PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (Interstat) — The Pittsburgh Panthers erupted for eight runs in a decisive seventh inning to overcome an early deficit and defeat the Western Michigan Broncos 12-4 on Friday at Charlotte Sports Park, opening their 2026 season with a victory.

The game, a back-and-forth affair for six innings, turned dramatically in the bottom of the seventh as Pittsburgh sent 13 batters to the plate. The Panthers capitalized on a combination of timely hitting, patient at-bats and wild pitches to break a 4-4 tie and pull away for good.

Western Michigan struck first, taking advantage of early control issues by Pittsburgh starter Leslie. The Broncos pushed across four runs in the first inning without the benefit of a hit, leveraging walks and productive outs. Pittsburgh immediately responded with two runs in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Wagner and a run-scoring groundout by Carrier, then chipped away with single runs in the second and fourth innings to tie the game 4-4. Irizarry’s RBI single in the fourth knotted the score.

The Broncos reclaimed the lead in the top of the sixth. After loading the bases, a wild pitch by reliever McAuliff allowed Mally to score the go-ahead run. Mennecke then delivered a key two-run double to left field, scoring Ostrander and Maloney to give Western Michigan a 7-4 advantage.

That set the stage for the game-altering bottom of the seventh. The Panthers’ offensive explosion began against WMU reliever Lehmann and continued against Shapiro. Fenderson led off with a double, and after a hit-by-pitch to Baran, Dierdorf lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Pisacreta. The floodgates opened from there, as Pittsburgh drew three consecutive bases-loaded walks from Irizarry, Nessler and Dulin to force in three more runs. A wild pitch allowed another run to score, and Carrier capped the inning with another sacrifice fly, giving Pittsburgh an 11-7 lead.

The Panthers added an insurance run in the eighth on Nessler’s fourth RBI of the game, a single that scored Irizarry, who had doubled. Western Michigan, which grounded into two double plays in the game, could not mount a comeback against the Pittsburgh bullpen.

Nessler led the Panthers’ 13-hit attack, going 3 for 4 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored. Irizarry added three hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Dierdorf and Carrier each contributed sacrifice flies for Pittsburgh.

For Western Michigan, Mennecke’s two-run double was the key hit, part of an eight-hit effort. The Broncos used six pitchers in the loss.

With the win, Pittsburgh begins the season 1-0, while Western Michigan starts 0-1. The two teams are scheduled to continue their series at Charlotte Sports Park on Saturday and Sunday.

According to Interstat’s ELO system, Pittsburgh had a 68.30 percent probability to win the contest.