The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford baseball team came away with a sweep of Medaille on Tuesday. On the strength of two dominant pitching performances, the Panthers took game one 3-1 and the nightcap 6-1.
Game 1
Reid Tarnowski allowed just one unearned run on four hits and two walks as he registered his first complete game victory of the season. He struck out 8 batters in the effort and allowed just two hits over the final five innings of play.
The Panther offense struggled to get started, as they fell behind 1-0 in the second, and were unable to rally until the 5th inning. In the 5th, Nico Hall drilled a two-out triple to left field to tie the game at one. After Tarnowski stranded two runners in the bottom half, the Panthers took the lead in the 6th with a two out rally. The Panthers got some help as the go ahead run scored on an error in the infield, but Noah Meyers delivered a clutch double to right center to add the insurance run.
Meyers and Hall both finished 2 for 3 in the game and drove in a run. Jake McNabb, Justin Dattoli and Tyler Aires all scored for Pitt-Bradford.
Game 2
In the nightcap, Alex Miles spun another complete game, his fourth of the season. In 9 innings pitched, Miles gave up 1 run on 7 hits without walking a batter. He struck out a career-high 13 batters, nearly doubling his previous best.
The Panthers took an early lead as Justin Dattoli singled in a run in the 2nd. They added a second in the 6th when Noah Meyers scampered home on a passed ball after three straight Pitt-Bradford singles. Medaille cut into the lead in the 6th, but Evan Fragela answered in the next at bat, delivering a two-out double to left field. They added three more runs over the final two innings as Miles retired 9 of the last 10 batters he faced to slam the door.
Jake McNabb and Justin Dattoli each registered 3 hits in the game, while Nico Hall added two more. Fragela, McNabb, Dattoli and pinch hitter Jake Soricone all picked up RBIs.
The wins move the Panthers to 10-18 on the season with a 3-7 record in conference play. They will prepare for a busy weekend as they will host a pair of conference doubleheaders. They will take on Pitt-Greensburg on Saturday and then host Mount Aloysius on Sunday. Games will begin at 1:00 p.m. on both days at the Kessel Athletic Complex.
Softball
After a two-week layoff The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Softball team struggled to regain their rhythm on Wednesday as they were swept by Penn State-Behrend in an AMCC doubleheader. The games were originally scheduled to be played in Bradford, however they were moved to Erie in response to weather and field conditions. They lost the first game 5-0 and the nightcap 17-4.
Game 1
The first game of the day saw the Panthers offense sputter as they were only able to muster one hit, a 6th inning triple by Chloe Cordova in the game.
Despite allowing a 1st inning run without giving up a hit, Freshman pitcher Kindra Wessels battled to keep her team in the game, but a 3-run 5th inning broke the game open for the Lions. Wessels threw all 7 innings in the contest, allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, on 10 hits. She struck out 4 batters.
Game 2
The Panthers took an early lead in game two, but saw Penn State-Behrend battle back with a 7-run 4th and a 10-run 5th to bring the game to an early end.
Starting pitcher Ashley Stein followed up two strong performances with a decent start, keeping the Lions off the board for three frames. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Penn-State Behrend adjusted to Stein’s style in the 4th, quickly scoring 7 runs to take the lead. They added 10 more in the next frame off Stein and emergency relief pitcher Lizzy Hoovler.
The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd as Paige Wertheimer scored on an error after drawing a walk and moving to third on a sacrifice bunt and passed ball. Rachel Przybysz delivered the second run with a two-out single back up the middle to bring in Cordova.
They were able to tack on two more in the 3rd. Lexi Peters led off the inning with a line drive single up the middle and then scored a batter later when Faith McLaughlin hit her first career home run, a high flyball to left, to put the Panthers up 4-0.
Marguerite DeFranco and Madison Camp both had multiple-hit games for the Panthers, while McLaughlin delivered the two-run home run. Stein picked up the loss after being tagged for 10 runs, 6 earned in 4.2 innings of work.
Pitt-Bradford is now 6-18 on the season and 2-4 in AMCC play. They will be back in action in Bradford this Saturday, when they host La Roche on Senior Day. The action is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m .