University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Season Ends With 5-3 Loss to Villanova
5/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Season Ends With 5-3 Loss to Villanova
5/6/2005
VILLANOVA, Pa.-The Pitt softball team scored the first three runs of its second game against Villanova on Friday afternoon but couldn't hold the lead and dropped a 5-3 decision to the host Wildcats, clinching the fourth and final berth in the Big East Championships.
Pitt (23-29, 8-8) finishes in fifth place in the conference, also its highest finish in the school's seven-year affiliation in the Big East. Villanova (38-23, 10-8) won both games on Friday to earn the trip to next week's tournament in South Bend, Ind.
The Panthers got on the board right away in game two with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Morgan Howard (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) reached on a two-base error and scored on a double by senior Casey Pickard (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart).
The score remained that way until the top of the fourth inning when the Panthers plated two more runs for a 3-0 lead. With one out, outfielder Joey Scarf (Humble, Texas/Humble) drew a walk and after being moved to second on a sacrifice, she stole third for her fourth theft of the season. Sophomore Heather Connor (Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) followed with her fifth home run of the season, tying her for the team lead with Christa Hunter (Sacramento, Calif./Hiram Johnson West).
Starting pitcher Laura Belardinelli (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) had allowed just two hits and struck out two Villanova batters in the first three innings and gave up her first run in the bottom of the fourth. It could have been more but Belardinelli got the Wildcats to ground into an inning-ending double play. The Panthers left runners on second and third in the fifth and then allowed four runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a three-run home run for the difference in the game.
Pitt also had runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh inning but couldn't manage to cut into the Villanova lead. The Wildcats outhit the Panthers, 10-5, and the loss finished Belardinelli's season at 10-10. Five different Panthers recorded hits in the second game. Because Villanova has clinched the fourth spot, Pitt's games against St. John's on Sunday have been cancelled.
