Baseball: Pitt sweeps Hartford at home

Fourteen games into the season, the Pitt baseball team finally came home.

The Panthers swept… Fourteen games into the season, the Pitt baseball team finally came home.

The Panthers swept Hartford over the weekend in their home-opening three-game series at Charles L. Cost Field.

Led by senior pitcher Matt Iannazzo, Pitt won the series’ first game 4-2. The Panthers then won the second game 8-3 in a solid offensive and defensive performance, while the Panthers’ bats emerged in the final game of the series for a 10-6 victory.

“Getting the sweep was big for our team,” sophomore Steve Shelinsky said. “Coming off an exciting win against Michigan State and winning these three against Hartford gives the team a huge confidence boost. Everyone is contributing a lot to this team, and it was great to pick up the three wins.”

Senior first baseman Rick Devereaux said the Panthers enjoyed returning home after spending about a month playing in Florida and South Carolina.

“Playing at home is always nice, especially with our great new facility,” Devereaux said. “The atmosphere just continues to grow. It was enjoyable.”

Pitt 4, Hartford 2

Iannazzo pitched eight innings for the Panthers in the opening game of the series. He recorded seven strikeouts while walking just one batter and allowing two earned runs.

The senior’s solid outing earned him the 100th win of his career. With the win, Iannazzo moved to first all-time on the Panthers’ win list, ahead of Corey Baker, who graduated last year.

“Matt Iannazzo did a fantastic job on the mound and became the school’s all-time leader in wins,” head coach Joe Jordano said. “I couldn’t be happier for him. Not only is he a great player, but he is a great person.”

The offense got off to a quick start for Iannazzo as the Panthers drew two early walks after Hartford’s Sean Newcomb struggled to locate the strike zone. Devereaux knocked a RBI single through the left side for the first run.

After Iannazzo allowed a run in the fifth, Pitt countered with three big runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Derik Wilson drove in Ronald Sucre on a single to left field, giving the Panthers a lead they would hold for the rest of the game.

Evan Oswald took a walk, allowing Stephen Vranka to step to the plate for a deep hit to right field. After a fielding error, Wilson and Oswald came home for two more runs.

Iannazzo came out in the ninth ining looking for the complete game, but was greeted with back-to-back doubles by the Hartford offense. Freshman closer Tanner Wilt came in to shut the game down and earn his fourth save of the season.

Pitt 8, Hartford 3

Sophomore Ethan Mildren took the mound for the Panthers in the second game of the series and also gave the Panthers solid innings.

He threw seven and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs on eight hits.

The action got started in the third inning when Mildren surrendered a home run to Hartford’s Andy Drexel to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of that inning, the Panthers responded when junior Sam Parente scored on a passed ball. Anthony Defabio followed with a single that scored Wilson.

Parente picked up an RBI of his own with a single in the next inning, scoring Boo Vazquez.

The sixth inning saw sophomore Casey Roche connect on his first career home run. With the two-RBI homer, Pitt extended the lead to 5-2.

But the Panthers weren’t finished. After Hartford’s James Alfonso hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth to narrow the Panthers’ lead to 5-3, Pitt responded with three more runs.

Defabio and Devereaux came through with two singles that scored a total of three runs and produced the final 8-3 score.

Junior Alex Caravella pitched one and a third innings in relief for Pitt to end the game.

Pitt 10, Hartford 6

Devereaux led the Panthers in the final game, going 4-5 at the plate with a home run and four RBI.

“Rick is our three-hitter,” Jordano said. “He’s the guy we want out there late in the game with runners in scoring position. Rick does a great job and was patient today. He let the ball come to him and in turn hit it hard.”

Pitt’s pitcher, sophomore Matt Wotherspoon, struggled in the final outing of the weekend for the Panthers. He allowed six earned runs on five hits in five innings of work. The sophomore also walked two batters and hit two batters.

With Pitt trailing 3-0, Devereaux’s two-run home run down the left-field line highlighted a two-out rally for Pitt in the bottom of the third. The five-run inning put the Panthers on top.

After Hartford tied the game at six in the fifth inning, Jordano made the call to his bullpen for freshman pitcher Joe Harvey.

Harvey provided a spark for the Panthers in the last four innings. He pitched shut-out baseball with six strikeouts and no hits.

“It was great to see Joe pitch the way he did,” Jordano said. “He helps solidify things for us in the bullpen. I was very pleased with his performance today.”

With Harvey on the mound, Pitt added three runs in the sixth inning and one in the seventh to extend the score to the final tally of 10-6.