University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Softball Downs Youngstown State, 5-1
3/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Softball Downs Youngstown State, 5-1
3/31/2005
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - After a five-inning scoreless game, the Pittsburgh softball team scored three times in the sixth inning and twice more in the seventh for a 5-1 victory at Youngstown State on Thursday evening.
The win is the Panthers' sixth in their past seven games and improved their overall record to 12-14 for the season. Pittsburgh hadn't played since March 20 but showed no signs of being rusty with 11 hits and allowing the Penguins to just four in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader.
The Panthers and Penguins battled through five innings with neither team plating a run until the top of the sixth frame. Pitt got a break when junior Jessica Thomas (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) reached on a two-out error by YSU shortstop Tiffany Patteson. After a walk drawn by center fielder Morgan Howard (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), junior Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) laced a triple past the Penguins outfield to score the first two runs. It was her first triple of the 2005 season and school-record ninth three-bagger of her career.
Shortstop Sheena Hellon (Sacramento, Calif./Cordova) followed the DiMaria hit with a single to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Panthers. After the Penguins cut the lead to two in the bottom of the sixth, Pittsburgh added two insurance runs in their final time up. With one out, sophomore catcher Heather Connor (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) hit her second home run of the season and third of her career, followed by back-to-back doubles by Valerie Mihalik (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) and Joey Scarf (Humble, Texas/Humble) to account for the game's final run.
DiMaria went 4-for-4 at the plate, tying the school record for most hits in a game and was just a home run short of a cycle with two singles, a double, and her sixth-inning triple. Mihalik added two hits and stole the first base of her career to help in the Panthers' victory. Junior pitcher Christa Hunter (Sacramento, Calif./Hiram Johnson West) went the distance in the circle, allowing just four hits and the one run, walking none and striking out four Penguin batters for her seventh victory of the season.
