From the diamond to the wrestling mat, Pitt athletics competed in another action-packed sports weekend — highlighted by Pitt baseball opening its season on a sweep and Track and Field closing their regular season on 12 personal bests. Overall, the Panthers found plenty of success on Valentine’s Weekend.
Baseball
Pitt Baseball (3-0, 0-0 ACC) began its season with a three-game series against Eastern Michigan (0-3, 0-0 MAC) in Port Charlotte, Florida. On opening day, the Panthers defeated the Eagles 9-8 in an extra-innings thriller — the first in program history. In the bottom of the seventh, Pitt faced an 8-2 deficit, and defeat appeared increasingly likely.
The Panthers played an electric seventh inning, scoring six runs with six hits and tying the game at eight runs a piece. Amid the rally, redshirt junior outfielder Lorenzo Carrier launched a two-run homer, his first as a Panther. Senior pitcher Kyle Demi stepped in to silence the Eagles’ bats, as the western Pennsylvania native threw two shutout innings. Then first-year pitcher Gavin Chillot added three scoreless innings of his own. Finally, first-year infielder Ryan Zuckerman became the night’s hero, walking the Panthers off with a solo shot deep into the left field in the bottom of the 12th.
The following Saturday, the Panthers won another high-scoring affair 11-8. Once again, they needed their rally caps, erasing yet another multi-run lead. This time around, the Panthers put seven runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh, overcoming an 8-4 Eastern Michigan lead.
The Panthers’ bats once again propelled them to victory. Senior infielder Luke Cantwell and senior utility man David Pedanou lead the offense with two RBIs each. With one scoreless inning and two strikeouts, redshirt junior pitcher Daniel McAuliff notched his first win at Pitt.
The Panthers brought out the brooms in Sunday’s series finale, mercy-ruling Eastern Michigan 17-2. In the most complete game of the young season, the Panthers outhit their opponents 16-4. Cantwell, Zuckerman and Carrier all recorded three hits in the shortened match, while Pitt combined for three home runs on the day.
In his Panther debut, redshirt sophomore Drew Lafferty earned the win, conceding two runs over five innings. Lafferty struck out four and walked none.
Softball
Pitt softball (5-5, 0-0 ACC) had an up-and-down weekend in the Easton Classic II in Houston, Texas. On Friday, Pitt first took on UIW (4-6, 0-0 SLC) winning 8-7.
In the bottom of the seventh, Pitt trailed 7-4, down to its last three outs. But the players had some magic up their sleeves, as junior outfielder Camryn Murphy hit a walk-off three-run bomb to end the game. The walk-off homer marked Murphy’s second of the game, as the Pittsburgh native recorded an impressive five RBIs.
To end the night, the Panthers defeated Houston (8-2, 0-0 Big 12) 6-3. Pitt came out of the gates on fire, with first-inning home runs from redshirt junior infielder Tieley Vaughn and graduate student infielder Kaitlyn Brannstrom. Senior pitcher Kyra Pittman pitched a solid outing, allowing two earned runs over five innings.
On Saturday though, the Cardinals and Cougars turned the tables, both defeating the Panthers. In the first match, UIW won 16-10. Brannstrom highlighted the Panthers’ efforts with a game-high four RBIs. Heading into the fifth inning, Pitt held a commanding 10-4 lead. In a monstrous 10-run fifth, the Cardinals’ bats exploded, ultimately winning them the game.
To finish the night, the Cougars scraped by the Panthers 4-3. Despite the loss, Pitt outhit the Cougars 4-3, as Vaughn led the squad with two. Clutch plays and opportunistic hitting lead Houston to victory. In the top of the seventh, the Panthers appeared primed to send the game to extras with two on and no outs, yet the Cougars recorded a game-ending triple play to secure the win.
On Sunday, Pitt closed out the weekend with their weakest performance, losing 8-1 to Nevada (8-2, 0-0 MWC). Pittman surrendered six runs on six hits, as the Wolfpack chased her out of the game after 3.1 innings. Pittman pitched a combined 12 innings over the three days. The Panthers struggled equally on offense, as senior utility player Kylie Griggs scored the lone run.
Women’s basketball
On Sunday, Pitt women’s basketball (11-16, 3-11 ACC) began another losing streak, as Virginia (13-13, 5-9 ACC) won 80-67. Redshirt sophomore Mikayla Johnson scored a career-high 27 points, shooting 5-10 from 3-point range.
Johnson scored 12 of her 25 in the first quarter. Graduate student center Khadija Faye, Pitt’s undisputed top player, added 24 points of her own — going a perfect eight of eight from the charity stripe and recording her 13th double-double.
Pitt took a 52-49 lead in the third quarter, which the Cavaliers quickly erased as they scored 12 unanswered points. The 9-point lead proved too much for Pitt, as Virginia closed out the game.
Wrestling
Pitt wrestling (9-6, 2-3 ACC) lost a tough match 28-9 at No. 10 Virginia Tech (8-2, 4-1 ACC), extending their losing streak to three. Redshirt first-year Dylan Evans put the Panthers on the board first for an unexpected 4-1 victory. Redshirt sophomore Jared Keslar then extended the lead to 6-0 with a late takedown. Despite the Panther’s strong efforts, the Hokies won the last five matches to secure the ACC victory.
Track and field
On Friday and Saturday, Pitt track and field competed in the long-distance events at the BU Valentine Invitation. The Panthers ended the regular season by recording 12 personal bests.
In the mile race, junior Luke Simpson set a personal best with a time of 4:02.62. The mark moved him up to third in program history. First-year Ella Cook also ran a personal best of 4:45.79, the best time of the Pitt women in that event.
First-year Thomas McMahon competed in the 5,000-meter race for the first time at the collegiate level. McMahon recorded a time of 14:19.42, ranking sixth in program history. Graduate student Sadie Carey-Tharp ran a 16:20.60 for the fourth-best time in program history as well.
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