Berea, Oh. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford baseball team lost both games in a split doubleheader at Baldwin Wallace on Sunday. The Panthers played the nationally ranked hosts in the first game before taking on Hiram in the second.
Game 1:
The Panthers struggled early against the #17 ranked Baldwin Wallace, eventually falling to the Yellow Jackets 14-4 in 7 innings.
- After the Panthers were kept off the board in the first, the hosts came out swinging, hitting two home runs in the opening frame. They finished the first with 4 runs on 3 hits and a Panther error.
- Pitt-Bradford went down in order in the second and then allowed the Yellow Jackets to tack on a 5th run without a hit. The second batter of the inning reached on an error and then moved to third on a balk. With one down, starting pitcher Reid Tarnowski got a line out to center, but the run was able to score from third.
- The Panthers were able to get their offense going in the third, scoring their first run of the game. David Gebhard led off with a single to left and then moved to second when Nico Hall singled back up the middle. Kevin Rehak drew a walk to load the bases and Tyer Aires brought in Gebhard with a sacrifice fly to center.
- Tarnowski kept Baldwin Wallace off the board in the 3rd and 4th innings, allowing just a two-out single in the 4th but the Panthers were unable to take advantage, as they were also shut out for two innings.
- The hosts were able to break things open in the 5th. They chased Tarnowski after scoring three runs on two singles and two doubles with just one out recorded. He was replaced by Ben Mulhall, who allowed a two-run home run to the first batter he faced before settling down and getting out of the inning.
- Pitt-Bradford was set down in order in the 6th before Baldwin Wallace tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning. Fetter retired the first two batters in the inning but then committed a throwing error on a comebacker allowing the runner to reach 2nd with two outs. He then gave up a run-scoring single before striking out the final batter to end the frame.
- In the 7th, the Panthers were able to score 3 runs to cut into the Yello-Jacket lead. Maxwell Rogers led off with a single to left and then moved to second on a Gebhard hit. After the next two batters were retired, Tyler Aires hit a home run to left-center to score all 3 runs for the Panthers. The long ball was the first of the year for Aires and the 3rd of his career.
- The rally continued after the home run as Evan Fragela and Jake McNabb both hit two-out singles but a fly ball to right ended the inning with no further damage.
- Baldwin Wallace was able to quickly score two runs in the bottom of the inning, bringing the game to an early close. Mulhall walked the leadoff batter before giving up a single to right to put runners on the corners. The first run scored on an error in the outfield and after a fielder's choice, Mulhall allowed a second single of the inning to score the 2nd.
Tyler Aires finished the game 1 for 3 with a home run. He drove in all 4 Panther runs. David Gebhard went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and Evan Fragela also added in 2 hits. Reid Tarnowski got the loss after allowing 9 runs, 7 earned on 8 hits in 4.1 innings pitched. He struck out 4. Ben Mulhall pitched the final 2+ innings, giving up 5 runs, 2 earned on 5 hits, and a walk with three strikeouts.
Game 2:
The Panthers were able to take an early lead over Hiram in their second game of the day, but a 9-run 5th inning put the Panthers down for good as they eventually lost the game 16-6.
- Kyler Majka started the game for the Panthers and got off to an outstanding start, keeping Hiram off the board for the first four frames. He gave up just two singles in the four innings, allowing the Panthers to take a 2-0 lead.
- Pitt-Bradford scored their first run in the 3rd. Trent Bielak led off with a single but was quickly retired on a fielder's choice. After a fly-out, Nico Hall singled to left, moving Bret Babcock into scoring position. After knocking in four in the first game, Aires stayed hot, driving a two-out single through the right side to put the Panthers in front.
- They added a second run in the 4th. Jake McNabb singled to left to start the inning and then moved to second when Kevin Rehak reached on an error. Bielak delivered his second hit of the day to load the bases and McNabb scored a batter later on a wild pitch.
- After breezing through the first four innings, Majka ran into trouble in the 5th. After a leadoff double started the inning Majka struck a batter out and walked the next. A single up the middle scored the first run for Hiram before a 3-run home run down the right-field line put them ahead. Majka walked a batter and struck another out before he was removed after a single.
- Brayden Hageter replaced Majka and saw the runner on third score on a passed ball. After a walk and a hit batter, Hageter game up a grand slam to break the game open. After the second long ball of the inning, Hageter gave up a double to center, but the runner was caught stealing in the next at-bat to end the frame.
- The Panthers tried to battle back in the bottom half of the inning as they scored 4 runs of their own to cut into the lead. Nico Hall was hit by a pitch to start the inning and then moved to third on a stolen base and a single through the right side. Evan Fragela singled to third base to bring in Hall before McNabb singled to left-center to score Aires. Fragela was retired on the basepaths to record the firs tout of the inning. After a groundout, Rehak delivered a double to the left-center gap for the third run and then scored a batter later when Bielak registered his third hit of the game.
- Shawn Mannering replaced Hageter in the 6th and allowed one run without a hit. Following an error on the first batter of the inning Mannering walked a batter and then got the first out on a sacrifice bunt. He uncorked a wild pitch on ball four to the next batter to bring in the run. He was able to strike out two batters after the run scored to end the inning.
- Pitt-Bradford got two runners on base in the 6th, but Fragela lined into a double play to end the threat.
- Mannering was tagged with a second run in the 7th. He hit the leadoff batter and after a fielder's choice gave up a single which put runners on the corners. Hiram pulled off a double steal to score the run before another strikeout and a second runner caught stealing ended the inning.
- After a double play killed a rally in the bottom of the 7th, Mannering was chased after the first two runs scored without an out recorded in the 8th on a single, double and triple. Austin Kitcey replaced Mannering and quickly got the first out. He gave up a single which allowed the inherited runner to score but got two flyouts to end the inning.
- The Panthers threatened to score again in the 8th as they loaded the bases with a Soricone infield single and walks from Hall and Fragela, but McNabb was unable to come up with a two-out hit as he was struck out to end the frame.
- Kitcey gave up two more runs in the 9th on 1 hit, an error, a walk, and a sacrifice fly before the Panthers were set down in the bottom half to end the game.
Jake McNabb and Trent Bielak both put in 3 hit performances for the Panthers. McNabb went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Bielak had three singles and drove in a run. Jake Soricone and Tyler Aires also picked up a pair of hits each. Kyler Majka (2-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, on 6 hits, and 2 walks. He struck out 8. The freshman trio of Brayden Hageter, Shawn Mannering, and Austin Kitcey pitched the final 4.1 innings. They allowed 10 runs, 7 earned, on 8 hits, 5 walks, and 2 hit batters. Mannering struck out 3.
The Panthers fall to 6-9 with the loss. They will look to get back into the win column later this week when they face Houghton. On Thursday, they will play a doubleheader against the Highlanders beginning at 2:00 p.m.