Pitt eked out an 11-10 victory over Maine on opening day Friday in the Snowbird Classic at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
A four-run scoring surge by the Panthers in the bottom of the eighth was just enough to outlast the Black Bears. Junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Mosley got his first win in his first career start.
Jeremiah Jenkins got the Black Bears on the scoreboard first with a two-run homer to right field in the first inning. The Panthers answered in the bottom of the first as AJ Nessler got walked with the bases loaded and Noah Martinez was brought home to cut Maine’s lead to 2-1. Pitt took their first lead in the bottom of the second after Sky Duff hit a two-run double to put the Panthers up 3-2.
Maine pitcher Caleb Leys gave up another run in the bottom of the third and got replaced by freshman right-hander Luc Lavigueur. Leys gave up five hits and four runs in only three innings of work. Lavigueur retired the side in relief and kept the Black Bears’ deficit at two runs.
Jenkins hit another homer to right field in the top of the fourth to bring the Black Bears within one run. It was the second homer allowed by Mosley on the afternoon. Maine nearly tied the game, but shortstop Tommy Tavarez made a spectacular throw at home plate to get Jake Marquet out.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tavarez ripped one down  the right line to bring two runners home and increase the Panthers lead to 6-3. Long then scored off an unearned run to make it a 7-4 game. The Black Bears railed in the top of the fifth by scoring four runs to tie the game at 7-7. Maine had their way with right-handed pitcher Dylan Simmons, who was pulled before the inning even concluded. Jonathan Bautista cleaned things up and retired the side for the Pitt.
The Panthers pulled away with four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Pitt had just one hit in the inning but was able to capitalize off two costly errors by Maine. The Black Bears scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but came up just short of tying the game, as Brady Devereux struck out Dylan McNary to secure the win for the Panthers.
Pitt freshman and Hopewell native Anthony LaSala got the start at second base and gave Mike Bell plenty of production from the 9th spot. LaSala went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, scored 2 runs and had his first college double. Senior designated hitter Jack Anderson went four of six and had two doubles.
The Panthers face Maine again on Saturday (Feb. 18) and Sunday (Feb. 19). Both are slated for noon starts. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Ethan Firoved will start for Pitt on Saturday afternoon, while graduate student righty Erubiel Candelario will get the nod on Sunday. Both games can be streamed live on FloBaseball.
Great coverage. Couldn’t watch this but was able to use a game tracker to follow. I just hope that this isn’t a sign of things to come from our pitching.
Lots of turnover and rebuilding of the roster.
H2P