PITTSBURGH — Pitt blew out Bucknell, 21-5, in its home opener at Charles L. Cost Field on Tuesday afternoon. The game was never a contest, as the Panthers got on top early and never looked back. Pitt is now 9-7 on the season.
The Panthers’ bats were hot all game, as they went through four Bucknell pitchers with 17 hits and five home runs. Jack Anderson had two home runs and 6 RBIs. Kyle Hess and Tatem Levins each had four RBIs also.
“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Anderson said on his two home runs. “I feel like a couple games previously I was just swinging at pitches that I couldn’t drive. I think that was my main focus, just trying to get pitches to hit. And I got a couple today.”
Pitt gave Bucknell pitcher Ben Magovern fits in the bottom of the first, as the Panthers scored eight runs. Magovern didn’t even make it out of the inning and was replaced by Renn Lints.
After getting out to a 4-0 lead, Hess hit a triple to bring another two runs in to make it 6-0. A wild pitch by Magovern followed and brought Hess home to enhance the Panthers’ lead to 7-0. A single by Johnny Long made it 8-0, and that’s when Bucknell head coach Scott Heather saw enough and pulled Magovern.
In the bottom of the second and with a runner on base, Andersen hit a home run off Lints to give the Panthers a 10-1 lead.
Bucknell hit three straight singles to start the top of the third and cut the Panthers’ lead to 10-2. Jacob Courson’s single brought in the Bisons’ one run of the inning.
The Panthers continued to have their way with Bucknell’s pitchers, as Ron Washington Jr. hit a home run in the bottom of the third to increase Pitt’s lead to 11-2. It was the second home run allowed by Lints after Magovern gave up eight runs in the bottom of the first.
In the bottom of the fourth, Jeffrey Wehler hit a double to bring in home CJ Funk to make it 12-2. Brock Franks followed with a home run to enhance the Panthers’ lead to 14-2. It was the third home run allowed by Lints on the afternoon. After facing a few other batters, Lints was replaced by Luke Allain.
The second batter that Allain faced was Andersen, and he hit his second home run of the game, as he crushed the ball to the right corner of the field. Anderson’s home run brought in three runs and the Panthers had a commanding 17-2 lead heading into the top of the fifth.
“It was a fastball outside, just kind of stayed with my legs, got deep a little bit, and put the barrel on it,” Anderson said about his second home run. “The wind was going out today too, so it was nice to see it go up in the air and go over the fence.”
Pitt’s starting pitcher Ben Dragani was replaced by Brady Devereux in the top of the fifth. Dragani allowed just two runs in four innings and had an ERA of 6.75.
Pitt continued to pour it on in the bottom of the fifth, as Levins hit a home run off Allain that brought in three runs and gave Pitt a 20-2 advantage. It was the Panthers’ fifth home run of the game. Allain was replaced by Bryce Reimer in the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Johnathan Batista relieved Devereux and gave up just two runs the rest of the way, securing a 21-5 win for the Panthers.
Pitt’s next game is on Wednesday, March 16, against Youngstown State at Charles L. Cost Field. First pitch is at 3 p.m.
