Pitt Walks-Off Wake Forest in Finale

Sunday, April 5

Pittsburgh, PA

1 PM

Pitt

21-9, 6-6

Wake Forest

23-10, 8-7

Wake Forest

Pitt

Pitt Walks-Off Wake Forest in Finale

4/5/2026 4:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt Panthers (21-9, 5-6 ACC) walked-off Wake Forest (23-10, 8-7 ACC) in the bottom of the ninth inning of their series finale on Sunday afternoon, 4-3.

Trailing by one run and down to their final three outs, the Panthers scored two runs on sacrifice flies from AJ Nessler and Caden Dulin to walk-off the Demon Deacons on Sunday.

It was the fourth time in Pitt's last 13 games that they won after they were tied or trailing in the ninth inning. Pitt trailed 9-8 in the ninth inning of a win at Stanford (3/14), trailed 7-6 in the ninth inning of a win over Youngstown State (3/25), were tied 3-3 with Louisville (3/27) in the ninth inning of a win and trailed 3-2 in the ninth inning of today's victory.

DULIN DELIVERS ?? PANTHERS WALK IT OFF IN THE NINTH?? pic.twitter.com/xDGPxHly3T
— Pitt Baseball (@Pitt_BASE) April 5, 2026

Sebastian Pisacreta went 2-4 with an RBI double and led off Pitt's bottom of the ninth inning with a single. Trey Fenderson collected another multiple hit day, going 2-3 with a double and run scored. Derrick Tarpley Jr. hit his fourth home run of the season and third in his last three games.

AJ Nessler (1-4, 2B, RBI) and Caden Dulin (1-4, RBI) each drove in a run in the ninth inning on sacrifice flies. Dulin accounted for eight assists defensively and helped turn four double plays.

Drew Lafferty gave the Panthers a quality start on the mound allowing just two earned runs over 6.2 innings while he struck out four. Lafferty kept the Panthers within striking distance all afternoon with his performance. Eddie Smink delivered once again out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit over 2.1 scoreless innings as he earned his second win of the season.

Pitt's defense showed up in the early innings, turning two double plays and catching a base runner stealing. Centerfielder Derrick Tarpley Jr. started Pitt's first double play of the game, helping them turn an untraditional 8-6-4 double play for the first two outs of the game. Catcher Sebastian Pisacreta ended the top of the first inning by throwing out a Wake Forest baserunner at second.

Drew Lafferty faced the minimum through the first three innings as the game remained scoreless through three.

The Demon Deacons plated runs in the fourth and sixth innings to take a 2-0 lead in the sixth.

Derrick Tarpley Jr. cut the Wake Forest lead in half with an opposite field solo home in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Pitt and Wake Forest traded runs again in the seventh inning, making it a 3-2 ballgame through seven.

Sebastian Pisacreta cut Pitt's deficit back to one run as he drove in Trey Fenderson on an RBI double down the line in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Eddie Smink fired 2.1 scoreless innings in relief to keep the Panthers in it as Pitt trailed by just one run heading to the final frame.

Pisacreta led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to left field and would be pinch ran for by Zach Walsh. Joey Baran laid down a bunt to move Walsh into scoring position and reached first on a throwing error by the Wake Forest pitcher. Anthony LaSala pinch-hit for Derrick Tarpley Jr. and was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out.

AJ Nessler tied the game on a sacrifice fly to deep left field, scoring Walsh from third and moving Baran up ninety feet. With runners now on the corners with one out in a brand-new ballgame, Caden Dulin drove a sacrifice fly to dead center to walk-off Wake Forest on Sunday.

The Panthers return to Charles L. Cost Field this Wednesday at 6 PM against Youngstown State.