The Pitt baseball team entered last week with some momentum. The Panthers had picked up a pair of wins at the All-American Classic over the weekend, and hot-hitting Tatem Levins was named ACC Player of the Week after hitting. a home run in all three games in Fayetteville and posting a total of nine 9 RBIs.
Pitt opened the week with a midweek non-conference victory over High Point. In that game, Pitt belted out 19 hits and broke things open with a seven run fifth inning. Levins continued his hot streak with another home run. Brock Franks, Kyle Hess, and Bryce Hulett also hit homers in the Panthers win.
Mike Bell's team took a three game winning streak into Chapel Hill to open up ACC play against 14th-ranked North Carolina. The Panthers battled throughout the weekend, but came up empty in the win column. Pitt now owns an 8-7 overall record. The Panthers are set to host Bucknell on Tuesday and Youngstown State on Wednesday at Cost Field for the team's first home games of the year.
Pitt will then head to Virginia Tech over the weekend for the second ACC series of the season. The Hokies are also started off league play with a sweep, as they lost to Georgia Tech three times over the weekend. Let's recap how the team fared over the weekend.
Game One (Friday)
North Carolina 7, Pitt 4
Pitt turned to regular Friday night starter Matt Gilbertson to open this series. The Panthers ace struggled, but gutted out his outing and worked his way into the sixth inning. He allowed five runs, four earned on seven hits while striking out just one and walking a pair. The Tar Heels grabbed the lead in the fourth inning highlighted by a Hunter Stokley base hit. North Carolina added to its lead in the fifth when leadoff hitter Vance Honeycutt belted a solo shot to make it 4-2.
The Panthers stayed in the game. In the top of the sixth inning, Pitt slugger Ron Washington Jr. hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to make it 4-4. North Carolina eventually one the game by adding a run in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to make it 7-4.
Pitt registered 12 hits on the afternoon, but left eight men on base. Hulett and Jeffrey Wehler each had three-hit games. Levins and Washington Jr. recorded two hits apiece in the losing effort.
Game Two (Saturday)
North Carolina 4, Pitt 3
The Saturday game proved to be a pitcher's duel. Pitt starter Logan Evans struck out 8 batters and scattered four hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Conversely, North Carolina used six different pitchers who combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run.
Pitt's Jordan Anderson got things going in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. The Panthers added to the their lead in the fifth, as two runs came home on an error when Ron Washington Jr. was at the plate. Later in the inning, Pitt had a chance to break the game wide open with the bases loaded, but Anderson grounded out to end the opportunity.
Pitt not cashing in there proved to be the difference. With one swing of the bat, North Carolina's Mac Horvath tied it up with a three-run shot. Pitt went down quietly in the seventh and eighth innings as reliever Hayden Summers kept them in the game.
In the top of the ninth, Pitt had a pair of runners on with one out but Levins and Washington Jr. could not deliver a big hit with a man in scoring position. In the bottom half of the inning, Tar Heels cleanup hitter Johnny Castagnozzi launched a walk-off home run to right center to give his team the series victory.
Game Three (Sunday)
North Carolina 9, Pitt 2
Pitt and North Carolina were all knotted up at 2 through six innings. Panthers third basemen Sky Duff connected on a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Pitt starter Bill Corcoran notched another impressive start going six innings, allowing two runs, and struck out two while scattering seven hits.
Unfortunately for Pitt, it all came crashing down after that. The Tar Heels scored two runs in the seventh to take the lead, and five runs in the eighth to put it out of reach. The Panthers bullpen worked just two innings, but allowed seven earned runs. Baron Stuart, Quin Konuszewski, and CJ McKennitt all got tagged for two runs apiece, while Dylan Lester allowed one of his own.
North Carolina looked like a ranked team in this one, by belting out 13 hits and taking control of the game late. The Tar Heels pitchers also kept Pitt in check. Aside from Duff's home run, Pitt mustered just five singles as a team. Levins was the only player to register a multi-hit game, as the LaSalle transfer went 2-for-4. Through 15 games, Levins is hitting .362 with six home runs and 17 runs batted in.
