DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – No. 15 seed Pitt (28-26) got a two-run home run from Luke Cantwell in the top of the ninth to help down No. 10 seed Louisville (35-21), 13-11, in game three of the first round of the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship on Tuesday, May 20, in Durham, North Carolina.
 
The Panthers will take on No. 7 seed Duke (36-18) in a second-round matchup on Wednesday, May 21, at 5 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
 
Pitt scored 13 runs on just seven hits, taking advantage of 13 walks and one Louisville error, to defeat the Cardinals in the first-round matchup.
 
Outfielders AJ Nessler (2-for-3, 2 BB, RBI, run) and Lorenzo Carrier (2-for-4, HR, 2B, BB, 5 RBI, run) combined for four of the seven Pitt hits, while Carrier led the way with a game-high five RBI.
 
The Cardinals had four players with multiple hits, led by Eddie King Jr. (3-for-4, HR, 2 2B, BB, 5 RBI, run) with a home run and two doubles, while Garret Pike (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Tague Davis (2-for-5, 2 runs) and Bayram Hot (2-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 run) each had two hits apiece.
 
The Panthers’ Ryan Reed and Ethan Firoved (3-4) combined to throw 9.0 innings, with Firoved picking up the win after firing 3.0 innings out of the bullpen. He gave up five runs on four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts after taking over for Reed in the seventh inning.
 
The Cardinals used seven pitchers in the game, with the sixth arm, Brennyn Cutts (3-1), suffering the loss. He allowed one run over 0.2 innings out of the bullpen.
 
Both teams got on the scoreboard early, as Pitt pushed across three runs in the top of the first, highlighted by a two-run double to left-center field from Carrier, while Louisville’s King Jr. hit an RBI double in the bottom half of the first inning to put the score at 3-1 in favor of the Panthers.
 
Pitt then added two runs in the second and one in each of the next three innings to pull out to an 8-1 lead, only to see the Cardinals plate four runs in the bottom of the fifth frame on a Lucas Moore RBI single a three-run home run from King Jr. and add another score in the sixth to close the gap to two at 8-6 with three innings left to play.
 
The Panthers pulled back out in front by five at 11-6 after a three-run home run down the left-field line from Carrier but couldn’t close the door as the Cardinals answered back with a five-run eighth inning to tie the game up at 11-11 heading into the ninth inning.
 
Following a lead-off hit-by-pitch, Cantwell belted a two-run home run over the right field wall, which would prove to be the game-winner, pushing the Panthers in front at 13-11.
 
2025 ACC Baseball Championship Schedule
Tuesday, May 20
Game 1 – No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2 (8 innings)
Game 2 – No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
Game 3 – No. 15 Pitt 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
Game 4 – No. 14 Boston College vs. No. 11 Notre Dame, 9 p.m.
 
Wednesday, May 21
Game 5 – No. 16 California vs. No. 8 Wake Forest, 9 a.m.
Game 6 – No. 12 Virginia Tech vs. No. 5 Clemson, 1 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 15 Pitt vs. No. 7 Duke, 5 p.m.
Game 8 – Game 4 Winner vs. No. 6 Virginia, 9 p.m.
 
Thursday, May 22
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. No. 1 Georgia Tech, 3 p.m.
Game 10 – Game 6 Winner vs. No. 4 NC State, 7 p.m. 
 
Friday, May 23
Game 11 – Game 7 Winner vs. No. 2 Florida State, 3 p.m.
Game 12 – Game 8 Winner vs. No. 3 North Carolina, 7 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 24
Game 13 – Game 9 vs. Game 10 Winners, 1 p.m.
Game 14 – Game 11 vs. Game 12 Winners, 5 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 25 - Championship Game
Game 15 – Saturday Winners, Noon, ESPN2
 
All Tuesday through Saturday games air on ACC Network
All times Eastern