Pitt beats West Virginia in the baseball version of the Backyard Brawl
Pitt’s Chris Gomez and two relief pitchers kept West Virginia bats in check, and No. 17 Pitt unleashed a 12-hit attack Tuesday in a 5-1 victory in the baseball version of the Backyard Brawl at Charles L. Cost Field.
West Virginia (11-12) managed only seven hits while Gomez and Pitt relief pitchers Chase Smith and Jordan McCrum worked through nine innings without issuing a walk.
“I think he surprised a lot of people going seven innings strong, picking us up when we knew we were going to need a little bit of everybody,” Pitt coach Mike Bell said of Gomez.
Pitt (14-10) scored four runs in the third inning on a home run by Kyle Hess, Bryce Hulett’s two-run double and Jackson Phinney’s infield single. David Yanni added a home run in the seventh for Pitt’s final run.
The second game of the series will be May 5 in Morgantown, W.Va. The Panthers return to the ACC on Friday for the start of a three-game series against No. 15 Miami.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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