Softball Downed by Kent State in Doubleheader
5/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Softball Downed by Kent State in Doubleheader
5/4/2005
KENT, Ohio?Pitt's softball team dropped a pair of games at Kent State on Tuesday afternoon, falling 5-3 and 10-3 to the Golden Flashes at KSU Softball Field. The Panthers are now 22-26 for the season heading into Wednesday's home finale doubleheader against Ohio State.
The Panthers fell behind by a count of 4-0 in game one after just three innings but clawed back to score three of the game's final four runs. In the top of the fourth, Morgan Howard (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) reached first base on an error by the pitcher and moved to second on a ground out. With two outs, Joey Scarf (Humble, Texas/Humble) connected on an RBI double to score Pitt's first run.
Junior Lisa McGregor (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford Senior) cut the Golden Flashes' lead to two runs with a one-out solo home run in the fourth, her third of the season. Kent State added a run in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead and the Panthers managed just one in the seventh on three hits to account for the final score. Freshman Jessica Dignon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) led the final frame off with a single and moved to second on a single by McGregor. With one out, junior Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) singled to score Dignon but the Panthers couldn't plate any more runs.
Pitcher Christa Hunter (Sacramento, Calif./Hiram Johnson West) allowed five hits and five earned runs in 5.1 innings and took the loss to fall to 10-12 on the year.
The Panthers continued that momentum from game one to take a 3-1 lead after four and a half innings in game two but allowed five runs in the bottom of the fifth and four more in the sixth for a 10-3 defeat.
Pitt scored first in the top of the second when Scarf scored on an error by the Golden Flashes' second baseman but a home run tied the game in the bottom of that frame. Catcher Heather Connor (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) picked up an RBI in the third inning on a sacrifice fly that scored DiMaria, who had singled to lead off the inning. Then in the fourth frame, Dignon singled in Scarf, who had reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore Meghan Bostick (Colleyville, Texas/Grapevine) took the loss to drop to 3-5 as the Golden Flashes had a total of 14 hits in the second game.
The Panthers will finish their non-conference slate versus Ohio State on Wednesday at Trees Field with a 3 p.m. doubleheader. Pitt will then travel to Villanova, needing just a split with the Wildcats on Friday to advance to their first Big East Championships.