University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Rutgers
Baseball Earns Crucial Win in Series Opener vs. Rutgers
5/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 6, 2006
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Needing to win its last three conference series to have a chance at a berth in the Big East Championships, the Pitt baseball team held on for a thrilling 12-11 victory in the series opener and first game of a doubleheader vs. Rutgers on Saturday. The game was played at the Class of '53 Complex in Piscataway, N.J.
The Panthers (19-22, 7-12 Big East) scored at least 11 runs for the fourth consecutive game and plated eight runs over the last two innings to hold on for the victory over the Scarlet Knights (21-22-1, 8-11 Big East).
Pitt got on the board first in the top of the first inning with a two-out home run by second baseman Jim Negrych (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Francis). The homer was his eighth of the season and gave him a team-best 46 RBIs on the season. It also gave him a hit in his 15th consecutive game, dating back to the April 5 contest vs. Penn State at Falconi Field.
Rutgers was able to tie things up with a run in the bottom of the first when Todd Frazier went deep off of Panther starter Billy Muldowney (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East/Duke). The Panthers surged right back into the lead, however, with a two-run second inning.
Outfielder Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) laced a ground-rule double with one out for the first of his career-high five hits. Third baseman Dan Williams (Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) followed with a triple to center field to bring Parise around. With two outs, outfielder Sean Conley (Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) was able to drive in Williams with a base hit up the middle.
The score remained 3-1 in favor of the Panthers until the bottom of the fifth inning. Vincent Sangemino led off with a double for the Scarlet Knights and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tim Querns. Luis Feliz then reached on an infield single to score Sangemino to cut the lead to one run. Pitt got that run back, though, in the top of the sixth inning. This time, Parise tripled to right-center field with one out and it was Williams who doubled to right field to bring Parise around again to make it 4-2 Pittsburgh.
The Scarlet Knights closed it to one again in the bottom of the seventh inning, getting a two-out single by Querns to score Ryan Hill, who had led the inning off with a base hit. The Panthers thought they had blown the game open in the top of the eighth with a six-run inning.
Rob Lawler (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Olympia) reached on a throwing error by Rutgers pitcher Matt Pustay and moved to second on a single by Morgan Kielty (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Central). Parise then picked up his third extra-base hit of the game, his fourth total hit and second double to score Lawler and move Kielty to third base. Chris Lillis then replaced Pustay and quickly allowed a run-scoring single to Williams. After Williams moved to second on a wild pitch, Jeff Stevens (Danville, Va./Dan River/Louisburg College) singled off of Lillis to score Parise. Williams would then score on a wild pitch by reliever Joe Baione and Conley walked. After a fielder's choice, Jimmy Mayer (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) reached on another fielder's choice but was able to go to second when Rutgers threw the ball away going for the double play. That also allowed Conley to score an unearned run. Negrych drew a walk with Mayer going to third on the fourth-ball wild pitch and then scored when Lawler singled to right field off of Mark Lampariello to make it 10-3.
Rutgers came right back, however, with a seven-run bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game once again at 10-10. Jeff Grose reached on a bunt single and moved to third on a single by Mike Bionde. Freshman Kyle Landis (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) then came on to replace Muldowney and gave up a run-scoring double to Frazier and a three-run home run to Frank Meade to close the gap to 10-7. After walking Hill, Steve Hook then singled to right field before Landis was able to record an out. Querns followed with a two-run double to cut the lead to one and later scored on another single by Grose off of Mike Bassage (Hornell, N.Y./Hornell).
The Panthers didn't let the comeback bother them at the plate with two runs in the top of the ninth. Parise completed a perfect 5-for-5 day at the plate with a leadoff single to left field and moved to second when Stevens drew a walk. After Conley singled to load the bases, a balk scored Parise with two outs and Mayer reached on another fielder's choice to score Stevens.
Reliever Justin Cicatello (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore-West/Florida CC at Jacksonville) came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth and allowed an infield single to Frazier, a single to right field by Meade, and walked Hill to load the bases before getting a sacrifice fly and two ground outs to Williams to end the game. The sacrifice fly by Hook scored Frazier but the Panthers earned the 12-11 win and Cicatello earned his third save.
Williams finished with three hits and three RBIs, while Parise scored four times to go along with his five hits.
NOTES: The RBI in the first inning was Negrych's 150th of his career, becoming only the second player in Pitt history to reach that milestone...Brad Rea (1999-2002) holds the Panthers' all-time record with 198 runs batted in...Bassage earned his second win of the week in relief to improve to 2-2 on the year, while Lampariello (0-1) was given the loss.
