Three Run Pittsburgh Eighth Sinks Baseball, 5-2
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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The teams battled into the eighth inning tied at two, however Chris Sedon led off with a single, stole second base, and reached third base when Joe Leonard grounded out to short stop. With a runner on third base and one-out, Danny Lopez hit a soft chopper down the third base line beating out an off-balanced throw from Pirates third baseman Sean Gusrang (
Lopez began the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run, however Smedberg stepped up in the visiting half of the fourth inning to hit a lead off solo home run to right field tying the game.
The Pirates (15-18, 6-8) took the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Freshman Dave Phelan (Wharton, N.J.) led off with a triple to center field and came around to score when junior Chris Spagnuolo (Tabernacle, N.J.) grounded out to the right-side of the infield.
With the Pirates clinging to the one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers (19-13, 6-8) threatened when Morgan Kielty hit a two-out single off the first base bag and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, however Cantwell struck out Sedon on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. The Panthers did the tie the game in the bottom of the seventh on a Zach Duggan RBI single.
Smedberg, Gusrang, sophomore A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold, N.J.), Phelan, and Spagnuolo each had hits to lead the Pirates offense.
Corey Baker (5-2) shut down the Pirates offense throughout the day tossing a complete game five-hitter surrendering only two runs. Cantwell lasted 7.2 innings allowing four earned runs while striking out six batters.
The Pirates and Panthers will complete the three-game series tomorrow afternoon First pitch is scheduled for noon.
