Takeaways | Pitt baseball wins one, drops two in ACC series with Miami

Over the weekend, Pitt baseball (17-14, ACC 4-8) hosted Miami (17-16, ACC 4-8) in its fourth ACC series. The Panthers took the victory with a 7-2 win in game two of Friday’s doubleheader but fell 9-4 in the first game and took a 14-4 mercy-rule loss on Sunday afternoon. 

“We’ve got to make some changes through the season here and continue to put our guys in the best position possible,” Pitt head coach Mike Bell said after Sunday’s loss. “Play good baseball, and we have to do a better job of being consistent.”

Panthers’ pitching struggles

The Panthers’ pitching staff set the tone early, going three-up, three-down in the first inning of all three games, but it struggled to build on the early momentum in the losses. 

Pitt allowed five combined runs in the final two innings of the first game, as Miami scored on a wild pitch in the eighth and walked in two runs in the ninth. The Panthers had entered the eighth inning at a 4-3 deficit, but the mistakes put the game out of reach for the Panthers’ offense in a huge moment. 

On Sunday, Pitt tested six pitchers for the third game’s matchup. They combined for 14 runs allowed, 15 hits and just three strikeouts — outs were hard to come by. The Hurricanes’ offense overpowered Pitt despite the cold and windy weather blowing in Pittsburgh’s favor. 

Erase the errors

Pitt’s frustrating mistakes were the difference in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader. The Panthers’ defense let three pop-flies hit the ground, putting runners on base that they could have avoided. 

While a mixture of miscommunication and strong wind played a role in the drops, small mistakes are what built momentum for the Miami offense and shook the confidence of Pitt’s pitching staff. This lethal combination ultimately cost the Panthers game one of the series.

Reed runs deep in game two

The Panthers’ best performance of the weekend came from junior pitcher Ryan Reed. He took the mound in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader and threw seven scoreless innings in Pitt’s eventual win. 

“I thought Ryan Reed was phenomenal, putting up zero after zero after zero,” Bell said. “You have to have somebody step up and do that. You can get a quality start like that, shorten your bullpen for you, and allow you to save some guys for the rest of the weekend. That’s important when you’re playing a three-game series.”

Reed allowed just three hits and one walk, striking out five opponents while lifting Pitt to a victory. The junior threw six innings in his previous two outings and continues to prove his reliability as a Saturday starter for the Panthers. 

Seeking an ACC series win

Pitt has now lost its first four conference series to Georgia Tech, NC State, Boston College and Miami, avoiding a sweep but only winning one in each.

“We’re putting ourselves in position — we just need to finish off some series,” Bell said after Sunday’s loss. “We’ve played some good baseball to this point, but we just haven’t gotten on that roll.”

The Panthers are currently 13th in the ACC, with series losses to two of the teams below them, Boston College and Miami. 

Pitt’s opportunity to get back on track starts on Tuesday when it heads to Ohio to face Youngstown State (7-23, MAC 4-8) at 5 p.m. In their last meeting, the Panthers secured a 17-7 victory, run-ruling the Penguins in eight innings. 

The rematch comes at a great time for Pitt, with a chance to work on the basics and build confidence ahead of next weekend’s ACC series at Virginia.