Panthers, Carrier Stay Hot as Pitt Sweeps San Jose State

Sunday, March 8

San Jose, CA

3:05 PM EST/12:05 PM PT

Pitt

12-2

San Jose State

4-11

Pitt

San Jose State

Panthers, Carrier Stay Hot as Pitt Sweeps San Jose State

3/8/2026 6:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

SAN JOSE, CA – The Pitt Panthers (12-2) earned their second-consecutive series sweep and eighth-consecutive win with their 3-2 victory at San Jose State on Sunday afternoon.

A stellar outing from Drew Lafferty, accompanied by a strong performance from the Panther bullpen, paved the way for Pitt in the series finale.

Lorenzo Carrier continued his scorching hot streak at the plate going 2-3 with a two-run home run and a double today. In his last five games, he is now 16-for-19 with 24 RBIs, 13 runs scored, six home runs, two triples and two doubles. Carrier leads the ACC in RBIs with 36.

Drew Lafferty struck out four and did not allow a single walk over his five scoreless innings as he earned his third win of the season. Lafferty now has three wins in his first four starts of the season. Sam Bryan and Mikey Gray each tossed scoreless frames in relief and each escaped jams with the game-tying run in scoring position. Bryan struck out two batters in the bottom of the eighth inning while Gray fanned a Spartan batter to end the game and clinch the sweep for the Panthers.

AJ Nessler (1-4, R), Kai Wagner (1-4, RBI) and Carter Dierdorf (1-4) had the Panthers' other three hits on the afternoon. Wagner drove in a run on an RBI groundout in the top of the third inning. His RBI proved to be the difference in Sunday's win.

The Panthers jumped to an early lead in the top of the first inning off the bat of non-other than Lorenzo Carrier who blasted a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw on Sunday. AJ Nessler led off the game with a single up the middle and would score on Carrier's long ball.

Carrier doubled to left field in the top third inning to continue his hot streak. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch and was brought home on a Kai Wagner RBI groundout to second. The Panthers led 3-0 through three.

Drew Lafferty kept the Spartan offense off the board, tossing five scoreless innings. The right-hander allowed just three hits, struck out four and did not walk a single batter.

Joey Ciancimino relieved Lafferty to start the sixth and worked two scoreless frames.

Ciancimino surrendered two runs in the top of the eighth inning and San Jose State cut the lead to just one. Sam Bryan came out of the bullpen to relieve Ciancimino with runners on second and third and no one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bryan struck out two and escaped the jam as the Panthers led 3-2 through eight.

After the first batter reached in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mikey Gray sat down each Spartan he faced to hold on to the lead and sweep San Jose State with a 3-2 win on Sunday.

The Panthers stay on the West Coast and will travel to Santa Clara to face the Broncos on Tuesday night at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT. Pitt then begins conference play this upcoming Friday at Stanford.