Pitt Falls in Back-And-Forth Rubber Match

Sunday, May 11

Winston-Salem, NC

12 PM

Pitt

26-23, 10-17

Wake Forest

34-17, 14-13

Pitt

Wake Forest

Pitt Falls in Back-And-Forth Rubber Match

5/11/2025 4:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

Winston-Salem, NC - The Pitt Panthers (26-23, 10-17) fell in a back-and-forth series finale at Wake Forest, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon.

AJ Nessler led the Panthers offensively with two RBIs and his fifth home run of the season. Nessler gave Pitt a lead in the fifth inning on an RBI groundout. Caden Dulin, who has now recorded a hit in ten of Pitt's last thirteen games went 1-4 with a run scored on Sunday. Sebastian Pisacreta collected another extra-base hit this weekend with his double in the fourth inning. Jake Kendro was 1-2 with a single and a walk.

Starting pitcher Ryan Reed struck out five batters over five innings and allowed just three earned runs despite surrendering ten hits. Reed escaped a number of jams throughout the day to keep the Panthers in the game.

Ryan Reed and the Panthers escaped two bases-loaded jams over the first two frames. Reed struck out two batters to evade any trouble in the first inning before inducing a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to get out of trouble in the second inning.

Wake Forest took the first lead of the ballgame on a solo home run in the bottom of the third. Pitt would respond immediately with a solo shot of their own in the next half inning, knotting the game at one. AJ Nessler lined his fifth home run of the year to right to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning. Sebastian Pisacreta almost hit his third home run of the weekend on a fly ball to left center. The center fielder leaped at the wall and brought Pisacreta's fly ball back. The ball got dislodged from his glove after making contact with the wall and Pisacreta would settle for a double.

The Demon Deacons loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fourth. Reed and the Panthers were able to limit the damage but Wake Forest would get a run on a double play. Reed stranded a runner at third with a strikeout to end the inning. Pitt held Wake Forest to 0-5 at the plate with the bases loaded through the first four inning

Like they had in the inning prior, the Panthers came right back, but this time they took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Pitt loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch by Pedanou and walks by Dulin and Cantwell. After Pedanou got cut down at the plate on a fielder's choice, Dulin dashed home on a wild pitch to tie the game at two. One pitch later, AJ Nessler drove in Cantwell from third on an RBI groundout to short. Pitt led 3-2 in the fifth.

Reed and Pitt needed a shutdown inning in the fifth and got one as he worked a quick 1-2-3 inning to keep their 3-2 lead.

Wake Forest loaded the bases for the fourth time in the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth inning and came away with a few runs. They scored three runs on three hits to take a 6-3 lead.

The Panthers had a runner on base in the seventh and eighth innings but were unable to get either across. They fell in the series finale, 6-3.

Up Next

Pitt hosts Penn State at PNC Park this Tuesday, May 13th at 6 PM. Tickets can be found at pirates.com/collegebaseball.