No. 12 West Virginia Stunned by Pitt in Overtime

PITTSBURGH - The No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers (39-8) went up 9-5 in the ninth, but the Pitt Panthers (25-21) rallied for nine runs in the bottom of the inning to pull off the upset Tuesday night 10-9 win.

In the top of the first inning, West Virginia began their scoring when senior Kyle West drew a seven-pitch walk. Senior Jace Rinehart followed up with a double along the right-field line. This was then extended by junior Sam White who hit an RBI double into right field. Junior Logan Sauvé contributed another run via a fielder’s choice, and finally, senior Brodie Kresser sealed a three-run opening frame with a sacrifice bunt towards second base.

Kyle West hit a run in the second inning, hitting a 0-2 pitch to the opposite field with two outs for a solo home run, extending their lead to 4-0.

After sophomore Chase Meyer got the start and went two innings and allowed just one hit and struck out two, freshman Bryant Yoak would face three Pitt hitters, loading the bases with a walk, hit by pitch and a single before junior Ben McDougal would be called from the bullpen.

Senior Luke Cantwell earned a base on balls for Pitt’s initial run, and sophomore Ryan Zuckerman followed up with an RBI single to left field, narrowing West Virginia's lead to just one point, making the score 4-3.

West Virginia’s veteran player, Tyler Hutson, stepped up to subdue the Pitt batters by striking out two and inducing a fly ball to end the inning.

West Virginia put two runs on the board in the sixth when senior Gran Hussey and Kelly received walks and junior Skylar King singled to right field to load the bases before West hit a high fly ball into the wind and dropped for an RBI single and White hit a sacrifice RBI fly in left field foul territory for a 6-3 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Nessler doubled to right field with a high fly ball that was moved by the wind and fell for a double, then Sebastian Pisacreta hit a two-run home run to pull the Panthers back within one, 6-5.

Freshman David Hagen took the mound in the seventh and after recording the first out of the inning, walked three straight Panther hitters to load the bases. Head coach Steve Sabins called upon the steady arm of Carson Estridge. The junior delivered two strikeouts to end the inning unscathed.

In the eighth inning, West Virginia tacked on an additional two runs after King and West secured walks. Rinehart then hit a ground ball through the center that resulted in a two-run-single, giving them an 8-5 lead.

The Mountaineers added another run in the ninth inning. Kresser received a walk and advanced to third due to a wild pitch. Hussey then executed a successful bunt along the foul line near first base, driving in the runner and securing a 9-5 lead for his team.

Estridge exited the game in the ninth inning with a runner on base and facing a 2-0 count when Benjamin Hudson approached the pitcher's mound. The rookie struggled to recover from the batter's advantage, and subsequently, senior Jayden Melendez hit the next pitch, which was ball one strike zero, over the fence in left-center field, narrowing the gap to just one run, making the score 9-8.

Junior AJ Nessler followed with a single and Sabins went back to his bullpen and tabbed freshman Mac Stiffler and on the first pitch, Pisacreta lined a single to right field to place runners at the corners. He beaned freshman Julian Irizarry to load the bases and again the Mountaineers went back to the bullpen, calling upon senior Reese Bassinger.

Keeton Burroughs, a sophomore, tied the game with a fielder’s choice through the center, followed by Gavin Miller making contact with the ball which resulted in an error by another sophomore, Armani Guzman. This allowed Pitt to complete their comeback victory with a score of 10-9.

West Virginia returns to the field for a three-game series at Kansas State with game one set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. EST and the action streaming on ESPN+.

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This piece was initially released on www.si.com/college/westvirginia as No. 12 West Virginia Was Upset by Pittsburgh .