PITT BASEBALL HOLDS OFF ST. JOHN'S 10-9

Friday, April 13

Queens, NY

3:00 PM

Pitt

St. John's

PITT BASEBALL HOLDS OFF ST. JOHN'S 10-9

4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

April 13, 2007

QUEENS, N.Y. - Outfielder Sean Conley went 4-4 with four RBIs as he led the Pitt baseball team to a 10-9 win over Big East foe St. John's in the series opener Friday at Jack Kaiser Stadium. The Panthers held on to a ninth-inning lead to edge the Redstorm by one.

Pitt (15-14, 8-4 Big East) used a season-high 17 hits, along with a five-run eighth inning to beat the third-ranked team in the conference, as St. John's (18-12, 6-4) six-game winning streak came to an end. The win over the Redstorm marked the Panthers' first since 1994.

The Panthers got on the board first in the top of the second with two runs. Catcher Nick Mullins (JR/Brick, N.J./Brookdale Community College) singled down the left side and advanced to third on a double by shortstop Danny Lopez (FR/Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy). Lopez, who hails from Queens, N.Y., notched an impressive day at the plate going 3-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

With two on, outfielder Jordan Herr (RS FR/Lancaster, Pa./Delaware) grounded-out to second base, scoring Mullins for the games' first run, as Conley (JR/Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) followed with his second single of the day to score Lopez to give the Panthers a 2-0 advantage.

The Redstorm responded in the bottom of the fourth, tallying two runs of their own to tie the game 2-2. The Pitt offense used some two-out lightening to notch three more runs in the top of the fifth. Lopez started things off with his second hit of the game, as Herr followed with a bunt-single.

With two on and two out, Conley drove in Lopez with his third single of the day, while Peter Parise (SR/Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) doubled to right field, scoring Herr. Conley came home on a passed ball thrown by St. John's reliever Miguel Valcarcel, moving the score to 5-2.

The Redstorm responded once again, tallying one run in the bottom half of the inning off Panther starter Rob Brant (JR/Mansfield, Pa./Mansfield), before adding two more in the sixth to even the score 5-5. Brant went 5.2 innings for the Panthers, giving up six runs off five hits, while striking out four.

The game remained tied until the top of the eighth when the Panther bats broke loose, scoring five runs on three hits to pull ahead 10-5 as Pitt used key hits from first baseman Seth Button (SR/Elk Lake, Pa./Gloucester College), Lopez and Conley to score.  Lopez and Conley combined for six of the Panthers' eight RBIs in the game.

St. John's mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, scoring four runs off Pitt reliever Kyle Landis (JR/Hazelton, Pa./Hazelton). Before today's contest, Landis had given up just two earned runs on the season, as he boasted the NCAA's lowest ERA with a 0.55 mark. With one out in the final inning, Parise came on as relief and ended the Redstorm scoring, picking up the save and giving Landis (3-2) the win.

The Panthers will conclude their series with St. John's tomorrow as the two teams meet for a double-header, beginning at 11 a.m.

NOTES: Sean Conley tied his career game-highs of four hits and four RBIs in today's contest, both personal bests that he set last season, while Danny Lopez tallied a career game-high two RBIs.

--30 --