Pitt
25-21
West Virginia
39-8
Panthers Erase Four-Run Deficit in the Ninth to Walk-Off No. 12 Mountaineers
5/7/2025 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH - Pitt (25-21, 9-15 ACC) scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off No. 12 West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Tuesday evening, 10-9.
With their backs against the wall, and down to their final three outs for the second-straight game, the Panthers roared back to win in walk-off fashion.
After West Virginia brought in their right fielder as a fifth infielder, Gavin Miller peppered one right to him on the very next pitch. Anthony LaSala dashed home from third after the ball was not fielded cleanly and Pitt walked it off for a second-consecutive game.
Luke Cantwell started the rally with a leadoff hit-by-pitch. That hit-by-pitch placed him second all-time in Pitt history in hit-by-pitches with 29. Ryan Zuckerman then worked a walk which put runners on first and second. With no one out, Jayden Melendez launched a towering three-run home run to cut the deficit to just one in the ninth. Singles from AJ Nessler and Sebastian Pisacreta, and a hit-by-pitch to Julian Irizarry, loaded the bases with no outs still recorded.
Keeton Burroughs grounded into an RBI fielder's choice that scored Nessler from third to knot the game at nine. With Anthony LaSala pinch-running at third, he stormed home on a ball bounced up the middle by Gavin Miller to walk off the Mountaineers in the bottom of the ninth inning as they took the Backyard Brawl, 10-9.
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— Pitt Baseball (@Pitt_BASE) May 7, 2025
THE PANTHERS SCORE FIVE IN THE NINTH TO WALK OFF THE MOUNTAINEERS!!#H2P » #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/05NQfp4zWK
Pitt now has eight comeback victories when trailing in the fifth inning or later, and three when trailing in the ninth inning or later. The Panthers erased deficits in the ninth and thirteenth innings against Virginia Tech in game two of their doubleheader on Sunday.
The Panthers' win on Tuesday night snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Mountaineers. Their last win in the Backyard Brawl came on March 30, 2022 when they won 9-6 at home.
Pitt's offense has recorded at least ten hits in four of their last five games. Sebastian Pisacreta (2-5, HR, 2 RBI), Caden Dulin (2-5, R) and AJ Nessler (2-4, 2 R, 2B) all had multiple hits on Tuesday. Jayden Melendez hit his fifth home run of the year as he left the yard with a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ryan Zuckerman went 1-3 with a two-run single in the third.
Pitt starter, Drew Lafferty, did not allow a run in the final three innings of his outing. He struck out one over five innings in his 11th start of the season. Noah Czajkowski worked a scoreless eighth for the Panthers, allowing just one base runner. Will Hummel earned the first win of his career in just his second-career appearance.
West Virginia scored four runs on four hits over the first two innings to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. Julian Irizarry laid out and made a full-extension grab in the right center gap to end the second inning.
The Panthers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third. Jake Kendro reached on a hit-by-pitch, Logan Duffy walked and Caden Dulin singled to put three ducks on the pond for Luke Cantwell. Cantwell drew a full-count walk to drive in Pitt's first run of the ballgame. In the next at-bat, Ryan Zuckerman laced a two-run single to left to bring Pitt within one. They trailed 4-3 after three.
After surrendering four runs early, Pitt starting pitcher Drew Lafferty threw three shutout innings to finish his day and keep the Mountaineer offense at bay. Pitt still trailed by one after five frames.
The Panthers and Mountaineers exchanged runs in the sixth inning, both scoring a pair. After an AJ Nessler double to leadoff the inning, Sebastian Pisacreta got the Panthers back within a run on a sky-scraping two-run home run.
Freshmen, Antonio Doganiero and Antonio "TJ" Socarras, combined for a scoreless seventh inning to keep the Panthers in it.
Pitt would load the bases on three-consecutive walks in the bottom of the seventh, Zuckerman and Melendez each worked full counts to do so. The Mountaineers however induced two strikeouts to end the inning and the threat.
The No. 12 team in the country added three runs over the eighth and ninth innings to extend their lead to 9-5 heading into the final frame.
The Panthers stormed back and scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk off West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Tuesday evening. Jayden Melendez hit a towering three-run home run to cut the lead to just one. After they loaded the bases, Keeton Burroughs tied the game on an RBI fielder's choice. Gavin Miller, in his first at-bat of the game, bounced a ball up the middle that Anthony LaSala scored on from third to walk off the No. 12 Mountaineers.
Up Next
Coming off of their first ACC series win of the season, in a sweep of Virginia Tech, the Panthers will now travel to Winston-Salem, NC to face the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hummel, Will (1-0)
L: Stiffler, Mac (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Rinehart, Jace 1
HR: West, Kyle 1
RBI: West, Kyle 2 ; Rinehart, Jace 2 ; White, Sam 2 ; Sauve, Logan 1 ; Kresser, Brodie 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1
SH: Kresser, Brodie 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1
SF: White, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: King, Skylar 1 ; West, Kyle 2 ; Guzman, Armani 1 ; Rinehart, Jace 1 ; White, Sam 1 ; Kresser, Brodie 1 ; Hussey, Grant 1 ; Kelly, Gavin 1
SB: White, Sam 1 ; Sauve, Logan 1 ; Kresser, Brodie 1
CS: Kelly, Gavin 1
PO: Kelly, Gavin 1
Batting:
2B: Nessler, AJ 1
HR: Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1
RBI: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 2 ; Melendez, Jayden 3 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 2 ; Burroughs, Keeton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffy, Logan 1 ; Dulin, Caden 1 ; Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Zuckerman, Ryan 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Nessler, AJ 2 ; Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; LaSala, Anthony 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1
HBP: Cantwell, Luke 1 ; Melendez, Jayden 1 ; Irizarry, Julian 1 ; Kendro, Jake 1
