Pitt
Seton Hall
Softball Splits Doubleheader With Seton Hall
4/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 8, 2002
EAST ORANGE, N.J.- The Pittsburgh softball team lost in the bottom of the seventh inning in game one to host Seton Hall on Saturday, 2-1, but came back with the bats in game two to win, 7-4, in the nightcap.
The Panthers (15-21, 3-5 Big East) took an early 1-0 lead in the first game in the top of the second inning. With two outs, catcher Tiffany White (Carlsbad, Calif./Palomar C.C.) drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Senior Amy Steich (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) moved closer to the 100-hit plateau in her career with an RBI double that scored White with the game's first run.
Seton Hall (16-8, 5-1 Big East) tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a home run by catcher Laura Taylor off of Pittsburgh starter Nikki Gasti (Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels). The game remained that way until the bottom of the seventh when the Pirates scored the winning run. Kim Jackson led the inning off with a single and moved to second when Taylor was intentionally walked. Both runners moved up one base on a wild pitch and two batters later, a sacrifice fly brought Jackson home.
Gasti went 6.1 innings, allowing just four hits and the two earned runs, striking out nine Pirate batters while walking just four. She is now 7-11 for the season. White and Kelly Hulpa (Washington, Pa./Trinity) had two hits apiece to lead the Panthers while Angela Blackmon (San Diego, Calif./Palomar C.C.), Beth Gill (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and Steich had one hit apiece.
In the second game, Pittsburgh jumped on the Pirates in the top of the first with a run. Missy Smith (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas) drew a walk to open the game and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt two batters later. Hulpa then singled to center, scoring Smith, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Seton Hall came back to tie the game in the bottom of the second with a run off Gina Bessolo (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood), but the Panthers came right back with a run in the top of the third. With one out, Steich reached on an infield single, but was forced out on a ground ball by Smith, who then reached second on a wild pitch. Clare McCann (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) followed with a single to score Smith with the go-ahead run.
Pittsburgh plated five runs in the fifth inning to break the game open. Gill doubled to left field to open the inning and extend her hitting streak to a team-record eight games, tying her with Tiffany Barrett, who matched the feat in 2000. White was hit by a pitch and with two runners on, Steich reached on a two-base error, scoring Gill on the play. McCann singled to right field two batters later for a two-RBI base hit, scoring White and Steich to make it a 5-1 game.
Blackmon followed with a double, scoring McCann and moved to third on the throw home. She later scored on a sacrifice fly by Hulpa to account for the Panthers' seventh run.
Seton Hall did fight back with three runs to make it a 7-4 game but Bessolo held off the Pirates for her sixth win of the year (6-7), allowing just six hits and two earned runs while tying a season-high with 10 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh will face St. John's in Jamaica, N.Y., on Sunday afternoon in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
