Pitt baseball traveled to the Lone Star State to compete in the Kleberg Bank College Classic this past weekend and won two of the three contests through solid pitching and timely hitting. 

In the first game of the weekend on Friday, the Panthers were victorious over the Dirtbags of Long Beach State 6-2. Pitt trailed 1-0 early, but the Panthers were able to limit the damage because of a great catch by sophomore outfielder Julian Irizarry — a catch that gave the team momentum as senior outfielder AJ Nessler legged out a triple and scored off a wild pitch, evening the score at 1-1 after three innings of play.

In the sixth inning, the game was tied 2-2. Long Beach State scored off of an infield single, and Kai Wagner, a redshirt junior, scored the second run for the Panthers after causing havoc on the bases.  

The Panthers scored four unanswered runs between the seventh and eighth innings of play. In the seventh, Wagner drove in Nessler through a sacrifice fly and redshirt senior Lorenzo Carrier doubled to bring home senior infielder Caden Dulin. In the eighth, Irizarry played a part in both runs scored. He doubled home junior catcher Sebastian Pisacreta, and also scored off a wild-pitch himself.

David Leslie, a right-handed pitcher and a graduate student, threw 5.2 innings. He tallied four strikeouts and gave up two earned runs. Mikey Gray, a senior lefty, pitched in relief and surrendered no runs in 3.1 innings.

In game two of the weekend, Pitt mauled Cal State Bakersfield 14-0. Everything went right for the Panthers. Graduate student Vincent Spizzoucco tossed seven scoreless innings and only allowed one hit, striking out six along the way. Andrew Luczak and Michael Savarese kept the shutout intact during the home stretch. 

The Panthers scorched offensively. Eight of Pitt’s nine starters recorded a hit in the contest. Lorenzo Carrier drove in 4 runs off a two-run single and a two-run home run. Irizarry, Dulin and Wagner continued their strong start, each picking up a pair of RBIs. Additionally, Nessler, along with senior infielder Anthony LaSala, both contributed an RBI to the cause.

In Sunday’s game, the Panthers fell to Texas A&M Corpus Christi 5-2. Pitt started slow, trailing 4-0 through four innings. The Panthers got on the board in the fifth through an RBI walk from Carrier and an RBI sacrifice fly by redshirt junior infielder Trey Fenderson. The Panthers were only able to notch three hits off the Islander pitching staff.

The Panthers now stand at 4-2 after playing six games. The Panthers will hope to keep stringing victories together as they progress this season. The home opener is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wednesday against Bucknell.