Baseball: Pitt sweeps double header against Youngstown State, Manhattan

The Pitt baseball team opened its home schedule in exciting fashion Saturday afternoon, picking up a powerful 9-2 victory over Youngstown State and recording an dramatic 6-5 comeback win against Manhattan.

The Panthers (7-4) registered eight hits and eight runs batted in (RBI) in their home opener at Charles L. Cost Field while limiting the Penguins (3-13) to only six hits with their two runs. In the second game of the afternoon double header to open the Panther Classic, Pitt smacked 11 hits against the Jaspers of Manhattan (2-7), but the most important came on a clutch pinch-hit triple off the bat of sophomore Boo Vazquez with the bases loaded that allowed Pitt to take its first lead of the game in the eighth inning. Vazquez’s three-run extra-base hit into the right-field alley put Pitt up 6-5 and set the stage for redshirt junior reliever J.R. Leonardi to earn his first save of the season.

“When you look at the scope of the season, we’re just trying to get better. So you put it in perspective, we played two solid teams today,” Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said. “I was very pleased with where we’re at with everything today.”

Pitt 9, Youngstown State 2

Junior starter Ethan Mildren (2-1) kept Youngstown State at bay over the course of eight innings, allowing only two runs on six hits while striking out six Penguins to defeat his opposition on the mound, Blake Aquadro (1-3).

Mildren started his day looking like the ace of the Pitt pitching staff, as he retired the first 10 batters he faced. Youngstown State did not register a hit until the fourth inning.

Pitt sophomore catcher Elvin Soto led the offensive charge, driving in two runs on two separate occasions. In the first inning, Soto cracked a double off the left-field wall to score senior Sam Parente and Vazquez, and then the catcher lined a single off the right-field wall in the eighth inning, which scored Parente and Vazquez again.

Pitt’s first inning set the tone for the rest of the ballgame as the Panthers scored five runs on the two-run double off Soto’s bat, a two-run triple to deep centerfield from Parente, and Soto scored on a throwing error. At the end of one inning, Pitt led 5-0 and had all the runs it would need to defeat the Penguins.

The real story of the inning, and the game, were the mistakes made by the Penguins in the first inning on the mound and in the field throughout the game. Youngstown State’s Aquadro seemed to be on his way to a 1-2-3 start, but he hit junior Casey Roche and walked redshirt junior Steven Shelinsky, Jr. to put two on for Parente, who tripled them home. Aquadro then hit Vazquez to put runners on the corners for Soto.

“We put runners into scoring position with two outs,” Youngstown State head coach Steve Gillespie said. “Those runners are supposed to score when you do those kinds of things…You can’t give good teams — physical, strong, good offensive teams — too many extra outs or its going to hurt you.”

Aquadro did manage to establish a rhythm on the mound after his rocky start, preventing the Panthers from scoring another run through the sixth inning. Aquadro finished his day after six innings, allowing five runs on six hits, striking out three, walking two and hitting another two.

“That’s kind of what he’s done,” Gillespie said about Aquadro. “He’s been able to throw all four of his pitches for strikes pretty much at any time in the count; he’s locating well. That was very unusual for him to hit a left-handed hitter with a breaking ball.”

While Aquadro kept Pitt’s offense at bay in the middle of the game, the Penguin offense could not capitalize on his efforts. Youngstown State only managed two runs — one in the fourth inning and one in the sixth.

Leading 5-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth — and what turned out to be Pitt’s final at-bat — the Panthers picked up two runs quickly after sophomore Eric Hess drew a walk and Roche followed with a blast over the left-field fence.

Soto’s four-RBI game against Youngstown St. pushed his total up to 15 prior to the Manhattan game, the highest on the team, as he continues to build on his stellar freshman season in which tied for the team lead in home runs with seven.

“I’ve been working all season, just keeping it more simple and not swinging out of my shoes,” Soto said.

Pitt took a 9-2 lead into the ninth inning, and redshirt senior Jimmy Devine entered the game in relief of Mildren. Devine sealed the win for Pitt as the Panthers ended their three-game losing streak.

Pitt 6, Manhattan 5

In the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader, Pitt earned its first comeback victory of the season against Manhattan. The Panthers did not lead until its final at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning when Vazquez stepped up from the bench and delivered a three-run triple to put Pitt on top.

“That’s a character-builder,” Jordano said about the win. “We needed to get that and we felt good about it. Boo came up and got a really big hit there, and we’re very pleased with how we played overall. We pitched a little bit tough early, and we hung in there and battled tough.”

Junior starter Matt Wotherspoon (2-1) earned the victory for the Panthers, working eight innings and allowing five runs on nine hits. Wotherspoon also struck out five Jaspers.

Wotherspoon struggled early, giving up three runs in his first three innings pitched. But he held the Jaspers scoreless until the eighth, which allowed Pitt to come back and tie the game at 3-3.

Manhattan responded with two more runs in the top half of the eighth inning to regain a 5-3 lead, setting up the game-deciding at-bat from Vazquez in the bottom half.

The big inning began with a single by Hess, followed by walks drawn by Shelinsky and Soto.

Soto said he would’ve loved to provide the clutch hit, but he knew that most importantly he needed to get on base.

“You always want to be in that situation. That’s a situation winners want to be in,” the sophomore catcher said. “You want to get that big hit, but hey, I got that walk and extended the inning with two outs and Boo came up big straight off the bench.”

Although Manhattan may not be the best team Pitt will play this season, Soto believes the Panthers learned something about themselves from their comeback victory.

“We have heart. We battle. We’re not just going to give up and crumble. We’re going to keep fighting,” Soto said. “That’s what the coaches have been teaching all year, just go one pitch at a time and just attack the game.”

Pitt hosts rematches against both Manhattan and Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon, facing the Jaspers at 1:30 p.m. and the Penguins at 4:30 p.m. at Charles L. Cost Field.