The Pitt baseball team had a rough first weekend, starting the season just 1-3. For Week Two, the Panthers traveled from Florida to South Carolina for another set of games, and despite being out of Pittsburgh and in the south, mother nature still took her effect. That didn't keep the team from changing its fortunes, though.
Pitt played two games in Spartanburg (SC) and swept the pair to improve to 3-3 on the year. Here is a closer look at how the games played out for Mike Bell’s Panthers.
Saturday February 23
Pitt 6, South Carolina-Upstate 3
This game was originally set for Friday afternoon, but the weather forced it to be played on Saturday. The Panthers sent out junior ace Dan Hammer to stop the bleeding of a three-game losing streak.
Hammer responded with a strong outing, going four innings and striking out 10 with just one walk. He picked up the win, but Derek West also provided four strong innings, allowing two unearned runs and struck out six. Chase Smith added the save with one scoreless inning.
With that performance, Hammer is now 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA and has totaled 18 strikeouts in his two starts.
The Panthers jumped on South Carolina-Upstate early by capitalizing on some errors by the host team. The Spartans committed three errors total, with two in the first inning. Pitt brought across four runs in the first to take a commanding lead.
A pair of true freshmen helped spark the Panthers in this one. Third basemen Sky Duff and first basemen Andres Antonini each collecting two hits.
Saturday February 23
Pitt 8, Bucknell 2
Pitt was also set to play Radford this weekend, but the weather forced the Panthers into just two games. In the Panthers’ second game of the weekend, Pitt jumped over the winless Bison of Bucknell to secure the team’s third win on the year.
Pitt sophomore slugger Ron Washington Jr. ripped a two-run double in the first and eventually came in himself on a double by fellow sophomore Nico Popa.
In the second, Kyle Hess also had an RBI double to pad the Panthers’ lead. Hess finished the game 2-for-2. The Panthers then tacked on two more before junior shortstop David Yanni put an exclamation point on the win by belting a two-run homer to make it 8-2.
Christian Comancho responded after a rough first outing with five strikeouts in four innings of work to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Reaction
Pitt needed to bounce back after a rough first weekend and the Panthers got it done. They need to take care of non-conference games and showed the ability to do so this weekend, being patient at the plate and cashing in on mistakes by their opponents.
One of the biggest developments right now is the pitching of Hammer. The junior from Philadelphia struggled throughout much of last season, but may have found a bit of a groove this year. Pitt will need him to eat more innings over time, but productive four-inning games are also helpful as well, especially with West behind him.
Up Next
The Panthers return to Florida for four more games this weekend. Pitt will play Hofstra on Friday, face do a double-header with St. Peter’s and Butler on Saturday and then finish the weekend against Central Michigan on Sunday. All four games are to be held in Kissimmee (Fla).
