March 11, 2007
Box Score
CLEARWATER, FLA.- The Pitt baseball team earned its fifth straight win with a 10-4 victory over Lehigh in game two of a doubleheader Friday evening as part of the Clearwater Invitational. The Panthers are now 5-8, while the Mountain Hawks fell to 2-6-1 on the season. Pitt scored in seven of the nine innings played, while Lehigh was unable to get on the board until the bottom of the eighth.
The Panthers scored their first three in the top of the second. Seth Button (Elk Lake, Pa./Gloucester College) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a single by Chris Warner (West Seneca, N.Y./University of South Carolina). Dan Williams (Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) followed with an infield grounder to move the runners over to second and third. Just as he had in game one, Jordan Herr (Latrobe, Pa./Latrobe) ripped a run-scoring triple as both Button and Warner came home, giving Pitt a 2-0 lead. Herr then crossed the plate on a passed ball to move the score to 3-0 in the Panthers' favor.
Pitt added one run in the top of the third and another in the fifth, while keeping the Lehigh bats quiet. With a five-run advantage in the top of the seventh, the Panthers tallied two more for a score of 7-0. Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) notched a leadoff single and advanced to second when teammate Gary Bucuren (Ambridge, Pa./Kentucky) drew a walk. With two on and no outs, both runners advanced one base on an error by the Mountain Hawks' first basemen.
Parise scored the Panthers sixth run on an infield grounder hit by teammate Morgan Kielty (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Central) and Bucuren crossed the plate one batter later when Seth Button (Elk Lake, Pa./Gloucester College) ripped a sac-fly to deep right field, upping Pitt's lead to 7-0.
In the top of the eighth, Pitt used four singles and a Lehigh error to add two more runs to its lead. Bucuren notched his second hit of the day, bringing home teammate Eric Chamness (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East High). Parise also crossed the plate on and error by the Mountain Hawks' left fielder, moving the score to 9-0.
The Lehigh offense answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four off Panther reliever Mike Bassage (Hornell, N.Y./Hornell). With one out in the top of the eighth, Bobby Bell (Olean, N.Y./Oley Valley) came in to close for Pitt, striking out three of the four batters he faced in 1.1 innings while giving up no hits and no walks. Panther starter Ryan Dunford (Buffalo, N.Y./Bishop Timon) threw 7.1 scoreless innings, striking out five, while giving up just four hits and no walks.
Pitt added an insurance run in the top of the ninth for the games' final of 10-4. Warner drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a single by Williams as Dunford earned the win for the Panthers.
Pitt will face Lehigh in a third and final game on Saturday, before concluding their spring training in Clearwater, Fla. on Sunday as it takes on Sacred Heart for the third time this season in a 10 a.m. match up.
NOTES: Pitt has now won five straight games after starting the season 0-8, winning each game by four or more runs. Gary Bucuren continued his stellar offensive performance thus far in 2007, going 2-4 in today's contest with two singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Chris Warner also notched a multi-hit game, batting 3-4 with two singles, a double, two runs scored and an RBI as well.
--30--
