Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team kicked off its 2020 season on Friday with a pair of games at North Charlotte Regional Park as part of the annual Snowbird Classic event.  The Hawks opened the year with a 7-3 win over Ohio State before falling to Pitt, 14-8, in 14 innings.

SAINT JOSEPH'S 7, OHIO STATE 3
• In the opener, Saint Joseph's (1-1) jumped ahead in the top of the second as Langston Livingston hit into a fielder's choice; James McConnon came around to score from second on an error to give the Hawks the early edge.

• Ohio State (0-1) answered in the third, drawing level on a sacrifice fly by Dillon Dingler, but it would be Livingston who put the Hawks ahead once again in the top half of the fourth.  With McConnon and Jake Artz aboard, Livingston hit the Hawks' first home run of the season, a three-run shot to right center, to make it a 4-1 game.

• That's where it stayed until the eighth, when Artz doubled home McConnon to extend the lead to 5-1.

• After OSU got one back in the bottom of the eighth, Brendan Hueth added some breathing room with his first longball of the season, a two-run home run to straightaway center that brought home Luca Trigiani.

• The Buckeyes added a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but that would be all as the Hawks secured the victory.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• The win is the first for the Hawks in their season opener since 2015, when they edged Loyola Marymount, 2-1.  It is also the program's first win over a team in the Big Ten.

• Jordan DiValerio earned the win in his first start of the season, allowing just an unearned run on one hit while striking out nine in five innings.  Luke Smith, Jose Martinez, and Cole Stetzar combined to finish off the victory.

• Garrett Burhenn took the loss for Ohio State.

• Hueth went 3-for-4 in the opener, while Artz and McConnon were both 2-for-3; McConnon scored three runs, while Livingston led the way with three runs batted in.

PITT 14, SAINT JOSEPH'S 8 (F/14)
• The Panthers took the early lead with two in the first and two more in the fourth, but a bases-loaded triple by Matt Cuppari brought the Hawks back to within a run at 4-3 after four.

• Pitt (2-0) extended the lead to 6-3 in the top of the fifth, but the Hawks answered with two in the bottom of the sixth on a groundout by Chris Skermo and a sacrifice fly by Cuppari.  SJU would put two on with nobody out in the seventh, but Pitt's C.J. McKennitt escaped the jam to keep the score at 6-5 before the Panthers tacked on a two-out insurance in the top of the eighth.

• The Hawks would take their first lead of the nightcap in the bottom of the frame.  Tim Johnson hit a one-out double before an error with two down put him on third and Cuppari on first.  Brian Markoski followed with a double to cut the deficit to one, and Hueth was then issued an intentional walk to load the bases for Artz.  The right fielder came through, poking a single through the right side to score Cuppari and Markoski and put the Hawks on top, 8-7.

• The lead would be short-lived, however, as Ron Washington, Jr., hit a one-out home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth.  The Hawks would get the winning run to second in the bottom of the stanza, but Pitt's Chase Smith retired the side to send the game to extra innings.

• The Hawks would have chances in the extra frames, but it was the Panthers that eventually broke through, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring six runs in the top of the 14th to come away with the win.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Grant Powell tossed four scoreless innings of relief for Pitt to earn the win, while Noah Weber was charged with the loss after tossing four and two-thirds innings and allowing four runs.

• Cuppari finished the day with four RBI, while Johnson went 3-for-5 with a run scored.  Hueth drew four walks in the game, one short of the program record.

HAWK TALK
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's will take on Iowa at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida, at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.  CoolToday Park is the new spring training home of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves.