University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Drop Doubleheader with Boston College
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 19, 1999
PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Panthers women's softball team continued its homestand this week and dropped a doubleheader to conference rival Boston College April 18. Earlier in the week, the Panthers split a pair of games with St. Francis (Pa.) April 14.
Boston College mounted a late rally to post five runs and break a tie in the top of the seventh to take game one, 9-4. With the bases loaded in the top of the final inning, the Eagles' Summer Jarratt knocked a home run over the center field fence for the winning runs.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth off freshman Rhianna Rogers' (Camarillo, Calif./Rio Mesa) solo home run to left field, her sixth of the season. The Eagles, however, went on to a four-run sixth when they scored four runs off three hits and two errors to take the lead.
Pittsburgh came back to tie the score at four apiece in the bottom half of the inning. Freshman Clare McCann's (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) RBI single scored the Panthers' first run of the inning and they added two more off Rogers' two-run single two batters later.
Boston College continued its momentum in the nightcap and won a 6-3 decision.
With the scored tied at 1-1, the Eagles posted three runs in the top of the fourth to break the tie and take the lead for good. The Panthers managed runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth off solo home runs from catcher Jackie Haar (Naples, Fla./Lely) and Rogers, her second of the day, but Boston College added two insurance runs in the sixth for the victory.
Earlier in the week, the Panthers captured a 9-3 win over St. Francis (Pa.) in the first game of a doubleheader and lost a 4-2 decision in the nightcap.
Pittsburgh jumped to a two-run lead in the first inning off first baseman Katie Mitchell's (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) RBI double and designated hitter Gina Bessolo's (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood) RBI single. The Red Flash battled back to pull within 2-1 in the second inning, but the Panthers put together a four-run third to take the lead for good.
Mitchell began the scoring in the bottom of the third with a solo two-out home run, her first of the season. Bessolo added another run with her RBI single to center field and crossed the plate after Lisa Collins' (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) double. Collins added the final run of the inning moments later when she scored off a catcher's error.
Pittsburgh added three insurance runs in the fourth to seal the victory. After right fielder Dawna Kasper (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) scored on a shortstop error, Haar belted her 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot over the centerfield fence. St. Francis managed two runs of their own in the top of the fifth, but could draw no closer.
Mitchell and Bessolo each went 3-for-4 at the plate in game one with two RBI apiece, while Mitchell added a home run and double. Junior pitcher Laura LeViere (Pittsburgh, Pa./Northgate) threw her sixth complete game of the year and notched her fifth win of the season, allowing three runs, six hits and tallied 10 strikeouts.
St. Francis won the second game despite trailing after five innings. The Panthers led, 2-1, after Collins' solo home run, her first of the season in the fourth, and Tiffany Barrett's (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) RBI single in the fifth.
The Red Flash rallied in the following inning with three runs off four hits and one error to take the lead for good.
The Panthers record stands at 10-28-1 overall. They return to action Tuesday, April 20 when they host Cleveland State in a 3 p.m. contest at Frick Field. The Panthers resume conference play this weekend when they travel to Providence April 24 and Connecticut April 25.
