Box Score

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- For a brief moment at the top of the sixth inning, Maryland Eastern Shore surged ahead of the Pitt Panthers, and look poised to pull off an upset for the second year in a row against the ACC squad. But with five runs in the bottom half of the sixth, Pitt quieted those efforts, and went on to win 9-4 Tuesday night at Charles L. Cost Field.

The Shore's record falls to 10-34, while Pitt improves to 20-21.

While the Hawks only mustered a few hits off Panther pitching, they were able to push across three runs without the benefit of an extra base hit. Defensively, however, two errors and a passed ball by The Shore pushed across six unearned runs for Pitt. The Panthers also managed seven of their nine runs with two outs against them.

Freshman Marty Tolson, Jr. (Stafford, Virginia) was solid in the midweek start, pitching into the sixth and striking out three while only allowing three earned runs. Fellow freshman Bryan Liriano (Rockville, Maryland) tossed a scoreless eighth inning in relief.

Pitt led for the early half of the ball game thanks to a run off a single in the second and a home run in the fifth. With a 2-0 Panther edge the Hawks looked to the sixth to strike back.

Singles by senior Jordan Martin (Atlanta, Georgia) and sophomore Ryan Rotondo (Warwick, Rhode Island) set the table. The bases would soon be loaded and with one out, sophomore Joey Nicastro (New Market, Maryland) hit a groundout that cut the deficit in half.

Junior Isaiah Chambers (Bowie, Maryland) stepped up to the plate and promptly whacked a single to right, allowing two runners to score and granting a 3-2 lead to the Hawks. Chambers is now 3-for-5 with five RBI's against Pitt in his career.

However that lead would be short lived. Pitt tacked on seven runs between the sixth and seventh to claim victory.

Maryland Eastern Shore will challenge Pitt again at 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.