Baseball shut out at Kent State

This past Wednesday the Pitt baseball team traveled to Ohio and took on the Kent State Golden… This past Wednesday the Pitt baseball team traveled to Ohio and took on the Kent State Golden Flashes in the continuation of a non-conference matchup series.

Despite considerable efforts, the Panthers (9-12, 3-3 Big East) fell short as they dropped the contest, 3-0.

Kent State has won the last three meetings between the teams in a series that dates back to 1951.

The 51st matchup of the two teams turned out to be a defensive battle as both teams’ pitching dominated the plate. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Golden Flashes got on the board.

Taking the mound for the Panthers in his second start of the year was right-handed pitcher Ryan Dunford.

So far this year for the Panthers, Dunford has produced great numbers on the mound; he’s allowed just two runs in 12.1 innings pitched. Dunford had another solid start to Wednesday’s game, striking out three and walking only two in six innings of work. But without run support, Dunford’s day was done as soon as the Golden Flashes got on the board.

The scoreless game was broken in the sixth inning when Kent State’s Greg Rohan hit a double down the left field line off of Dunford. The Golden Flashes (10-13) then rallied and went on to score two runs from the hit.

Kent State sophomore pitcher Alan Morrison kept the Panther offense limited at best. In five innings he gave up only one hit, which did not produce a run, and struck out three batters.

In the first four and a half innings both teams were limited to just one hit. Junior Sean Conley was the first Panther to get a hit off of the Golden Flashes, with a single to right field in the third.

And without any further progression coming in from the rest of the Panthers’ lineup, Conley was left on base for the remainder of the inning and was unable to advance or score.

The Golden Flashes added another run, scoring a runner on second with a single up the middle. Kent State then led 3-0, the eventual final score.

But Pitt tried to muster some of its missing offense late in the game. In the eighth inning, the Panthers picked up their second hit of the game, a single through the right side by freshman Dan Lopez.

With junior Nick Mullins already on base from being hit by the pitcher on the previous at bat, the Panthers had an opportunity to stage a rally. But the inning ended when the following Pitt batters failed to put the ball in play, preventing a possible comeback.

The win set the Panthers back three games in the series as the Golden Flashes continue to lead the series with a 27-24 all-time lead.

Pitt will return to action on Friday with a Big East match-up against Notre Dame. The three game series that will take place at Trees Field begins on Friday at 6 p.m. The following games will be on Saturday at 3 p.m. and wrap up with a noon matchup on Sunday.