Pitt Gets First Win Over Ohio State in Doubleheader Split
5/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Pitt Gets First Win Over Ohio State in Doubleheader Split
5/4/2005
PITTSBURGH?After managing just one hit in the first game of a doubleheader, the Pitt softball team responded with a 5-2 victory in game two with 10 hits. It was the Panthers' first win in eight tries against Ohio State and just the third win against a Big Ten school.
Pitt (23-27, 8-6 Big East) is now just one win away from tying the school record set in 2003 after the split against the Buckeyes. The Panthers will play at Villanova on Friday for a berth in the Big East Championships and have two games remaining with St. John's as well.
Ohio State (30-16) was led by pitcher Jamee Juarez in game one as the Panthers had just a two-out single by second baseman Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) in the third inning. The game remained scoreless until the Buckeyes plated two runs in the top of the sixth and four more in the seventh for a 6-0 win.
The Panthers got on the board right away in game two, scoring once in the bottom of the first. DiMaria singled to left field and center fielder Morgan Howard (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) followed with an infield single. When the attempt to get Howard at first got away, DiMaria ran all the way around from second with the game's first run.
After the Buckeyes tied it in the top of the second, the Panthers scored twice in their half of the frame to take a 3-1 lead. With one out, freshman Jessica Dignon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) singled to right field. Sheena Hellon (Sacramento, Calif./Cordova) was safe on a fielder's choice and an error trying to force Dignon at second allowed the runners to move up to second and third base. DiMaria followed up with a single two batters later to score Dignon and Hellon scored on another error by the Buckeyes.
Although Ohio State picked up a run in the fifth to close the gap to one, the Panthers scored once in the fifth and sixth innings to account for the 5-2 victory. Junior Christa Hunter (Sacramento, Calif./Hiram Johnson West) had an RBI single in the fifth to score Casey Pickard (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart) and pinch-runner Leanne McCarron (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) scored on an error in the sixth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Laura Belardinelli (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) joined Hunter as 10-game winners this season with a complete-game victory, allowing seven hits and the two runs to improve to 10-9 for the season.
The Panthers need to win just one of two games from Villanova on Friday to advance to its first Big East Championships and could move past Syracuse into third place in the conference with three wins in their final four games this weekend.