Baseball: Panthers take two of three from Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina made the NCAA Tournament in 2013, while Pitt did not. But it was the Panthers that looked like the tournament team this past weekend.

The Pitt’s baseball team took two of three games from the Chanticleers at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The Panthers (2-1, 0-0 ACC) outscored Coastal Carolina (1-2, 0-0 Big South) by a margin of 25-16 in three games. Jordan Frabasilio and Boo Vazquez led the way offensively with four hits apiece.

Pitt struggled at the plate and in the field, though, as the team committed nine errors and hit just .205 in the three-game series.

Pitt 7, Coastal Carolina 5

Through the first four innings, the game was shaping up to be a pitchers’ duel, as neither pitcher allowed a run over that span.

Coastal Carolina ace Ben Smith did not allow a hit over the first four innings and struck out nine Pitt batters. Despite Smith’s high strikeout total, the lefty struggled with his control, as he walked four batters and hit another with a pitch.

With his pitch count mounting, Baseball America’s No. 48 prospect was chased from the game in the fifth inning with two men out and the bases loaded, despite having not allowed a hit.

Reliever Seth Lamando replaced Smith and allowed the first hit of the ball game, an infield single by Casey Roche that plated the first run for either team.

The base hit gave the Panthers a slim 1-0 lead. Following a perfect fifth inning, the Panthers tallied another run on a Manny Pazos sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the inning, senior Matt Wotherspoon (1-0) looked to be in control until sophomore second baseman Dylan Wolsonovich committed a costly error on a surefire double-play ball. The error extended the inning and plated a run.

Following the error, Pitt head coach Joe Jordano yanked Wotherspoon in favor of lefty Jon Danielczyk, who was able to escape the inning with a timely double play.

“Spoon gave us a chance today,” Jordano told the team website. “He really pitched a solid game and our bullpen did a solid job, as well.”

In the top of the next inning, the Panthers extended their lead to 5-1 when transfer Frabasilio socked a three-run home run to left field. Pitt then tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning.

“We looked a bit like it was the first time on a field, at times a little rough,” Jordano said. “But we had some great situational at-bats and scored five runs with two outs and that was the difference in the ball game.”

Pitt 10, Coastal Carolina 6

In the second game of the series, neither starting pitcher was effective, as Pitt’s Rhys Aldenhoven and Coastal Carolina’s Tyler Herb allowed a pair of runs in the first inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Aldenhoven ran into a bit of trouble, allowing a run before he was lifted from the game. Junior college transfer Hobie Harris took over for the senior from Australia and got the final out of the inning.

Harris went on to pitch another four innings of relief in which he allowed three runs, but he earned a win after the Panthers added three runs in both the fifth and seventh innings.

In the fifth, Boo Vazquez drove two runs home with a bases-loaded single, and Wolsonovich added a two-run double two innings later. All-American Casey Roche added a home run in the top of the eighth inning for a 10-3 Pitt lead.

Jordano needed to call on Andrew Belfiglio after Harris (1-0) failed to record an out in the ninth and allowed three runs to cross. Belfiglio allowed an RBI single to the first batter he faced before recording the final three outs.

Coastal Carolina 8, Pitt 5

In the series finale, freshman T.J. Zeuch took the ball for the Panthers while fellow freshman Dalton Moats started for the Chanticleers.

The Panthers struck first late Sunday afternoon when an Eric Hess sacrifice fly brought Steven Shelinsky Jr. home in the second inning.

But the Chanticleers struck for four runs to reclaim the lead in the third, aided by a Zeuch error on a sacrifice bunt. The miscue extended the inning and Coastal Carolina capitalized with four straight RBI singles with two outs.

The offensive outburst chased Zeuch from the game, and Jordano called upon Renan Rodriguez to get the final out of the frame.

In the top of the fifth, the Panthers scored four times to regain the lead. The big play was another bases-loaded single by Vazquez that scored two runs.

Jordano then brought transfer Adam Dian out of the bullpen with a runner on third base and one out in the sixth.

However, Dian allowed an RBI single to Chanticleers catcher Tyler Chadwick to tie the game. On the very next pitch, Dian (0-1) threw the ball into center field on a sacrifice-bunt attempt, allowing the Chanticleers to take a 6-5 lead that they never relinquished.

Coastal Carolina added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth before closing the game out in the top of the seventh.

“It was a long day at the ballpark,” Jordano said. “We did a solid job in game one [of Sunday’s doubleheader] to win the series. We had an opportunity in game two, but credit goes to Coastal Carolina for scoring six runs with two outs.”