PITT BASEBALL DROPS SEASON OPENER 12-5 TO COASTAL CAROLINA

Friday, February 16

Conway, SC (Coastal Carolina Tournament)

4:00 PM

Pitt

Coastal Carolina

PITT BASEBALL DROPS SEASON OPENER 12-5 TO COASTAL CAROLINA

2/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Feb. 16, 2007

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C.--The Pitt baseball team dropped its 2007 season opener to Costal Carolina by a score of 12-5 Friday afternoon at Watson Stadium in its first game of the Coastal Carolina Tournament. The Panthers rallied in the eighth inning to score four, but could not climb out of an 11-run deficit.

The Chanticleers (5-0) started strong, scoring 10 runs in the first two innings off Pitt (0-1) starter Rob Brant (Mansfield, Pa./Mansfield). Brant picked up his first loss of the season as he pitched four innings, giving up 10 runs on 12 hits, with one strikeout and two walks.

The Panthers were able to get on the board in the bottom of the third when Chris Warner (West Seneca, N.Y/University of South Carolina) smashed a leadoff single to center field. Senior second baseman Dan Williams (Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) followed with a hard-hit double to score Warner, cutting Coastal Carolina's lead to 10-1.

Both teams went without scoring until late the bottom of the seventh when the Chanticleers added two more runs off Panthers' pitcher Ben Knuth (St. Joseph, Ill./Grand Rapids Community College) to make the score 12-1. Knuth, making his first appearance on the mound for Pitt, came in as relief in the fifth and pitched three innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while recording two strikeouts and one walk.

Down by 11, the Panthers rallied a comeback in the top of the eighth. Junior outfielder Sean Conley (Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) started things off by reaching base on an error. With one out, senior Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) singled through the left side, moving Conley to second. Seth Button (Elk Lack, Pa./Gloucester College) ripped a single of his own down the third base line to score Conley and move the score to 12-2. With two on and two out, red shirt freshman Gary Bucuren (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) launched a triple into right field, scoring Parise and Button. Bucuren, making his first start for the Panthers, then scored Pitt's fifth run on a wild pitch thrown by Chanticleers pitcher Creighton McCallum to move the score to it's final of 12-5.

The Chanticleers out-hit the Panthers 17-8 in the nine-inning contest, while their pitchers gave up just one walk. Bucuren, Parise and Warner all went 2-4 for Pitt, compiling five singles and a triple, with Bucuren accounting for two of the Panthers' four RBI's.

Pitt will continue tournament play Saturday when it faces off with Virginia Tech at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers will then see Old Dominion on Sunday at 11 a.m. for their final contest of the tournament.

NOTES: Red shirt freshman Gary Bucuren, junior transfer Ben Knuth, freshman Dan Lopez, junior transfer Nick Mullins and redshirt sophomore Chris Warner all made their first career starts for the Panthers.