Pitt baseball competitive in first ACC series at North Carolina, but drops series

A little late with this, but still wanted to do a quick recap of Pitt's recent baseball series. The Panthers put up a good fight against No. 17 North Carolina last weekend, but still dropped two games out of three.

Pitt was soundly defeated in Game 1, losing 9-5 to the Tar Heels. Starter Matt Wotherspoon was the goat, giving up eight earned runs in only 4 2/3 innings. Pitt scored four runs in the fifth inning, but it's a little hard to make a comeback when you're down 7-0. The starting pitching there really kept the Panthers from doing much of anything in that opener.

Pitching gave Pitt a chance in Game 2, but the offense disappeared in a 2-1 loss. Starter Rhys Aldenhoven did his job, scattering seven hits and giving up only two runs in six innings, but the Panthers got only five hits of their own.

Pitt avoided the sweep on Sunday, though, winning 6-4. The starting pitching wasn't great as Joe Harvey gave up four earned runs in only 5 2/3 innings. But three runs in the seventh and eighth innings and solid relief work gave Pitt a comeback win. The victory was the first Top 25 one on the road for Pitt since 2003.

All in all, Pitt was competitive against a very good team and came close to winning the series. That would have turned some heads after a somewhat slow start and the team now sits at 5-7. Most of us knew that the move to the ACC would be a difficult one and while winning any series is always the goal, Pitt found a way to be competitive despite a lackluster effort from their top starter.

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