The Pitt baseball team resumed its season last week after a lengthy 16 day layoff between games due to COVID-19 protocols. The Panthers had seven games postponed during the stretch, but returned to action this week and split their four games, including a series victory over Boston College over the weekend.
Pitt's first game in over two weeks came last Wednesday, an 8-2 defeat to West Virginia in Morgantown. The Panthers and Mountaineers split the two-game home and home series. Entering this week Pitt currently holds a 22-13 record, with a 16-11 mark in ACC play. Mike Bell's team currently sits in second place in the ACC Coastal standings, as they are one game back in the loss column to division leading Georgia Tech.
Pitt checks in at No. 16 this week in the Baseball America top 25, down two spots from a week ago. As of last week, the Panthers remained in contention to play host to a regional according to several bracket projections. Pitt has seven regular season games remaining, and the team is slated to participate in the ACC Tournament after clinching a spot over the weekend.
Despite the impressive record to date, Pitt still has work to do in regards to landing one of the 16 national seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The layoff certainly took away some opportunities to add to their win total, so these final seven games plus the conference tournament are big for Pitt to add to their resume. Pitt is slated to host North Carolina State over the weekend at Cost Field for a three-game series set to begin on Friday evening. Let's take a look back at Pitt's weekend series against Boston College.
Game One
Pitt 4, Boston College 1
The two weeks between games seemed to cool off the Pitt offense a bit, but fortunately for the Panthers it allowed for the pitchers to get some much needed rest, and it showed. Friday night starter Mitch Myers was excellent in this one as he tossed 7.1 innings allowed one run on four hits, and struck out four Boston College batters. He improved to 4-4 on the year and dropped his ERA to 2.92, which is good for fourth in the ACC. The Pitt offense was held in check, as BC starter Emmet Sheehan struck out 15 Panthers in a strong seven-inning outing. Pitt started to come to life in the sixth inning as Nico Popa and Ron Washington Jr. each had run producing doubles to give Pitt a 2-1 advantage. The Panthers added to it when Sky Duff added another RBI double in the seventh. Veteran second basemen David Yanni clobbered his 10th home run of the year, a solo shot, in the 8th inning to set the final. Jordan McCrum worked the final 1.2 innings to earn his fifth save of the season.
Game Two
Pitt 4, Boston College 3
The weather was certainly a factor this series, as it changed the start time on Friday twice, and also forced the team into a double header on Saturday as the forecast on Sunday featured heavy rain across Western Pennsylvania. Once again, it was another strong pitching performance, this time by Matt Gilbertson. He gutted out 8 innings, scattered 8 hits and allowed three runs. He improved to 6-3 on the year and he currently holds a 3.51 ERA, giving Pitt two starters in the top 10 of that category in the ACC. Pitt struck first when Kyle Hess hit into a fielder's choice in the third inning to plate Sky Duff. After falling behind 2-1, Yanni hit his second home run in as many days to tie the game at 2 in the fourth inning. Boston College took a late lead in the seventh, and the Panthers needed a dramatic come from behind 8th inning to get the win, and that's just what happened. Pitt had runners on the corners with one out, and a perfectly executed squeeze play by centerfielder Jordan Anderson brought home Bryce Hulett to tie the game. Duff then smoked a double to left to bring home the winning run. Duff finished the game 3-for-4 with am RBI, run, and a walk to lead the Pitt offense. Chase Smith worked a 1-2-3 9th inning to give Pitt the win and the series.
Game Three
Boston College 6, Pitt 2
The Panthers and Eagles took a short break, and returned to the field to play the second half of the twin bill to close out the series. The sweep was not meant to be for Pitt, as the Eagles came up with some clutch hits and took advantage of four errors by the Panthers. Pitt starter Bill Corcoran was solid, tossing four innings and allowing two runs, one earned. He left the game with Pitt trailing 2-1, and the Eagles crossed the plate four more times against the Panthers' bullpen. The Pitt offense mustered just five hits and left ten men on base. Red-hot Sky Duff had two hits, while Popa, Hess, and Brock Franks added one hit apiece. Despite the loss to close out the weekend, Pitt did take its sixth series victory of the season against a conference opponent over the Eagles and remain in contention for an ACC Coastal title heading into the stretch run of the season.
