A walk-off grand slam by Noah Martinez lifted the Panthers to a 12-10 win over Harvard on Friday afternoon at Centennial Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Along with Martinez’s banner day, Tommy Tavarez and CJ Funk also had hot bats, each recording two RBIs. In total, the Panthers had nine hits off Harvard’s pitchers.
The Panthers’ pitching rotation continues to struggle, as they allowed 13 hits and 10 runs against Harvard. In four games, Pitt has surrendered at least eight runs in each outing.
Harvard struck first as Jake Berger singled down the right field line to bring Peter Messervy home. Pitt answered in the bottom of the first, thanks to a RBI single by Tavarez and a throwing error that brought Jack Anderson in for a run.
Harvard retook the lead in the top of the second after a fielding error by Tavarez and a wild pitch by Kyle Mosley. Each mishap brought in one run for the Crimson. Harvard extended its lead to 5-2 after a dropped fly ball by Tavarez, which was the second error in the inning by the Panthers shortstop. Through two innings, Mosley allowed five hits and had a 7.50 ERA.
The Panthers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second off a walk. Harvard’s George Cooper flied out to right field in the bottom of the third to bring in another run for the Crimson. Back-to-back singles by Tavarez and AJ Nessler in the bottom of the fourth scored two runs to cut Harvard’s lead to 6-5.
Pitt took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth after a double to center field by CJ Funk. Sky Duff and Anthony LaSala scored to give Pitt a one-run advantage at 7-6. Nessler scored off a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Panthers lead to 8-6.
After going scoreless in three straight innings, Harvard stormed back in the bottom of the seventh and retook the lead with three runs. Hunter Baldwin got things started with a doubled down the left field line to bring Will Jacobsen home. Cooper then singled up the middle to bring two more runners to home plate. Jacobsen doubled down the right field line to extend the Crimson’s lead to 10-8 in the bottom of the eighth.
Pitt will continue its four-game series against Harvard on Saturday morning from Centennial Park. The first leg of the doubleheader on Saturday starts at 11:30 a.m., while the second game is at 2:30 p.m. The Panthers wrap up their series with the Crimson on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
This pitching is awful. Where did Bell get these guys?