Bucknell University
4-7
Pittsburgh
12-5
Baseball Drops Midweek Game to No. 14 Pittsburgh
3/24/2021 7:49:00 PM | Baseball
Bucknell (4-7, 4-3 PL) managed 12 hits of its own, two shy of its season high, but the Pitt bats proved too much as the Panthers scored in each inning but the second en route to an eight-run win.
Bucknell started brightly, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Chris Cannizzaro, hit the first of what would be three hits on the day by singling up the middle. A single by Jacob Corson and a well-played sac bunt by Peter Marren moved Cannizzaro to third, before the junior was brought home on a sac fly by Caleb Broughton to center field.
It didn't take long for Pitt to get on the board, as the Panthers scored four on a grand slam by David Yanni to take a 4-1 lead after one.
Bucknell reclaimed the lead in the second, as Logan Kellerman and Anthony Sherwin each reached on hits before being doubled home by Cannizzaro. Eunsang Yu then proceeded to double on the other side of a walk by Corson to score two more runs and give the Bison a 5-4 lead in the top of the second.
Pittsburgh managed to tie the game in the third inning on a sac fly by Jackson Phinney, before reclaiming the lead for good in the fourth with two more runs.
The Panthers capitalized on two errors by the Bison in a two-run sixth, before adding four more runs in the seventh to take a commanding 14-5 lead.
Kendall Pierson, coming off a big performance in Bucknell's game one win on Sunday where he had five RBIs, gave Bucknell a bit of life in the eighth when he launched a three-run home run that scored Henry Novicki and Marren, but Pittsburgh added three more insurance runs in the eighth to seal its 12th victory of the year.
Several western Pennsylvania natives took part in today's game at Pitt, including starting pitcher Andrew Funovits, who pitched two innings in the first start of his career. The Bison overall used eight pitchers in the defeat. First years Anthony Sherwin (Harrison City) and Grant Voytovich (Mars) also made appearances close to their hometown.
The Bison were led offensively by Cannizzaro, who managed at least three hits for the second time this season. The native of Staten Island went 3-for-5 from the plate with two RBIs, and also made a spectacular diving catch in the sixth inning.
Corson and Marren each added two hits as the Bucknell top of the order combined to go 7-for-12 on the day. Yu tied his season high with two RBIs, while the home run for Pierson was the first of his career. Bucknell has now had three different players go yard this season in Novicki, Cannizzaro, and Pierson.
Bucknell will return to Patriot League play with a big weekend series against preseason Patriot League favorite Navy. Saturday will feature a doubleheader at Depew Field, before Bucknell takes on the Mids for a single game in Annapolis on Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chris Gomez (1-0)
L: Farynick, Theo (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Cannizzaro, Chris 2 ; Corson, Jacob 1 ; Yu, Eunsang 1 ; Novicki, Henry 1 ; Sherwin, Anthony 1
HR: Pierson, Kendall 1
RBI: Cannizzaro, Chris 2 ; Marren, Peter 1 ; Yu, Eunsang 2 ; Broughton, Caleb 1 ; Pierson, Kendall 3
SH: Marren, Peter 1
SF: Broughton, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cannizzaro, Chris 3 ; Corson, Jacob 1 ; Marren, Peter 1 ; Novicki, Henry 1 ; Pierson, Kendall 1 ; Kellerman, Logan 1 ; Sherwin, Anthony 1
HBP: Yu, Eunsang 1
Batting:
2B: Nico Popa 1 ; Bryce Hulett 1 ; Jackson Phinney 1
3B: David Yanni 1
HR: Kyle Hess 1 ; David Yanni 1
RBI: Kyle Hess 1 ; David Yanni 7 ; Samuel Frontino 2 ; Bryce Hulett 1 ; Jackson Phinney 2 ; Brock Franks 1
SH: Jordan Anderson 1
SF: Bryce Hulett 1 ; Jackson Phinney 1 ; Brock Franks 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sky Duff 2 ; Nico Popa 3 ; Kyle Hess 3 ; Ron Washington, Jr. 2 ; Jordan Anderson 1 ; David Yanni 3 ; Samuel Frontino 1 ; Bryce Hulett 2
HBP: David Yanni 1 ; Brock Franks 1
PO: Brock Franks 1
