Box Score | Bracket
DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – The long ball paid off big for Pitt on Wednesday as the 12th-seeded Panthers continued their streak of early-game success in the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship.
The Panthers belted a season-high five home runs – including leadoff homers in the first, second and seventh innings – to derail eighth-seeded Notre Dame 9-5 in the opening game of Pool A play at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Pitt (24-30) will now face top-seeded and nationally top-ranked Wake Forest (45-9) in Thursday’s 11 a.m. game with the chance to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round. The Demon Deacons took two of three in the teams’ regular-season series last month in Pittsburgh, but the Panthers did post a 3-0 shutout win in the series opener behind a strong outing from Jack Sokol and the bullpen.
Pitt, which owns an all-time record of 6-3 in ACC Baseball Championship play, has won at least one game in each of the four tournaments in which it has qualified and seeks to reach the semifinals with a 2-0 record in pool play for the third time (also 2018 and 2022).
Sky Duff greeted Notre Dame starter Aiden Tyrell (8-3) with his fifth home run of the year to start the game. Justin Acal led off the second inning with his 10th of the season and Kyle Hess slugged his 10th to open the seventh.
In between, the Panthers got a three-run shot from Noah Martinez – his 13th of the season that put Pitt up for keeps at 6-3 in the top of the fourth – and Dom Popa’s first-round-tripper of the year with two outs in the seventh.
Duff finished 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Panthers’ 13-hit attack. TJ Williams and Carter Putz each finished 3-for-5 for Notre Dame (30-23), which collected 15 hits and drew five walks but mustered only five runs as Pitt tied a tournament record with four double plays and the Irish left 11 additional runners stranded on base.
Dylan Simmons (2-2) worked 3.1 solid innings of middle relief to pick up the win for Pitt, and Nash Bryan finished up for his eighth save.
Pitt’s five homers on Wednesday were two short of the ACC Championship single-game record of seven set by Louisville versus Clemson at Charlotte, North Carolina in 2021.