PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Notre Dame baseball team battled their way to a 6-4 win in 10 innings at Pittsburgh on Friday to set up the series rubber match against the Panthers.
After a scoreless first inning by both sides, the Irish struck in the top of the second. Noah Coy laced a single to short center field to get things going. Jayce Lee found the left-center gap with a double to the wall, and Coy came around from first to score on the play for the lead.
The Panthers tied the game in the bottom half of the second. Ty Uber forced Pitt into stranding a runner on base in the third and retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game deadlocked at 1-1.
Pitt took a lead in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs to go ahead 3-1.
In the top of the sixth, Jayce Lee started an Irish rally by getting hit by a pitch. Mason Barth laced a double down the left field line, and Jamie Zee was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Caleb Ricks came in to pinch run for Zee, and Shane Miranda found the right-center gap with a bases-clearing double as all three Irish baserunners came in to score for a 4-3 Notre Dame lead.
A solo home run by the Panthers in the bottom of the sixth knotted the score at 4-4.
Dylan Singleton put back-to-back zeroes on the scoreboard and capped off the bottom of the eighth with a strikeout as the game rolled over to the ninth still tied up.
The Panthers put a pair of runners into scoring position with one out gone in the bottom of the ninth, but Noah Rooney and the Irish shut down the potential walk-off. A grounder to Dylan Passo at first resulted in a rundown between third and home that saw the lead runner get tagged out at the plate. Rooney then induced a grounder to Noah Coy, and the sophomore made the play across the field to force extra innings.
Dylan Passo laced a one-out single to center field, and Mason Barth drilled the first pitch of his at-bat do dead center field for a two-run homer to put the Irish up 6-4.
The Panthers put the lead-off man on base before Noah Rooney dialed up a big full-count strikeout. Rooney then induced a 4-6-3 double play to shut the door and preserve the 6-4 victory in extra innings for the Irish.
Mason Barth went 2-for-5 with a decisive two-run home run, a double and two runs in the win. Shane Miranda added a 2-for-4 effort with a double and three RBI. Jayce Lee was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Drew Berkland added a pair of hits, and Dylan Passo posted a hit and scored a run. Mark Quatrani and Jamie Zee each notched a hit, and Caleb Ricks scored a run for the Irish.
Ty Uber went 4.1 innings on the mound and struck out six. Dylan Singleton posted two strikeouts over 3.2 innings of relief work for the Irish. Noah Rooney earned the win after going 2.0 with two strikeouts, one hit and no runs allowed.
The Irish (29-21, 12-17 ACC) faces Pittsburgh in the series rubber match on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. ET.