His three pinch-hits this season have all been of the extra-base variety (two HR, RBI 2B).

Ethan Firoved fired two scoreless frames and earned his sixth save of the year as Pitt took the first game of Friday's doubleheader.

Game Two

Like he had in game one, Ryan Zuckerman drove in Pitt's first run of the ballgame in the top of the first inning. Luke Cantwell led off the game with a double to the right centerfield gap and would be driven in on an RBI single through the left side.

Boston College answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning as they led 3-1.

The Panthers got a run back in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by AJ Nessler that drove in Logan Duffy from third. Pitt cut the lead to just one in the fifth.

After surrendering three runs in the first, Ryan Reed settled in and only allowed two base runners over the next five innings while he struck out ten Eagles in his six innings. Reed allowed just two earned runs on two hits in his seventh start of the season.

Boston College added a run over each of the seventh and eighth innings and led 5-2.

The Panthers would not go down without a fight as they tied the game in the ninth inning with three runs. It was the second time this season that they tied a game in the ninth inning when trailing. They trailed 4-3 at ETSU before tying it in the ninth and winning it in the twelfth inning.

Duffy led off the inning with a single and game one hero Jackson Cooke, in another pinch-hit spot, was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Luke Cantwell reached on a throwing error by the first baseman that also caused Duffy to score from second. Anthony LaSala replaced Cooke as a pinch-runner and scored from third on a Jayden Melendez sacrifice fly, bringing the Panthers within one.

AJ Nessler drove a single up the middle and Pitt had runners at first and second. Cantwell and Nessler would each move into scoring position on a passed ball. Dulin was hit by 2-2 offering to load the bases. With Pisacreta at the dish, Cantwell would scamper home on a wild pitch to tie the ballgame at five.

Ethan Firoved started to the bottom of the ninth for the Panthers, tossing two more scoreless innings as he kept the Eagle offense at bay for the second time on Friday.

Fellow lefthander Matt Porter would relieve him and fire two scoreless frames of his own, taking the game into the 13^th inning.

A single and double from Boston College in the bottom of the 13^th inning brought home the winning run as they took game two and split the doubleheader with the Panthers on Friday.

Up Next

The series finale is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, March 29 at 2 PM. Drew Lafferty will make his seventh start of the year.