Pitt misplaced an additional innings heartbreaker to Florida State, 3-2, on Saturday night time at Mike Martin Discipline at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.

It was the ACC opener for the Panthers. With the loss, the Panthers dropped to 7-7 on the season. The Panthers will face Florida State on Saturday for Recreation 2 of their three-game sequence with the Seminoles. First pitch is at 3 p.m. and the sport may be streamed on the ACC Community.

Freshman AJ Nessler knocked in a run by way of a RBI single to left discipline to get the Panthers on prime 1-0 within the fourth inning. It was solely the Panthers’ third hit of the night time, and two of them belonged to Nessler.

Pitt righty Jack Sokol was environment friendly by way of 4 innings, putting out six batters and permitting simply 4 hits. Within the backside of the fourth, Sokol labored out of a jam and compelled the Seminoles to strand runners on the corners. Sokol has been by far the Panthers finest pitcher within the early portion of the season.

Sokol received out of one other jam within the backside of the fifth and ended the inning together with his eighth strikeout. Florida State lastly answered within the backside of the sixth, because of a single by way of the precise aspect by Cade Bush to carry house Colton Vincent. Nander De Sedas then doubled to proper discipline to carry Bush in for the go-ahead run. Dylan Simmons retired the aspect however the Seminoles did injury within the backside of the sixth with three hits and two runs.

CJ Funk scored on an RBI floor out by Kyle Hess to tie the sport at 2-2 within the prime of the eighth. The Seminoles had been in scoring place to shut out the sport within the backside of the ninth however Pitt nearer Nash Bryan retired the aspect to power additional innings.

Again-to-back one-out singles by Justin Acal and Nessler gave the Panthers runners on the corners within the prime of the eleventh. Righty Doug Kirkland received Florida State out of the jam, nonetheless, and retired the aspect to maintain the Seminoles alive. With the bases loaded within the backside of the twelfth and no outs, Jordan Carrion singled by way of the left aspect to win the sport for the Seminoles.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 5 seed Pitt Panthers battle the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils within the ACC Match Quarterfinals Thursday afternoon from the Greensboro Coliseum. 

PSN’s Austin Bechtold and Nick Farabaugh have you ever lined with the whole lot it is advisable to know earlier than the matchup. 

It’s GAMEDAY on the Greensboro Coliseum as No. 5 Pitt faces No. 4 Duke within the ACC Match Quarterfinals. Keep tuned all through the day for updates from Greensboro, North Carolina! pic.twitter.com/IOVLvZFI3Y

— Austin Bechtold (@AustinRBechtold) March 9, 2023

NEW YORK — No. 6 Duquesne misplaced to No. 11 La Salle 81-70 within the Second Spherical of the Atlantic 10 Event on the Barclays Middle in Brooklyn, N.Y. Wednesday evening.

The loss ends the Dukes season with a 20-12 report they usually end with one other disappointing outcome within the A-10 Event. The Explorers (15-18) performed extremely environment friendly basketball in that second half, which the Dukes simply couldn’t replicate.

Poor Play Continues within the Atlantic 10 Event

It’s no shocker that Duquesne has not had actual success within the Atlantic 10 Event. The final time Duquesne received the convention event got here in 1977, their first yr within the A-10 and final time they performed within the NCAA Event.

Nonetheless, the Dukes have been horrendous within the Atlantic 10 Event, going 6-21 for the reason that flip of the century. Three of these wins got here within the 2009 version, the place the Dukes made all of it the way in which to the Last, the place they’d lose to No. 4 Temple, 69-64. The 2009 convention event is the one time the Dukes have received a number of video games since 2000, they usually have solely executed so a complete of 4 occasions of their 47 seasons as a member of the A-10.

There hasn’t been an actual change within the postseason underneath head coach Keith Dambrot, as Duquesne has one win in six Atlantic 10 Event video games in his six seasons on the helm.

Regardless of Duquesne not having actual success in a long time, Dambrot has made his squad a contender all through his tenure. Followers see that success, however will clearly wish to see it translate to March going ahead.

Dambrot should discover methods to get this program out of its failures within the postseason and to success if the Duquesne is to doubtlessly make an look within the NCAA Event. The query is, can he?

Abysmal Second Half Taking pictures Results in Downfall

The second half noticed the Dukes shoot 31.4% from the sector and 31.3% from 3-point vary. These numbers don’t look essentially horrendous on first look, however the Dukes spent a big portion of that second half lacking a bunch of photographs.

