Behind the Numbers: Pitt baseball Swept At #14 Florida State

The Pitt Panthers baseball team looks to continue their four game-winning streak against ranked teams this weekend, when they travel to Tallahassee to face #14 ranked Florida State. Let’s break down the statistics and see how they fared during the series.

Game one was postponed until Saturday due to rain. The Panthers lost 10-1. Pitt scored one run on five hits. Aj Nessler went 2-4 with a home run. Lorenzo Carrier went 1-3 with a home run. Caden Dulin and Kai Wagner also had a hit apiece. Pitt didn’t draw a single walk, while striking out seven times. Wes Mendes was able to stifle the Pitt offense with 11 induced flyouts. He did so efficiently throwing just 109 pitches for an average of 11.67 per inning.

Antonio Doganiero started for Pitt. He pitched 5 1/3 innings allowing eight runs on five hits while walking three and striking out four. Daniel McAuliff pitched 2 2/2 innings allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and two strike outs. Two big innings factored in the loss. Florida State put up four runs in the second inning. A Pitt error led to an unearned run, before John Stuetzer hit a home run to make it 4-0. Then in the sixth inning Pitt allowed six runs sealing the blowout loss.

Game two was a Pitt loss 8-5. The Panthers scored five runs on nine hits. The Panthers went yard three times with Carrier, Dulin and Carter Dierdorf each hitting a home run. Trey Fenderson also doubled for the Panthers. However, the Panthers struck out 13 times while walking just four times. They also left seven runners in base in the loss.

Chase Kriebel pitched an inning allowing three runs on three hits with no walks and a strike out. Joey Ciancimino pitched an inning allowing two runs on one hit. However, he allowed three wild pitches. Vincent Spizzoucco pitched a scoreless inning. Michael Savarese pitched two innings allowing two runs on two hits. Bradon Reiter allowed a run over two innings while Sam Bryan threw a scoreless eighth inning. As a staff they combined to strike out seven and walk three. However, they struggled early allowing five runs in the first two innings and Pitt was unable to fully comeback.

Game three was a 6-4 Pitt defeat. Pitt scored four runs on five hits. Nesler went 2-5 with a home run. Fenderson went 2-4 with an RBI. The Panthers walked five times and struck out five times. Yet they left seven more runners on base as they continue to leave a lot on base.

Drew Lafferty threw 4 1/3 innings allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and a strike out. Additionally, he also had a pair of hit by pitches. David Leslie went 2 2/3 innings allowing three runs on seven hits with four strike outs. Freddy Beruvides Jr. threw a scoreless inning with a walk and wild pitch. It was a three-run sixth inning by Florida State that gave them the lead for good in this one, as the Panthers couldn’t score any additional runs after holding a 4-3 lead after five innings.

The Panthers offense was pretty limited in this series thanks to Florida State’s pitching. Florida State has the second lowest ERA in the conference at 4.05. They held the Panthers to 10 runs in this series for an average of 3.33 per game which is low for a team that routinely scores 10 plus runs in a game. They also didn’t do themselves any favors leaving 18 runners on base throughout the series. Florida State did a good job leaving those runners on base and not allowing Pitt the opportunity to score more runs.

The sweep drops the Panthers to 28-18 and 10-14 in the ACC along with 10-9 on the road. It also extends the losing streak to four games. Next up for the Panthers is a road trip to #2 ranked North Carolina. It’s going to be a tough road test for Pitt. Yet it could be a great opportunity to score an impressive, ranked win and improve the resume for the NCAA Tournament.

Steve Samek is a staff writer for DreamBackfield since December 2025 He is a freelance writer in the Pittsburgh, PA Area.