Pitt Prevails Over Long Beach State

Friday, February 20

Corpus Christi, TX

2 PM EST/1 PM CT

Pitt

2-1

Long Beach State

1-3

Long Beach State

Pittsburgh

Pitt Prevails Over Long Beach State

2/20/2026 6:36:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Down one run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pitt Panthers scored five unanswered runs to take Friday afternoon's matchup over the Long Beach State Dirtbags, 6-2.

The Panthers needed just two pitchers to take game one of the weekend. Starter David Leslie allowed two runs over 5.2 innings while Mikey Gray tossed 3.1 scoreless innings in relief. Gray only allowed three hits on the afternoon and earned his first win as a Panther. In his two starts this season, Leslie has struck out seven batters while allowing just three runs over 9.2 innings.

Pitt's bats showed up when they needed them to, scoring five runs over the final three innings. The Panthers also took advantage of any mistakes the Dirtbags made in the field, scoring two runs on wild pitches and another on a throwing error.

AJ Nessler led the way offensively with two extra-base hits, two runs scored and two walks. Nessler hit the Panthers first triple of the season in the bottom of the third inning and is now hitting .600 in four games this year. Julian Irizarry and Lorenzo Carrier each finished 1-3 with RBI doubles. For Carrier, it was his first extra-base hit of the season. Joey Baran continued to produce at the plate, going 1-2 with two walks on Friday. Baran has recorded a hit in all four games this season.

Long Beach State got a run in the top of the third inning to take an early 1-0 lead on Friday afternoon. Left fielder Julian Irizarry saved a pair of runs for the Panthers as he crashed into the wall for an inning-ending grab to end the threat.

Pitt responded immediately with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. AJ Nessler manufactured a run all by himself, leading off the inning with Pitt's first triple of the season before dashing home on a wild pitch to tie it. The Panthers and Dirtbags were knotted at one after three innings.

The two teams traded blows again in the sixth inning. After the Panthers turned a big double play, the Dirtbags got their second run of the day on an infield single that bounced just over the reach of David Leslie on the mound.

Pitt's Kai Wagner reached on a hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning and went first to third on Joey Baran's single down the right field line. Long Beach State's Jake Field's airmailed a pickoff attempt to first base that allowed Wagner to score and tie it up again.

The Panthers took their first lead of the afternoon with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Julian Irizarry led off the inning by working a full-count walk and moved all the way up to third on an AJ Nessler double. Irizarry found himself in a rundown in the next at-bat but avoided a tag long enough for Nessler and Dulin to both reach scoring position. Kai Wagner gave Pitt the lead with an RBI sacrifice fly to deep centerfield that drove in Nessler from third. Pitt's cleanup hitter, Lorenzo Carrer, gave the Panthers some insurance on a line-drive RBI double in the right-center gap. Pitt led 4-2 through seven innings.

Pitt added two more runs in the eighth inning, extending their lead to four. Catcher Sebastian Pisacreta led off the inning with a single to right. One at-bat later, Julian Irizarry laced an opposite field double into the left-center gap that scored Pisacreta all the way from first. Now at third, Irizarry scampered home on a wild pitch to score Pitt's sixth and final run of the afternoon.

Mikey Gray stayed out for the top of the ninth inning and shut the door on the Dirtbags, earning his first win as a Panther.

The Panthers return tomorrow afternoon at Whataburger Field vs. Cal State Bakersfield at 3 PM ET/2 PM CT. LHP Vincent Spizzoucco will start on the mound for Pitt.