Sunday, February 18
Chapel Hill, N.C.
10:00 AM EST
Pitt
5-3-1
9
vs
0
Illinois
3-6
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
4
Pitt
4
1
3
1
X
9
11
1
Dominant Bats, Pitching Leads Pitt to Five-Inning Shutout of Illinois
2/18/2018 1:46:00 PM | Softball
Dawson, Knight Combine to Shut Out the Illini, 9-0, in Run Rule Game
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of Pittsburgh softball team dominated Illinois on its final day of the B1G/ACC Challenge as the Panthers earned its first shutout of the season against the Illini, 9-0, in five innings at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Panthers [5-3-1] jumped on Illinois [3-6] from the get go, tallying four runs in the bottom half of the first, before scoring in every inning following that. The squad held the Illini scoreless.
"We saw everything come together today," said head coach Holly Aprile. "The way we finished was great. We really got our offense going and fed off of each other, which we haven't really been doing up until this point. Our bats were churning, which took pressure off our pitchers and defense, and additionally put pressure on our opponent. Our pitching staff did a great job overall on the whole weekend. They worked together really well."
The win gave Pitt its second victory at the B1G/ACC Challenge. The Panthers finished 2-2, splitting with both Wisconsin and Illinois.
"We played really high-quality competition and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge is a fun tournament to play in," said Aprile. "Both Illinois and Wisconsin are top teams and went to the tournament last year. We played well against them and we are going to be able to use this experience to prepare for ACC play."
Pitt had a phenomenal day at the plate, tallying 11 hits, with a home run from junior Olivia Gray. Four other players added two hits apiece, including juniors Alexis Solak and Gabrielle Fredericks, senior Giorgiana Zeremenko and freshman Hunter Levesque.
The Panthers concluded the contest with seven RBI against the Illini [3-6]. Gray finished the game with three RBI, while Levesque had two and both Zeremenko and senior McKayla Taylor added one.
Junior Sarah Dawson and sophomore Brittany Knight were solid in the circle, as the two combined to shutout Illinois. Dawson, who started the game, tossed four complete innings, striking out five and giving up just one walk. She let up just five hits. Knight relieved Dawson in the final inning of play, retiring the Illini in order to end the game.
SCORING RUNDOWN
Errors plagued Illinois in the opening inning as the Illini committed three and gave up four hits to give Pitt a 4-0 advantage at the end of first. Solak led off for the Panthers, reaching first on a single and advancing to second as the right fielder let the ball get past her. On the next play, Gray reached third on a pair of errors, while Solak scored from second on the play to put Pitt up 1-0.
A single up the middle by Zeremenko in the next at-bat brought Gray home to make it 2-0 Panthers. Fredericks continued Pitt's charge with another single up the middle, putting runners on first and second for Taylor. A fielder's choice by Taylor moved up Zeremenko but left Fredericks hanging at second. With two away and runners at second and third after Taylor tallied a stolen base, Levesque singled down the left field line to bring around both Taylor and Zeremenko.
The Panthers added one to their total in the second on a single through the left side by Taylor, scoring Gray who originally reached on a walk.
A three-run homer in the bottom of third by Gray extended Pitt's advantage to 8-0. Senior Erin Hershman led off the inning and was hit by a pitch to put the first runner on, but was out at second on a fielder's choice by sophomore Connor McGaffic. Solak joined McGaffic on the base paths after ripping a ball down the right field line, setting up Gray's three-run shot.
Another error by the Illini in the fourth gave the Panthers' its final run to bring the score to 9-0. Back-to-back singles by Levesque and pinch hitter Marissa DeMatteo with one away got things going once again for Pitt. In the next at-bat, freshman pinch hitter Brie Horrell hit a ball to second, but the Illini defender misplayed the ball allowing Levesque to cross the plate.
UP NEXT
Pitt will travel to South Carolina to participate in the Chanticleer Showdown Feb. 23-25. The Panthers will face three total teams including Georgetown, Saint Joseph's and host Coastal Carolina.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Panthers [5-3-1] jumped on Illinois [3-6] from the get go, tallying four runs in the bottom half of the first, before scoring in every inning following that. The squad held the Illini scoreless.
