University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Akron
Freshmen Lead Panthers to 10-6 Win Over Akron
4/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 19, 2006
PITTSBURGH - An eight-run sixth inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by freshmen Morgan Kielty and Rob Lawler, pushed Pitt to a 10-6 victory over visiting Akron at Trees Field on Wednesday evening.
The win was the Panthers' second in as many days over a team from the Mid-American Conference after a 15-1 win at Ohio on Tuesday. Pitt (15-20) trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth but sent 11 batters to the plate to not only overcome the deficit but burst into the lead.
Akron (7-25) got on the scoreboard right away in the top of the first with a two-run single by Vince Chiera off Pitt starter Anthony Rossi (Peters Township, Pa./Peters Township). The Panthers erased the Zips lead in the bottom of the third with a two-spot of their own. Junior Seth Button (Elk Lake, Pa./Elk Lake/Gloucester College) led the inning off with a single to right-center field and moved to second when freshman Brian Muldowney (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) drew a walk. When senior David Cline (Mercersburg, Pa./Mercersburg) laid down a sacrifice bunt, a throwing error by catcher Kurt Davidson loaded the bases. The next two batters, Jimmy Mayer (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) and Jim Negrych (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Francis) drove in runs with a fielder's choice and ground out, respectively, to tie the game.
After a run charged to Rossi in the top of the sixth gave Akron a 3-2 lead, the Panthers were economical with their four hits in the bottom half of the frame to score eight times.
Lawler (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia) was walked on four pitches to lead off and a bunt single by Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) and subsequent throwing error moved runners to second and third with no outs. Outfielder Sean Conley (Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) then drew a walk to load the bases and Button brought two runs in with a double to deep right-center field. With two outs, Mayer drew a walk to load the bases again and Negrych followed with a walk as well to drive in the Panthers' fifth run.
Frank Turocy came on to pitch for the Zips and on his second pitch, Kielty (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Central) blasted a ball over the left-center field fence for his fourth home run of the season and his first grand slam to make it a 9-3 game. Lawler followed up with a towering blast over the light stand in left-center for his first collegiate homer and a 10-3 Panther lead.
The Zips were able to close the gap to 10-6 with a three-run seventh, including a two-run home run by Scott Gunn, but couldn't get any closer. Junior Bobby Bell (Olean, N.Y./Olean/Erie C.C.) came on in relief to earn his first collegiate victory, despite giving up the three runs in the sixth, while Justin Cicatello (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore-West/Florida C.C. at Jacksonville) and Kyle Landis (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) finished things up for the Panthers.
Pitt will host USF in a Big East battle this weekend with one game each on Friday night at 7 p.m., Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
NOTES: Negrych drew two walks, the first of which was the 100th of his career to become the first Pitt player to record that many...Mayer stole his 11th base of the season for the Panthers...Pitt improved to 14-20 all-time against the Zips.
