Weekend Sports Recap | Swim and dive take on NCAA Championships, baseball trumps Virginia Tech

Pitt Athletics stayed busy over the weekend, with many sports continuing their campaigns. Baseball had the most successful of the four teams playing, taking two out of three games against Virginia Tech.

Swim and Dive

The Panthers participated in the men’s NCAA Championships in Minneapolis this weekend. The NCAA championship concluded with Pitt tied for No. 33 in total score with Penn State. As a whole, the team struggled, but a number of athletes brought home individual honors.

The Panthers placed 16th in the 400 yard medley relay overall with a time of 3:05:72, breaking a school record. This performance earned sophomore Krzysztof Radziszewski, fifth year Cooper Van der Laan, junior Marcin Goraj and senior Domenic Toledo Honorable Mention All-American status. 

Van der Laan, a member of the 400 yard Medley Relay, achieved Honorable Mention All-American status from his 50.72 time in the 100 breast finals. Van der Laan earned 16th place overall with his time.

Lacrosse

Pitt (3-8, 0-5 ACC) faced off against No. 16 Duke (6-5, 1-4 ACC) on Sunday. The slumping Panthers were able to get off to a quick start against the ranked Blue Devils, with goals from sophomore attacker Sydney Naylor and senior attacker Camdyn O’Donnell. 

Despite the early lead, the Panthers quickly relinquished their advantage, as the Blue Devils went on to score six unanswered goals, prior to sophomore Attacker Ava Washington’s score late in the second quarter of play.

The Blue Devils outscored the Panthers 9-3 in the second half of play, leading to a 16-8 loss. They will continue play with an out-of-conference matchup, hosting Youngstown State on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Softball

The Panthers hosted an ACC foe over the weekend, facing Virginia in a three-game set. 

The Cavaliers took the first game of the series in blowout fashion, crushing the Panthers 9-0 in five innings, on Friday. The middle of the Cavaliers order, led by senior shortstop Katie Goldberg and graduate first baseman Tori Gilbert hit a combined 5-6, totaling two home runs, two doubles and five of the seven Cavalier runs batted in. 

Redshirt sophomore pitcher Dani Drogemuller earned the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits in two innings of work. First-year pitcher Eden Bingham earned the victory for Virginia, securing a complete game shutout with her five scoreless innings of work.

On Saturday, the Cavaliers again claimed victory and secured a series win, heading into Sunday’s series finale in a 4-2 loss for the Panthers.

The Panthers claimed the lead in the bottom of the 5th, beginning the inning with a home run from sophomore catcher Amanda “Tuta” Ramirez, leveling the score at 1-1. Later in the inning, graduate student infielder Yvonne Whaley knocked in first-year center fielder Macy Hamilton, giving the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.

Pitt’s Dani Drogmuller again earned the start, this time going the distance with seven innings of work. The redshirt sophomore finished the day allowing three earned runs on nine hits. 

Virginia earned a series sweep on Sunday, handing the Panthers a 5-8 loss. 

Pitt responded to a first-inning two-run home run, evening the score at 2-2 following a score via wild pitch, and an RBI double from graduate student infielder Sarah Seamans. The Cavaliers would go on to score six unanswered runs before a futile ninth-inning three-run rally for the Panthers. Pitt exits the series with a 14-14 record and hasn’t earned an ACC win after six games.

Softball returns to action on Friday at 5 p.m, where they begin a three-game series against Notre Dame (18-8, 4-4 ACC) in South Bend. 

Baseball

The Panthers (9-9 1-3 ACC) faced off against Virginia Tech (13-7, 1-5 ACC) in a three-game weekend series. The Hokies, who were ranked for a majority of the season prior to the matchup, entered the series losing five of their last six games.

The Panthers pulled off a comeback victory to begin the series, defeating the Hokies 5-4 on Friday. They entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 4-3. Graduate student infielder Sky Duff began the inning with a one-out walk, followed by a two-out single from senior infielder Noah Martinez, giving senior catcher/infielder Jack Anderson a chance to tie the game. 

Anderson delivered a game-tying single to tie the score at 4-4. The bases were then loaded for junior infielder Justin Acal following a walk, who drew a walk himself to push over the go-ahead run making the game 5-4. 

Junior pitcher Dylan Simmons worked his way out of trouble in Friday’s matchup, delivering a brilliant three-inning performance allowing only one run. Simmons earned his first win of the season from the performance.  

The Hokies stormed back on Saturday, thumping the Panthers in a 20-12 slugfest and evening the series entering sunday. The Panthers again escaped defeat with a 5-4 comeback victory in the third game of the series, after once trailing 4-0. The Panthers took the lead in the eighth inning with a game-tying home run from junior outfielder CJ Funk and a go-ahead double from Duff. 

The Panthers return to action on Tuesday, where they face off against Keystone rivals Penn State at 6 p.m.