Pitt homered past Notre Dame in its opening game of the 2023 ACC Baseball Tournament. The 12th-seeded Panthers bombed five home runs and notched 13 hits to dispatch the Fighting Irish 9-5 Wednesday morning at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The Panthers were swept in the regular season finale against NC State, and needed some help to make the ACC Tournament, but they took full advantage of the added opportunity on Wednesday. Pitt improved to 24-30 on the year, and kept its slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive for another day.
Pitt entered this game 9th in the ACC in home runs as a team, and 12th in runs scored, but the offense was alive from the moment this one started. Senior third basemen Sky Duff led off the game with a solo shot to right center to set the tone for Mike Bell’s squad.
Duff finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Catcher Jayden Melendez also collected three hits, while senior centerfielder Kyle Hess also had a multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with a home run.
The Panthers kept the offense rolling in the first, as they added a run on a Jack Anderson base knock, but the 8th seeded Irish proved that Pitt would need to keep scoring in this one. Notre Dame actually outhit the Panthers 14-13, and the Irish chased Pitt starting pitcher Jack Sokol in the fifth. Sokol allowed nine hits and four earned runs, but his relievers picked him up in a big way. Dylan Simmons earned the win after pitching 3 1/3 innings and allowed only one run and struck out four. Nash Bryan closed it down with his eighth save of the year.
Noah Martinez’s 13th home run of the year put Pitt up 6-4 in the fourth inning. Later on a pair of homers in the top of the seventh by Hess and Dom Popa gave the Panthers all the insurance they needed to hang on and dispatch Notre Dame.
Pitt’s next challenge will be a mighty one, as the Panthers are slated to take on Wake Forest tomorrow morning. Not only are the Demon Deacons the top-seeded team in the tournament, they are the No. 1 ranked team in the entire country. The Panthers managed to steal a game from Wake Forest in April, but dropped the final two games of the series by a combined score of 40-4.
The Panthers have not had a ton of success in the ACC as a program, but they have managed to have some strong showings in the ACC Tournament. Following today’s win over Notre Dame, the Panthers are now 6-3 all-time in the tournament.
Pitt has advanced out of pool play twice, last season and back in 2018. As the lowest-seeded team, the Panthers have to defeat Wake Forest on Thursday in order to make it to the semifinal round.
Pitt is still seeking its first-ever ACC Championship in its tenth year in the league. The Panthers are also searching for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1995.
