MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s lone meeting with Pitt in the 2026 season is one the 12th-ranked Mountaineers would be best off to forget.
The Panthers gained a first-inning lead Tuesday night courtesy of Lorenzo Carrier’s team-leading 15th home run. It marked the first of five long balls for Pitt, which hit two more during a seven-run second and never looked back in a 23-1 dismantling of the Mountaineers.
“In general, losing always opens the door for fragmentation of teams,” WVU coach Steve Sabins said. “The message is always to stick together. At the end of the day, you can’t fall in love with yourself when you’re doing great.”
The 22 runs marks the largest margin of victory in Backyard Brawl history.
Sabins elected to start left-handed pitcher Bryson Thacker, who surrendered Carrier’s home run as well as a solo blast to Sebastian Pisacreata that traveled 409 feet over the left field fence and allowed the visitors to lead 2-0.
That marked the first of four straight Pitt batters to reach, the fourth of which was AJ Nessler’s three-run home run to right field for a 5-0 advantage.
That marked the end of the outing for Thacker, who was replaced by former Gilmer County High School standout Bryant Yoak.
Yoak, a hard-throwing right-hander, walked two, allowed one hit and recorded one out while struggling with his command before giving way to David Hagen, who had been the team’s regular midweek starting pitcher.
Hagen also struggled with his command, and despite finishing the second, he walked four batters, allowed two hits and was ultimately tagged for five runs while recording only two outs.
The Panthers led 8-0 in the third and added to it with Caden Dulin’s three-run home run.
“When a game gets out of hand like that, you can’t be emotional,” Sabins said. “It’s very easy to be emotional. You have to set your team up for success in the future and over the weekend.“
After Hagen followed Dulin’s round-tripper by issuing his third and fourth base-on-balls in consecutive fashion, he was pulled for JT Huether.
“Thacker hadn’t been super successful as a reliever. We wanted to give Thacker the start and use Hagen the relief,” Sabins said.
Pitt ultimately scored five more in that inning, including two on hit batsmen, one on a walk and a pair on Nessler’s single to left-center that made it 16-0.
Pisacreta hit his second home run in the fourth, a three-run shot that made it a 19-run difference.
Armani Guzman scored the lone WVU run on a wild pitch in the home half of that inning.
Trey Fenderson’s three-run double off Weston Smith in the fifth upped the Pitt advantage to 22-1, and the visitors capped the scoring in the sixth with a Mason Ligenza double that brought home Pisacreta.
The game ended after seven innings as a result of a 10-run mercy rule.
“The other message is the definition of who you are as a man basically is decided through adversity,” Sabins said. “When adverse things happen and struggles show up, how you respond to those is character. When things go great, it’s easy to be a great teammate.”
Pisacreta, up to 12 home runs for the season, drove in five and scored four times.
Nessler also had five RBI, while Dulin and Henderson added three apiece.
Chase Kriebel was the winning pitcher and one of seven utilized by Pitt. The group combined for nine strikeouts and five walks.
All nine Mountaineer pitchers walked at least one batter and the staff totaled 15 walks with five strikeouts in a lopsided loss that also included a season-low two hits.
WVU is back in action Friday when it begins a three-game series at Cincinnati.
Sabins confirmed left-handed starting pitcher Maxx Yehl will be out for the series after he was pulled early into last Saturday’s start against Houston with his velocity noticeably down.
Instead, the Mountaineers will start Ian Korn Friday in Game 1 and Dawson Montesa and Chansen Cole in that order over the next two days.
“He needs a week off throwing,” Sabins said of Yehl. “Losing a starting pitcher is one thing, but there are other ramifications. You need to find ways to clip off innings.”