From the time each groups had been stage at 46-46 on the U12 media timeout in that second half to when La Salle constructed a 63-53 lead with 5 minutes remaining, Duquesne shot 1-for-10 from the ground and missed simple photographs that they usually made all through the common season.

That poor capturing streak doomed the Dukes of their loss to the Explorers. They didn’t create any rhythm offensively and it confirmed on a few of the inexplicable missed photographs they often transformed in earlier video games.

Junior guard Dae Dae Grant led Duquesne early with 13 of their first 17 factors. He didn’t rating in any respect in that second half and mentioned publish sport that the movement of the sport offensively didn’t play into the fingers of Duquesne the way in which it has previously.

“I might say lack of rhythm and really feel for probably the most half,” Grant mentioned. “Then us simply having to maneuver the ball higher on the offensive finish.”

Brickus and Brantley Dominate Duquesne on each Sides of the Ball

The Explorers guard duo of junior Jhamir Brickus and sophomore Khaliel Brantley put in incredible performances within the win towards the Dukes, particularly within the second half. Brickus scored 19 factors, making 11 of his 12 photographs from the foul line, whereas Brantley shot 4-for-6 from the ground and 5-for-6 from the free throw line, each within the second half, respectively.

They scored 34 of the La Salle’s 54 factors in that second half and led their staff to 64.0% capturing from the sector and 82.6% from the foul line.

Brickus and Brantley spoke publish sport about simply taking what the Duquesne gave them defensively. Brantley made two 3-pointers, however Brickus dominated together with his skill to drive and rating. Changing layups helped La Salle flip the sport of their favor and finally earn the victory.

“We’re actually simply taking what the protection offers us,” Brickus mentioned. “Loads of groups been enjoying excessive so, we’ve simply been opening up, driving lanes and creating for our teammates.”

Reece and Williams Non-Components in Second Matchup towards La Salle

Duquesne forwards in senior Joe Reece and junior Tre Williams didn’t have an excellent sport towards La Salle. Reece shot 3-for-11 from the ground and Williams scored zero factors. Reece completed with 13 factors, however seven of them got here from the foul line.

Each gamers executed extremely properly offensively within the first matchup towards the Explorers on Feb. 22. Reece had an excellent sport, scoring 18 of his 26 career-high factors within the second half, whereas additionally capturing 11-for-13 from the ground. Williams scored 11 of his 14 factors within the second half, created six assists, made seven rebounds and two steals.

The scale that the Dukes used to defeat the Explorers two weeks prior didn’t translate into this sport. The Explorers outscored the Dukes 36-20 within the paint, as their guards drove to the basket and made some nice layups and shut photographs.

La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy made changes to take care of Reece and Williams inside, particularly after they “torched” them the primary time round. He gave credit score to his guards, who performed assist protection on each of them, and made it exhausting for Duquesne to attain factors in any respect.

“I simply thought all people was on their assignments,” Dunphy mentioned. “I assumed we walled up properly. We talked about doubling, we didn’t do it a lot tonight. We talked about it. We had a plan in the event that they had been hurting us like they did the primary time. I simply assume our guards took care of lots of it. They stored individuals in entrance of them, so it wasn’t lots of drop offs to these guys. Once they did publish us, we had [Brantley and Brickus] having to entrance a man like Reece, however I assumed we had some good assist from behind. I assumed we did about pretty much as good we might do on the publish up protection towards these guys.”

Gamers Graduating Show Their Worth to Duquesne All through Their Careers

This loss towards La Salle will harm most for the graduating gamers probably the most on Duquesne. Graduates in forwards Rodney “RJ Gunn Jr. and Austin Rotroff, guard Tevin Brewer and Reece are all gamers who contributed an excellent deal to Duquesne this season and can transfer on from enjoying collegiate basketball.

Dambrot spoke glowingly off all of the gamers, however particularly Rotroff, who battled by way of critical accidents and made comebacks all through his Duquesne profession.

“If I had the necessity to have one other son, I’d take Rotroff with me,” Dambrot mentioned. “Unbelievable human being. Nice man. Cares about different individuals. Cares about successful. It’s been an unbelievable pleasure to teach him. By good, dangerous and ugly, he’s hung in there with us.”