"We saw everything come together today," said head coach Holly Aprile. "The way we finished was great. We really got our offense going and fed off of each other, which we haven't really been doing up until this point. Our bats were churning, which took pressure off our pitchers and defense, and additionally put pressure on our opponent. Our pitching staff did a great job overall on the whole weekend. They worked together really well."
The win gave Pitt its second victory at the B1G/ACC Challenge. The Panthers finished 2-2, splitting with both Wisconsin and Illinois.
"We played really high-quality competition and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge is a fun tournament to play in," said Aprile. "Both Illinois and Wisconsin are top teams and went to the tournament last year. We played well against them and we are going to be able to use this experience to prepare for ACC play."
Pitt had a phenomenal day at the plate, tallying 11 hits, with a home run from junior Olivia Gray. Four other players added two hits apiece, including juniors Alexis Solak and Gabrielle Fredericks, senior Giorgiana Zeremenko and freshman Hunter Levesque.
The Panthers concluded the contest with seven RBI against the Illini [3-6]. Gray finished the game with three RBI, while Levesque had two and both Zeremenko and senior McKayla Taylor added one.
Junior Sarah Dawson and sophomore Brittany Knight were solid in the circle, as the two combined to shutout Illinois. Dawson, who started the game, tossed four complete innings, striking out five and giving up just one walk. She let up just five hits. Knight relieved Dawson in the final inning of play, retiring the Illini in order to end the game.
SCORING RUNDOWN
Errors plagued Illinois in the opening inning as the Illini committed three and gave up four hits to give Pitt a 4-0 advantage at the end of first. Solak led off for the Panthers, reaching first on a single and advancing to second as the right fielder let the ball get past her. On the next play, Gray reached third on a pair of errors, while Solak scored from second on the play to put Pitt up 1-0.
A single up the middle by Zeremenko in the next at-bat brought Gray home to make it 2-0 Panthers. Fredericks continued Pitt's charge with another single up the middle, putting runners on first and second for Taylor. A fielder's choice by Taylor moved up Zeremenko but left Fredericks hanging at second. With two away and runners at second and third after Taylor tallied a stolen base, Levesque singled down the left field line to bring around both Taylor and Zeremenko.
The Panthers added one to their total in the second on a single through the left side by Taylor, scoring Gray who originally reached on a walk.
A three-run homer in the bottom of third by Gray extended Pitt's advantage to 8-0. Senior Erin Hershman led off the inning and was hit by a pitch to put the first runner on, but was out at second on a fielder's choice by sophomore Connor McGaffic. Solak joined McGaffic on the base paths after ripping a ball down the right field line, setting up Gray's three-run shot.
Another error by the Illini in the fourth gave the Panthers' its final run to bring the score to 9-0. Back-to-back singles by Levesque and pinch hitter Marissa DeMatteo with one away got things going once again for Pitt. In the next at-bat, freshman pinch hitter Brie Horrell hit a ball to second, but the Illini defender misplayed the ball allowing Levesque to cross the plate.
UP NEXT
Pitt will travel to South Carolina to participate in the Chanticleer Showdown Feb. 23-25. The Panthers will face three total teams including Georgetown, Saint Joseph's and host Coastal Carolina.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dawson, Sarah (4-3)
L: T Edwards (1-4)
Batting:
2B: C Thomas 1
SH: S Acosta 1
Base Running:
CS: L Farina 1
Batting:
HR: Gray, Olivia 1
RBI: Gray, Olivia 3 ; Zeremenko, Giorgiana 1 ; Taylor, McKayla 1 ; Levesque, Hunter 2
SH: Gray, Olivia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Solak, Alexis 2 ; Gray, Olivia 3 ; Zeremenko, Giorgiana 1 ; Taylor, McKayla 1 ; Levesque, Hunter 1 ; McGaffic, Connor 1
SB: Taylor, McKayla 1 ; Levesque, Hunter 2
HBP: Hershman, Erin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballINF/C
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF/U
/ Softball
P/INF
/ SoftballOF/INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballC/INF
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