University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Softball Splits Doubleheader With Virginia Tech
4/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Softball Splits Doubleheader With Virginia Tech
4/19/2003
PITTSBURGH ? After a tough third inning led the Panthers to a 6-0 loss in game one, the Pittsburgh softball team rallied and scored a 4-2 victory over Virginia Tech in game two at Trees Field on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Pittsburgh (19-26, 5-9 Big East) earned its second consecutive conference split and is now two wins away from tying the school record for victories in a season and one conference win away as well. Virginia Tech (17-25, 4-8) used a five-run third inning in the first game and strong pitching by Katie Maynard to shut out the Panthers, 6-0.
With one out, Kelly Brown of the Hokies singled to left field and moved to third on a two-out single by Shanel Garofalo. After Megan Evans walked to load the bases, Carmen Farmer hit the first grand slam at Trees Field to give the Hokies a 4-0 lead on Pittsburgh starter Nikki Gasti (Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels). The Hokies made it 5-0 when Rachel Pacheco homered right after Farmer. Virginia Tech added an insurance run in the sixth for the decisive victory. Gasti allowed seven hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings of work, striking out seven Hokie batters.
Seniors Kelly Hulpa (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and Tiffany White (Carlsbad, Calif./Palomar C.C.) had the only Pittsburgh hits off of Maynard in the loss. White recorded 10 putouts in the game behind the plate.
In the second game, Virginia Tech took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an unearned run off of Janelle Pepe (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville). Brown reached on a three-base error by Jessica Thomas (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Garofalo. The Panthers got two in the bottom of the first to take the one-run lead. With one out and one on, Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) singled to move Ana Velazquez (Santa Ana, Calif./Santa Ana C.C.) to second base.
Sophomore Casey Pickard (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart) laced a double to score both Velazquez and DiMaria with two outs for her 25th and 26th RBIs of the season. The Panthers extended their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run home run by Hulpa, her fifth of the season. Hulpa now has a team-leading 32 RBIs for the season.
Virginia Tech got one run back in the sixth inning but Pepe was stronger, allowing just six hits and no walks with two strikeouts for her seventh win of the season. Pittsburgh will return to action next Saturday at Rutgers for a doubleheader.
