No. 24 Panthers Drop Series Against No. 13 Notre Dame

After a red hot start to the season, Pitt baseball has dropped back-to-back conference series’.

After a two-day weather delay, the Panthers series with Notre Dame started on Saturday with a tough 4-1 loss to open the series. Mitch Myers put together another quality start going eight innings and only allowing two runs. Myers’ success has been the guiding light for Pitt this season. In his seven starts this season, he has only allowed three earned runs twice and has pitched into the sixth inning all but once. The Panther bats let him down on Saturday plating their lone run in the ninth inning.

Sunday was another low-scoring affair with Pitt winning a 3-2 contest. Nico Popa’s knack for the big hit bucked its head again with a deep fly to right field in the eighth inning. Popa moved up to the leadoff spot on Saturday and sure did set the tone for Pitt’s offense with half of the team’s hits going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. On the mound, Matt Gilbertson continues to scatter hits and scathe damage. Over seven innings, Gilbertson allowed nine hits and only one run getting stranding seven runners.

The rubber match was the lone high-scoring ballgame as the Irish took the series with an 11-5 victory. Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the fifth inning and coasted the rest of the way. Looking to take some positives from the big loss, Kyle Hess had a great day at the plate and his success is crucial to Pitt’s offense the rest of the season. On the mound, Billy Corcoran’s absence is beginning to show. Coming into the year, Corcoran was undoubtedly one of the conference’s best Sunday starters. We have yet to see Corcoran since the first weekend of the season when he threw four shutout innings.

Coming up, Pitt hosts West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl on Tuesday and follows that up with a three-game series against Miami at home.

Tues. 4/6: vs. WVU, 3 PM, ACCNX

Fri. 4/9: vs. Miami, 3 PM, ACCNX

Sat. 4/10: vs. Miami, 3 PM, ACCNX

Sun. 4/11: vs. Miami, 1 PM, ACCNX