Weekend recap: Pitt sweeps Florida State, improves to 6-1
The Pitt baseball team recorded a historic sweep over the weekend. The Panthers took all three games from No. 9 Florida State, the first sweep ever over the Seminoles in program history. Pitt third year head coach Mike Bell was a long time member of the Florida State coaching staff, and played for the ‘Noles in the 90’s giving the series extra meaning to the Panthers head coach.
In game one, the Panthers received a stellar pitching performance from junior starter Mitch Myers. He tossed six scoreless innings and struck out 13 batters as Pitt held off Florida State for a 1-0 victory. Dylan Lester and Jordan McCrum combined to throw three more shutout innings to preserve the win. The ‘Noles threatened in the late innings. Florida State had the tying run on third, but McCrum struck out Vince Smith to end the game as the Panthers took game one. Overall, the three Pitt pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts. Pitt’s lone run in the game came in the fourth as first baseman Bryce Hulett doubled deep to center and brought home Ron Washington Jr., who collected three hits in the game.
Pitt got another strong outing from its starter in game two down in Tallahassee. Matt Gilbertson moved to 2-0 on the year after throwing six shutout innings and striking out 10 Seminoles. Pitt struck early, as the Panthers benefitted from a Florida State throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt and Riley Wash trotted home for the first run. The Panthers tacked on two more off of a single from left fielder Kyle Hess to close out the second. Pitt added runs in the 4th inning when right fielder Nico Popa mashed a two-run home run to deep left-center. Pitt notched runs in the 6th and 8th innings to take a 7-0 lead. Florida State got on the board in the 8th when Reese Albert drove in a pair on a double. The Seminoles threatened in the ninth with two runners on, but Panthers hurler Stephen Hansen struck out two more FSU batters to end the game. Overall Pitt collected 16 strikeouts in another dominant outing.
The third game was played on Sunday afternoon and the Pitt offense came ready to play from the start. Pitt grabbed an early 3-0 lead off of a Washington single to bring home Sky Duff, and then later in the inning sixth-year senior David Yanni smacked a two-run homer to give Pitt an early 3-0 lead. Pitt approached the game differently on the mound, as the Panthers used ten different pitchers. Hansen, who closed Saturday’s game, opened the game for the Panthers and tossed two scoreless innings. Florida State then scored 7 unanswered runs to grab a 7-3 lead on Pitt, but the Panthers battled in the late stages. Yanni (2-5 4 RBI’s) brought home a pair on a double in the seventh to cut into the lead, then Nico Popa homered for the second consecutive day to tie the game in the ninth and send it to extra’ss. Kyle Hess doubled in the 13th inning to give Pitt a 9-7 advantage and McCrum quietly closed the game with a pair of strikeouts to earn his second save.
Pitt’s record now is 6-1 on the season, with a perfect 3-0 mark in ACC play. The top of the Panthers’ batting order has been on fire with Popa (.414 batting average), Hess (.375), Washington (.310), and Duff (.300) leading the charge. Pitt returns to action this weekend with a three-game set against Duke in Durham. The Blue Devils are currently supporting a 3-4 record, but will have a midweek non-conference game with Davidson tomorrow ahead of the series with Pitt.