Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader from West Virginia
4/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader from West Virginia
4/10/2004
MORGANTOWN, WVa.--The University of Pittsburgh baseball team swept a doubleheader against rival West Virginia University on Saturday afternoon by posting 2-0 and 7-2 wins over the Mountaineers at Hawley Field.
Pittsburgh (19-8, 7-3) never trailed in either contest and held the Mountaineers' offensive attack to only two unearned runs in the games. The Panthers' offense belted 19 hits on the day while the defense scattered 15 hits over the two games.
In game one, senior pitcher Nick Evangelista went the distance to earn his fourth win and second shutout of the season. Evangelista allowed only five hits over the seven inning contest, while striking out 10 West Virginia hitters.
Sophomore Ben Copeland hit an RBI-sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the fifth inning to give the Panthers their first run of the game, while third baseman Mike Scanzano plated the other run on a fielder's choice in the sixth.
In the second game, Pittsburgh jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning when catcher Alex Rybczak singled home Peter Parise and Copeland added another sacrifice fly to plate Pittsburgh's second run.
In the seventh the Panthers would add two more runs as second baseman Jim Negrych belted an RBI-double down the left field line to plate shortstop Bryan Spamer, while senior pitcher P.J. Hiser lifted an RBI sacrifice fly to plate Negrych.
Hiser picked up the win in game two by tossing 8.1 innings of eight-hit baseball while striking out seven WVU batters. With the win Hiser improved his record to 3-0 on the season.
Pittsburgh returns to action on Wednesday, April 14 when they travel to Akron for a 7 p.m. game against the Zips.