Canes Fall To Pittsburgh, 3-0

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami came up short in Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, falling to visiting Pitt, 3-0, at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

For the second straight game against the Panthers, the Hurricanes received an impressive performance on the hill. 

But the Hurricanes’ offense was stymied by Pitt righthander Matt Pidich, who allowed just four hits with seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

Sophomore righthander Evan McKendry twirled 6.2 sharp innings, following up impressive outings from Jeb Bargfeldt in Friday night’s series opener and freshman Chris McMahon in Wednesday’s win over FGCU.

McKendry (5-5) departed with the bases loaded in the seventh and the game in a scoreless deadlock.

A bloop RBI single from Pitt’s Cole MacLaren off Miami reliever Frankie Bartow dropped in shallow left, allowing two runs to score and giving Pitt a 2-0 lead.

The Hurricanes (16-22, 9-11 ACC) out-hit the Panthers, 7-6, but could not string together enough offense against Pidich (5-1) or reliever RJ Freure, who picked up his first save of the season.

Freure allowed three hits over the game’s final 2.1 innings.

The Panthers (21-15, 10-10 ACC) added an insurance run in the ninth.

First pitch for Game 2 of the doubleheader is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra, WVUM 90.5 FM and 990 AM ESPN Deportes.