The Pitt Panthers are off to a fast start on the baseball diamond in the 2025 season. Pitt won its second series in as many tries with a pair of wins over Monmouth over the weekend in Cary (NC).
Through six games, Pitt is sitting on a 5-1 record, representing the program’s best start since 2002. Mike Bell’s club received two stellar pitching performances on Friday from Patrick Gardner and on Saturday from Reed Ryan, leading Pitt to 6-1 and 5-1 victories to take the series. The Panthers dropped the chance for a sweep with a 7-6 setback to the Hawks on Sunday, a game where Pitt held a 6-5 advantage going into the eighth inning.
Hitter of the week: Lorenzo Carrier
The bats did not erupt like the first series, but Pitt still managed to manufacture runs. Over the weekend, junior right fielder Lorenzo Carrier went 4-for-9. He recorded two-hit games on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday Carrier drew three walks. He totaled four runs scored in the series as well. Through six games, Carrier is tied with Ryan Zukerman with 10 hits each.
Top Pitching performance: Reed Ryan
Both Reed Ryan and Patrick Gardner churned out pretty ideal pitching performances over the weekend, leading the Panthers to a series win. Ryan, however, was slightly better. The junior southpaw was knocked around a bit in his season debut, but settled in nicely against Monmouth. On Saturday, Reed went seven innings, scattered four hits, and allowed no runs. He struck out four and walked only two, propelling the Panthers to a 5-1 win and giving him his first victory of the season.
Leading it off
Pitt senior first basemen Luke Cantwell is holding things down nicely as the table setter for this lineup. Cantwell is getting on base, while still providing some pop like you would expect from a corner infielder. In six games, Cantwell has earned nine free passes. Six of his nine hits this year have gone for extra bases, and he has scored eight runs. Cantwell is currently fourth in the ACC in on-base percentage, providing to be an effective option for Bell at the top.
Solid 1-2
Pitt’s offense carried them through the first series against Eastern Michigan, but pitching was more of the catalyst in this series. Getting back-to-back wipeout performances from Gardner and Reed was encouraging to see, as both are key pieces to the team this year. Pitt’s offense should be able to compete, but obviously what wins in college baseball is pitching. The Panthers’ were hoping Reed would take a jump this season, and Gardner could be an instant option at the top of the rotation. In the second series, we saw those two show what they are capable of, but we’ll see how that translates to better competition.
Best in the Bell era
Before Sunday’s loss, Pitt opening the season 5-0 was the best start under seventh-year head coach Mike Bell. Now through six games, Pitt is 5-1, matching last year’s record through the first two weekends. Pitt has gotten itself into trouble through the years with messing around in non-conference games, but as long as Pitt can ‘handle business’ this season in such games like they have been, then the Panthers will be in the NCAA Tournament conversation. The ACC is going to be a force this season, thus creating a scenario for nearly every team in the league to at least be in contention if they win the games they should and remain competitive in league play.
Up next
The Panthers are slated to have their home opener tomorrow at 3:00 against Bucknell at Charles L. Cost Field. The weather in Pittsburgh is calling for rain and temperatures in the 40s, thus putting that game in doubt.
Pitt will be in Greensboro for the weekend to take on UNC-Greensboro for a three-game set. The Spartans are 4-2 so far this season and hold wins over ACC programs Virginia Tech and Wake Forest., UNC-Greensboro was picked to win the SoCon in the preseason, and should make for Pitt’s toughest challenge so far in this early position of the season.
