Over the past two weeks, Pitt baseball (13-7, ACC 1-2) faced a trio of Mid-American Conference opponents, securing necessary and emphatic victories in all three games.
“Great players, great people, and we’re coached by a bunch of great dudes,” senior infielder Luke Cantwell said on this year’s Pitt team. “Culture is incredible, and I’m happy to be a part of this team.”
Pitt’s matchups kicked off last week with a 17-7 win over Youngstown State (3-16, MAC 1-2) in eight innings. The Panthers’ bats were hot, combining for 14 hits and batting .438 at the plate.
Junior outfielder AJ Nessler recorded three hits and seven RBIs off of a triple and two singles, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. If that wasn’t enough, the Panthers tacked on seven runs in the eighth inning to run-rule the Penguins and finish the night an inning early.
Junior pitcher Matt Porter threw 3.1 innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out three to secure the win for Pitt. But all seven of the runs the Panthers gave up came in the fifth inning. In that inning, Pitt allowed three doubles and a grand slam, erasing Pitt’s initial lead.
Defensively, Pitt allowed an average of 9.7 runs per game in its last six outings. While the Panthers’ offensive power has kept them competitive in games thus far, Pitt may struggle to come out victorious in these high-scoring matchups with conference opponents. In the most recent edition of D1 baseball rankings, seven ACC schools ranked in the top 25. Pitt is set to face four of them later this spring.
This was the case in Pitt’s first ACC series last weekend at Georgia Tech (17-4, ACC 4-2), where it dropped the first two games by a combined score of 21-2.
In the final game of the series, things weren’t looking good after the Panthers allowed six runs in the first two innings. Then, senior pitcher Ethan Firoved allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings of relief, giving the Pitt offense a chance to dig out of its early hole and secure a 12-10 victory.
Pitt returned home on Tuesday, hosted Akron (6-14, MAC 0-6) and secured a 16-7 victory. First-year pitcher Antonio Doganiero threw four innings in his first college start, striking out six and allowing just one earned run.
“[It was] the story of the game for me,” Pitt head coach Mike Bell said of the first-year. “I thought his six strikeouts and only one walk was really the key to the game. It allowed our offense to settle in.”
He wasn’t the only first-year to step up, as Antonio Socarras finished the game, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Socarras struck out two opponents in his first college appearance and did not allow a hit.
“The game allowed the opportunity for him to kind of get his feet wet,” Bell said. “These midweek games allow for opportunities for development, and that was a key developing moment for our guys.”
The Panthers combined for four home runs that night, two drilled to dead-center field by sophomore infielder Ryan Zuckerman. He now has seven on the season, nearly tying his nine home runs from last year.
Pitt finished off the midweek slate with a 17-13 victory over Kent State. Junior designated hitter Jackson Cooke belted a 380-foot grand slam in the top of the first, helping the Panthers jump out to an early 8-2 lead. After scoring seven runs in the third and fourth innings, Kent State stole the lead, but the Panthers stayed hot on offense to secure the win.
“[A] dog fight,” Cantwell said about the game. “You [have] to put more runs up than they do, you know. But that was a great day.”
The infielder has been a tremendous asset for Pitt this season, batting .429 in the leadoff spot with a .561 on-base percentage. As of Monday, Cantwell is second in the ACC in on-base percentage and tied for the fourth-most walks in the conference, proving his continued reliability in the lineup.
The Panthers will need him as they ride their three-game win streak into the weekend, taking on ACC foe NC State (15-6, ACC 2-1) for their first home series of the season. The Wolfpack are coming off a dominant 13-0 mercy-rule shutout over Davidson earlier this week.
NC State is 17-0 against Pitt all-time, sweeping the Panthers in five series dating back to 2015, but Pitt looks to end that streak on Friday. The series kicks off on Friday at 3 p.m., continuing on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The matchups are watchable on ACCNX.
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