PITTSBURGH -The Pitt Panthers (20-20, 6-14) evened their series against the No. 8 Tar Heels as they took game two from North Carolina on Saturday, 4-2.
It is Pitt's first win over a ranked opponent this season and their first since May 11th of last year when they took the series from No. 8 Florida State at home. Saturday's win marks the Panthers' first win over the Tar Heels since the ACC Tournament in 2021.
Ryan Reed dealt for seven innings as he helped Pitt even the series at a game apiece. Reed had one of his best starts of the season against the No. 8 team in the country. He struck out seven and allowed just two runs on four hits while only walking two batters over seven flawless innings.
Sebastian Pisacretawent 2-2 with his fifth home run of the season and two walks in his four plate appearances on Saturday. Luke Cantwell logged another multiple-hit game (2-4, RBI) and drove in a run in the fifth. He's reached base in 31-consecutive games. Ryan Zuckerman followed suit, going 2-4 as well in game two.
Caden Dulin continued to be a force at the plate, driving in another run, this time on an RBI single in the first. He has seven hits and six RBIs in his last four games.
The Panthers struck first in game two with a run in the bottom of the first inning. For the third time in the last four games, David Pedanou led off a game for Pitt by reaching base as he worked a walk in the Panthers' first at-bat of the game. Pedanou swiped his 12th bag of the year and advanced to third on an errant throw by the Tar Heel catcher. In the same at-bat, Caden Dulin lined an RBI single through the left side that drove in Pedanou and gave Pitt the first run of the ballgame. They led 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning.
After five shutout frames from Ryan Reed, Pitt added some insurance in the bottom half of the fifth. Pedanou led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second when Caden Dulin reached on an error. Luke Cantwell drove an RBI single to center as Pedanou scored his second run of the game. Ryan Zuckerman singled to load the bases with one out. Jayden Melendez was hit on the first pitch of his at-bat to bring on Dulin from third and give Pitt a 3-0 lead.
Ryan Reed tossed another scoreless frame as he started his outing with six shutout innings.
Sebastian Pisacreta led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo blast to left for his fifth long ball of the season. The Panthers extended their lead and lead by four after six.
North Carolina hit two home runs over the seventh and eighth innings, trying to chip away at the Panther lead but Pitt still led 4-2 heading into the ninth.
Panther reliever Ethan Firoved struck out five of the six batters he faced to earn his seventh save of the season and earn Pitt a ranked win. They took game two, 4-2, to even the series.
Up Next
The Panthers look to earn their first ACC series win of the season on Sunday at 1 PM against the No. 8 Tar Heels.
Pitt and North Carolina will be bringing awareness to Pediatric Cancer during tomorrow's rubber match. Both teams will be wearing gold sweatbands while all fans are encouraged to wear gold.
2021 ACC Champion, Patrick Mannelly Award Winner, AFCA All-American and current Cincinnati Bengal, Cal Adomitis, will be throwing out tomorrow's first pitch alongside pediatric cancer survivor, Nora. When Cal was a senior at Pitt, he launched "Cal's Kids", an initiative to raise $94,000 for UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The dollar total was inspired by his No. 94 jersey number, but the effort ultimately raised nearly $115,000. Nora was one of the patients affected by his initiative.
