No. 12 West Virginia Walked Off by Pitt

PITTSBURGH - The No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers (39-8) went up 9-5 in the ninth, but the Pitt Panthers (25-21) rallied for nine runs in the bottom of the inning to pull off the upset Tuesday night 10-9 win.

West Virginia started the scoring in the top of the first inning after senior Kyle West worked a seven pitch walk and senior Jace Rinehart slapped a double down the right field line before junior Sam White line an RBI double to right field. Then, junior Logan Sauve brought in a run on a fielder’s choice and senior Brodie Kresser capped a three-run first with a sacrifice ground ball over to second.

Kyle West added a run in the second, lifting the 0-2 pitch to the opposite field for a two-out solo home run for a 4-0 lead.

After sophomore Chase Meyer got the start and went two innings and allowed just one hit and struck out two, freshman Bryant Yoak would face three Pitt hitters, loading the bases with a walk, hit by pitch and a single before junior Ben McDougal would be called from the bullpen.

Senior Luke Cantwell forced a walk for Pitt’s first run and sophomore Ryan Zuckerman place a two-RBI single to left field to cut the WVU lead to one, 4-3.

West Virginia senior Tyler Hutson came into the game to cool the Pitt bats with a pair of strikeouts and a fly ball to get out of the inning.

West Virginia put two runs on the board in the sixth when senior Gran Hussey and Kelly received walks and junior Skylar King singled to right field to load the bases before West hit a high fly ball into the wind and dropped for an RBI single and White hit a sacrifice RBI fly in left field foul territory for a 6-3 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Nessler doubled to right field with a high fly ball that was moved by the wind and fell for a double, then Sebastian Pisacreta hit a two-run home run to pull the Panthers back within one, 6-5.

Freshman David Hagen took the mound in the seventh and after recording the first out of the inning, walked three straight Panther hitters to load the bases. Head coach Steve Sabins called upon the steady arm of Carson Estridge. The junior delivered two strikeouts to end the inning unscathed.

West Virginia added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth after King and West received walks, Rinehart slipped a ground ball up the middle for a two-RBI single and the 8-5 advantage.

The Mountaineers tacked on another run in the ninth. Kresser worked a walk and took third on a wild pitch and Hussey laid down the sacrifice bunt down the first base line for the RBI and a 9-5 lead.

Estridge left the game in the ninth with one on and a 2-0 count and Benjamin Hudson trotted to the mound. The freshman could not come back from the hitter’s count, then senior Jayden Melendez drove the 1-0 pitch over the left-centerfield to get back within one, 9-8.

Junior AJ Nessler followed with a single and Sabins went back to his bullpen and tabbed freshman Mac Stiffler and on the first pitch, Pisacreta lined a single to right field to place runners at the corners. He beaned freshman Julian Irizarry to load the bases and again the Mountaineers went back to the bullpen, calling upon senior Reese Bassinger.

Sophomore Keeton Burroughs tied the game with a fielder’s choice up the middle, then Gavin Miller put the ball in play and was misplayed by sophomore Armani Guzman as Pitt completed the comeback with a 10-9 decision.

West Virginia returns to the field for a three-game series at Kansas State with game one set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. EST and the action streaming on ESPN+.

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