University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Syracuse
Back-to-Back Doubles Lead To Seventh Inning Run
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2008
PITTSBURGH--Senior Kelly Stiles nearly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, as the Pitt softball team fell 2-1 in the second game of this afternoon's doubleheader against Syracuse. The Panthers slipped to 27-20 overall and 10-8 in the Big East, while the Orange improved to 20-26 on the year and 11-7 in the league.
Trailing 2-0, with two outs on the board, Stiles (Thurmont, Md./Catocin) stepped to the plate with a runner on second and hit a long hard shot to left field. The ball bounced off the fielder's glove and hit the top of the fence but stayed inside the wall, resulting in a double.
The shot allowed sophomore Megan Livesey (Livingston, N.J./The Montclair Kimberly Academy) to score after she hit a two-out double the play before.
Pitt's chances of scoring the tying run ended with a strikeout on the next at bat.
Earlier in the game, senior Jessica Dignon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) doubled, recording her 15th of the season. In the top of the third inning, Dignon fielded a groundball that bounced hard to the right of her, and made the throw to first to end the inning without giving up a run with a runner at third.
Syracuse struck first with a run off three hits in the opening inning and scored another run in the fourth when the catcher was walked with bases loaded.
Sophomore Kayla Zinger (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunnyslope) threw the loss, allowing eight hits and walking three in five innings. Pitching the last two innings, freshman Alyssa O'Connell (Washington, N.J./Cherry Hill) entered the game in the sixth and struck out five batters.
Before the first pitch of the game, action was delayed an hour and 20 minutes and was suspended again with one out in the first inning, totaling a two hour delay on the day.
The Panthers host Youngstown State on Tuesday, April 29, at 2 p.m.
