Baseball: Panthers lose first game at new complex

A new home didn’t bring the Pitt baseball team any new luck against Kent State yesterday… A new home didn’t bring the Pitt baseball team any new luck against Kent State yesterday afternoon.

Pitt opened up the new Petersen Sports Complex on upper campus with a 10-7 loss to Kent State at Charles L. Cost Field. The Panthers (8-5) continued their funk against the Golden Flashes (8-6) as Kent State blew out the Panthers twice last season, 16-3 and 19-6.

“I thought we played hard through the end but we made too many mistakes, both offensively and defensively,” head coach Joe Jordano said. “We just didn’t get the job done. I’m obviously disappointed we lost our opening game at this beautiful field.”

The Panthers’ pitching let them down early as David Kaye allowed two runs in the first inning. Kaye was given the stadium’s inaugural start after sitting out all of last season because of Tommy John surgery.

Luke Novosel replaced Kaye in the second, but he also gave up two runs throughout the next three innings.

The Panthers finally got on the board in the third inning. Kevan Smith hit a single into left field and made his way to third base off of two sacrifice outs from David Chester and Travis Whitmore. Rick Devereaux singled to right field and Smith ran home for Pitt’s first-ever run at Charles L. Cost Field.

At that point, the Panthers were only down 3-1, but the Kent State bats never cooled down, no matter who was on the mound for Pitt.

Pitt went through five pitchers – Kaye, Novosel, Cole Taylor, Lucas Ellex and Casey Roche, but Kent State’s offense lit up for 15 hits — including a home run, a triple and two doubles.

“Kent’s good,” Jordano said. “They’re the premier team in the MAC conference. They’re well-coached and we have a great deal of respect for Kent.”

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Chester smacked a ball to center field, which sailed over the wall and hit the parking garage beneath the Cost Center. The two-run blast marked the first home run in the history of the Petersen Sports Complex.

The Panthers scored three more runs in the eighth inning, thanks to a triple by pinch hitter Evan Oswald, but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback as Kent State’s Ben Klafczynski hit a home run to the exact same spot to keep the game out of reach.

“We have an offensive plan that we talk about every day,” Jordano said of his decision to put in pinch hitters. “I was not very pleased with what we were doing at the plate, so we made changes to put people in there that will execute.”

But those pinch hitters proved too little, too late as Stephen Vranka struck out in the bottom of the ninth to end Pitt’s comeback hopes and send Kent State home with the victory.

Pitt senior Zachary Duggan said the Panthers couldn’t get the same kind of timely hits as Kent State. He added that the coaches will correct Pitt’s mistakes.

“Obviously a win today would have made this opening so much better,” he said. “We go to the park and expect to win everyday.”

The new Charles L. Cost Field marked a stark difference from the run-down Trees Field, Pitt’s old home. The new 900-seat stadium has field turf for grass, the infield and the batter’s box. Only the pitching mound is dirt.

“The grounds crew did a great job getting the field prepared,” Jordano said. “The marketing crew did a great job in game presentation. The weather didn’t cooperate that well, but overall it was a pretty special day for our program.”

Duggan said the team is grateful to the athletic department for the new facilities.

“That stadium has been a long time coming for our program,” Duggan said. “Everyone was so anxious to get out there and run around … We as a team were definitely excited to get out on the field.”

The Panthers will have four chances to earn their first win at the new stadium this weekend, with games against Niagara on Friday and Sunday and a double-header on Saturday against Youngstown State and Toledo.

“We’re a good team and we will learn and grow as a team from this loss,” Duggan said.

Editor’s note: Isaac Saul also contributed to this report.