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Pitt upsets top-seeded UNC to capture Pool A

DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – From No. 12 seed to Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship semifinalist.

That’s how the storyline reads for Pitt – so far. But after turning the tournament’s Pool A bracket upside down with Wednesday night’s 5-4 win over top-seeded North Carolina, head coach Joe Jordano’s Panthers hope to write even more exciting chapters in a few more days.

Pitt (29-25), playing in the ACC Championship for the first time, has captured Pool A with one-run wins over Georgia Tech on Tuesday and UNC on Wednesday night. The Panthers now have a date in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal against fourth-seeded Duke or fifth-seeded Louisville.

The Tar Heels (37-18) still have a tournament game remaining versus Georgia Tech (31-26) on Friday at 3 p.m., but both of those teams have been eliminated from semifinal contention.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh of Wednesday night’s game, the Panthers tied the score on a one-out double by Chris Cappas and plated what proved to be the winning run on Cole McLaren’s sacrifice bunt that scored Caleb Parry from third.

Pitt outhit the Tar Heels 10-5, but pitching and defense made the real difference for the Panthers. Reliever Derek West (3-4) closed the game with five innings of brilliant relief, holding the Tar Heels hitless while walking one and striking out three.

West got plenty of defensive help, particularly from centerfielder Frank Maldonado and rightfielder Connor Perry. The pair combined for at least five highlight-reel worthy plays, including the final out of the game.

With UNC’s would-be tying run at second base, Brandon Riley lined a shot to deep center that appeared to have a chance of at least hitting the wall. But Maldonado made a running, leaping grab to end the game and send the Panthers pouring onto the Durham Bulls Athletic Park field in celebration.

And that wasn’t even his top play of the night.

With UNC up 3-1 in the top of the third and the bases loaded, Jackson Hesterlee tagged a deep high drive that appeared destined to send home at least three more runs. But Maldonado made the catch on the dead run and managed to hold onto the ball as he crashed into the wall. The Pitt senior appeared momentarily shaken up, but finally made to his feet and jogged to the dugout.

Just for good measure, Maldonado led off the bottom of the third with a two-base hit that eluded a running try by UNC’s Riley, and then scored on David Yanni’s second double of the game to trim the Tar Heels’ lead to 3-2. Nick Banman followed with an RBI single to tie the game.

The Panthers clearly weren’t going away. And they still haven’t.