Pitt pitchers strike out 16 more Florida State batters in second consecutive victory

Jerry DiPaola, The Tribune-Review, Greensburg
·1 min read

Feb. 28—The strikeouts kept coming Saturday night, helping lift Pitt to its second consecutive victory against No. 9 Florida State, 7-2, at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.

Starting pitcher Matt Gilbertson (2-0) threw six scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 while allowing only five hits and two walks. Gilbertson, Chase Smith and Hansen combined for 16 strikeouts and just three walks. Hansen struck out the side in the ninth.

In two games against the Seminoles this weekend, including a 1-0 victory Friday, the Panthers have combined for 35 strikeouts. The final game of the series is at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Pitt (5-1, 2-0) earned its first series victory against Florida State (2-3, 0-2) and first series triumph against a top-10 team since joining the ACC in 2014.

"I really like what I'm seeing as the guys are coming together, not only a team but as a program," said coach Mike Bell, a former Florida State assistant. "I'm excited for them."

Sky Duff, Nico Popa and Kyle Hess each collected two hits and all five of Pitt's RBIs. Popa hit his second homer of the season in the fourth inning and doubled in the sixth before scoring on an error.

Florida State scored two runs in the seventh inning to break Pitt's combined shutout streak of 19 innings and 58 consecutive outs dating to the 7-2 victory against Jacksonville on Tuesday night.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .