No. 24 Pitt Powers Past Mountaineers
The West Virginia Mountaineers fell to the No. 24 Pitt Panthers 5-1 on Tuesday evening. West Virginia grabbed an early lead, but the Panthers posted four runs in the third to hold a three-run advantage and held the lead on the arm of starting pitcher Chris Gomez.
Victor Scott hit a two-out single in the top of the first, followed by a single from Hudson Byorick, which moved Scott to third, and Paul McIntosh hit a hard single into left field to deliver the game’s first run, and the Mountaineers held the early 1-0 advantage.
Pitt put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the inning but West Virginia starting pitcher Carlson Reed ended the inning on a strikeout.
Reed found himself in trouble in the second after David Yanni hit a leadoff double and walked the next batter to give the Panthers two on with two outs before head coach Randy Mazy took a trip to the mound to settle down the freshman. Reed buckled down, struck out one, walked another, jammed up Jackson Phinney to pot out at third before a deep fly to right field ended the inning and leaving the runners stranded. However, Pitt got to Reed in the third.
Kyle Hess hit a one-out solo home run over the extended left field wall to tie the game at one. Ron Washington Jr double into deep centerfield, and David Yanni went opposite field with a sharp line-drive, but third baseman Kyle Brophy was able to get his glove on it to knock it down to save a run. Nonetheless, Panthers had runners on the corners band Bryce Hulett hit the left-centerfield wall for a two-RBI double as Pitt took a 3-1 lead.
The offensive spark brought Mazey back to the mound and called out to his bullpen for the right-hander, Zach Ottinger. The second out came on a blooper back to the pitcher, advance Hulett to third, and on a tough ground ball to short, the throw over to first just missed the outreached glove of first baseman Matt McCormick to take on the fourth run of the inning.
Pitt continued to put pressure on in the fourth, starting the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles before left fielder Hudson Byorick tracked down a fading fly ball into foul territory, making a sliding grab for the first out. Mazey went back to his bullpen for the righthanded sidearm of Noah Short, who got out of the inning, striking out one.
The Panthers tacked on another run in the seventh when Yanni hit a deep drive well over the right field wall extending the lead 5-1.
Pitt starting pitcher Chris Gomez locked in after giving up three hits and one run in the first, only allowing three hits in the next six innings, striking out three, and only allowing one Mountaineer baserunner to reach second. Relievers Chase Smith and Jordan McCrum allowed one hit apiece but kept West Virginia off the board as the Panthers held on 5-1.
West Virginia is back in action this Friday as the Mountaineers host the Oklahoma Sooners in the first of a three-game series, with the first pitch set for 6:30 pm EST.
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