Pitt baseball takes two out of three at Notre Dame

The Pitt baseball team left South Bend, Indiana this weekend after capturing a crucial late-season ACC series win.

The Panthers (24-19 overall, 10-13 ACC) took a big step toward earning a spot in the ACC tournament by winning two out of three games against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (26-20 overall, 11-12 ACC). Pitt won game one on Friday night, 4-2, then took game two on Saturday, 8-5. Notre Dame avoided being swept by winning 5-0 in game three on Sunday.

Junior right-hander Josh Falk pitched into the seventh inning in game one to back the Panthers and earn his third win of the season.

Pitt took the early lead on junior Nick Yarnall’s RBI double after a triple by sophomore Charles LeBlanc in the top of the first. The Panthers scored again in the second to take a 2-0 lead before the Irish struck back in the bottom of the second and tied the game at 2.

The excitement was short-lived for the Irish — Falk shut the door for the rest of the game.

The Panthers snapped the lead right back in the top of the third with a two-run single by sophomore Frank Maldonado. Falk and relievers Garrett Wrambel and Yaya Chentouf shut Notre Dame out over the final seven innings, giving Pitt all the runs it needed to win game one, 4-2.

“It was a very solid win today,” Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said in a press release on Friday. “Josh gave us a very gutsy start and Garrett and Yaya did a great job out of the pen.”

Game two looked to be another low-scoring affair as star pitcher T.J. Zeuch took the hill for the Panthers on Saturday. Zeuch gave up five runs in seven innings of work, but Pitt’s bats lent enough support to pick up his sixth win this year.

Yarnall got the scoring started again in the top of the first, following LeBlanc’s single with a two-run homer to right.

Notre Dame leadoff hitter Cavan Biggio — son of Hall of Fame second baseman Craig Biggio — tied the game up with a two-run single in the bottom of the second, but the Panthers regained the lead in the top of the third.

Pitt tacked on three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to take a commanding 8-2 lead, highlighted by junior Jacob Wright’s third home run of the season.

Junior Ryan Lidge sent a two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-4. Biggio added a double down the right field line to make it a three-run game, but Zeuch stranded him on second.

Wrambel replaced Zeuch to start the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Chentouf was perfect in the ninth to close out the 8-5 win for his sixth save of the season.

“T.J. gave us seven solid innings on a tough day to pitch with the wind hawking pretty good. We played well defensively and took advantage of our offensive opportunities,” Jordano said in a press release on Saturday.

Notre Dame finally got on the board first in game three on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. It was clear the Fighting Irish were going to come out swinging.

Biggio continued his weekend success for the Irish after an 0-for-4 performance on Friday, starting the bottom of the third with a single and stolen base before scoring on senior Ricky Sanchez’s RBI double.

In the fifth, Biggio led off with a double then stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly to give Notre Dame a 4-0 lead.

The Panthers had a ton of trouble against senior left-hander Michael Hearne, who dominated to the tune of 7 ⅔ shutout innings before Pitt chased him with a pair of singles in the top of the eighth.

Reliever Brad Bass walked senior Alex Kowalczyk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate, but got first-year second baseman David Yanni to pop out to end the inning. The Irish tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth to cap off the 5-0 shutout in game three.

“They proved once again how tough it is to win, let alone sweep on the road,” Jordano said in a press release on Sunday. “I’m disappointed with today’s outcome but our club did a solid job this weekend overall.”

Pitt comes home to face Youngstown State at Charles L. Cost Field on Tuesday, May 10 at 6:00 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Penguins on April 20 in Youngstown, Ohio, 17-5.