University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
33-24
North Carolina
45-10-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitt | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | X | 13 | 22 | 0 |
Pitt’s ACC Baseball Championship Run Comes to End in Semifinal
5/23/2026 8:11:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Pitt's (33-24) ACC Baseball Championship run came to an end on Saturday afternoon to No. 2 seeded North Carolina (45-10-1) in the ACC Semifinal.
Their 2026 ACC Baseball Championship run included their third trip to an ACC Semifinal and their most wins in a single ACC Tournament with victories over No. 11 Florida State, Wake Forest and Louisville.
Trey Fenderson concluded his incredible week in Charlotte by going 3-for-5 with two RBI RBI in the ACC Semifinal on Saturday afternoon. Fenderson finished his week 10-20 with three home runs and 13 RBI at the ACC Baseball Championship. His 13 RBI are tied for the most in a single ACC Tournament.
AJ Nessler hit Pitt's seventh home run of the week and logged his team-leading 23rd multiple-hit game of the year in his 2-for-5 day. Fresh off his late-inning heroics on Friday night, Kai Wagner went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk on Saturday afternoon. Lorenzo Carrier added two more hits to his ledger for the year, going 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Carrier now has a team-leading 77 hits so far this season, the most by a Panther since 2016.
Drew Lafferty made his first relief appearance of the season and kept the Tar Heel offense at bay for 3.2 innings. Lafferty allowed just two runs while also striking out a pair out of the bullpen.
For the fourth time this week, Pitt struck in the top of the first inning. They plated two runs on four hits on Saturday afternoon. AJ Nessler led off the game with a single up the middle. Caden Dulin reached on a fielder's choice in the next at-bat and advanced to third on Kai Wagner's single to left center. Trey Fenderson drove in his 12th run of the tournament on an infield single to third that scored the first run of the ballgame. Carter Dierdorf followed up Fenderson by lining an RBI single to right which put Pitt up 2-0 in the first.
North Carolina came right back with three runs in each of the first two innings to take a 6-2 lead after two.
The Panthers got a run back in the top of the third to cut the deficit to three. Pitt single-season walks leader, Carter Dierdorf, worked a two-out base on balls for his 59th free pass of the season. Dierdorf would go from first to home on Sebastian Pisacreta's RBI double to down the third base line and Pitt trailed 6-3 in the third.
After entering in the bottom of the second inning and surrendering a run, Drew Lafferty tossed two scoreless innings to keep it a three-run game into the fifth.
The Tar Heels plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend their lead to five before AJ Nessler slugged a solo shot in the next half inning. Pitt still trailed 8-4.
North Carolina added four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and one in the bottom of the eighth, as they took a 13-4 lead going into the ninth inning.
Like they have all year, the Panthers continued to fight and scored one more run in the top of the ninth inning. Lorenzo Carrier doubled off the wall in right center and would be driven by none other than Trey Fenderson, who collected his ACC Baseball Championship record 13th RBI of the week. Pitt fell in the ACC Semifinal, 13-5 on Saturday afternoon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McDuffie, Walker (7-2)
L: Doganiero, Antonio (6-5)
Batting:
2B: Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Carrier, Lorenzo 1
HR: Nessler, AJ 1
RBI: Pisacreta, Sebastian 1 ; Dierdorf, Carter 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1 ; Fenderson, Trey 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wagner, Kai 1 ; Carrier, Lorenzo 1 ; Dierdorf, Carter 1 ; Dulin, Caden 1 ; Nessler, AJ 1
SB: Wagner, Kai 1
HBP: Pisacreta, Sebastian 1
Batting:
2B: Schaffner, Jake 1 ; Gallaher, Gavin 1
3B: Schaffner, Jake 1
HR: Nicholson, Cooper 1 ; Gallaher, Gavin 1 ; Hynek, Colin 1 ; Kellis V, Rom 2 ; Paulsen, Erik 1
RBI: Nicholson, Cooper 2 ; Gallaher, Gavin 2 ; Hull, Owen 2 ; Hynek, Colin 1 ; Kellis V, Rom 5 ; Paulsen, Erik 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nicholson, Cooper 1 ; Schaffner, Jake 2 ; Gallaher, Gavin 2 ; Winslow, Macon 1 ; Howe, Tyler 1 ; Hynek, Colin 2 ; Kellis V, Rom 2 ; Paulsen, Erik 2
SB: Schaffner, Jake 1
CS: Hull, Owen 1
