University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
DePaul
Softball Falls In Heartbreaker In Big East Championships
5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 8, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--After an impressive season full of highlights and fallen records, the Pitt softball team dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 contest to DePaul in 11 innings, in the quarterfinals of Big East Championships at Ulmer Field, this afternoon. The Panthers ended the year at 31-25, recording their second 30-win season in the last three years.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the 11th inning, Pitt's record-breaking season ended with a single up the middle that scored the game-winning run for DePaul. The hit allowed a run to score from second after she was walked and stole a base a few plays earlier.
The Panthers took an early lead in the first inning when freshman Reba Tutt (Culpeper, Va./Highland) got on base after DePaul's third baseman misfired on the throw to first and Tutt took an extra base. Tutt then scored on a single to shallow center field from senior Jessica Dignon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin).
A few plays later, senior Mary Hecker (Roseville, Calif./Roseville) recorded two RBI when freshman Ashley Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) scored and Dignon squeezed in under the catcher off a hit pass the second baseman.
In the bottom half of the first, the Blue Demons attempted a double steal and after the throw was made to second, Hecker cut off the throw and fired it back to junior Samantha Card (Miami, Fla./Our Lady of Lourdes/Florida International) at home plate. That throw halted a scoring threat, ending the first inning with the Panthers ahead 3-1 after a hard infield single got past two infielders.
DePaul tied the game in the bottom of the second with a two-RBI single to left center field.
Pitt had a chance to take the lead in the sixth when Dignon beat out a throw at first to give the Panthers a lead off runner. However, she was left stranded as Pitt's final base runner in the game. Dignon's hit fell right behind first base but out of reach of the second baseman.
Pitt was out-hit 10-4 in the contest, but kept themselves in the game through eight shutout innings with several solid defensive stands.
In the bottom of the fourth, Pitt recorded its 16th double play of the season as Hecker fielded a groundball and tagged the runner headed to second. She then turned to freshman Alicia Broudy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) to get the ball to her just before the runner touched the bag.
After recording an error earlier in the inning, Dignon perfectly played a groundball at short stop and made the throw to first for the final out of the ninth with two runners on. That play pushed the game into the 10th inning.
Sophomore Kayla Zinger (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunnyslope) started the game, pitching 6.2 innings and holding the Blue Demons to one earned run and seven hits. Junior Kaitlyn Schuster (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) then entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and threw one pitch to DePaul's clean-up, which resulted in a fielded ground ball to sophomore Megan Livesey (Livingston, N.J./The Montclair Kimberly Academy). Livesey then tagged the ensuing runner headed to third for the final out, forcing the game into an eighth inning.
Later in the game, freshman Cory Berliner (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) took over the pitching duties when she recorded the last out in the ninth inning. Berliner would take the loss for the Panthers, giving up two hits in 1.2 innings of action.
The Panthers came close to matching history in the 11 inning game, following a four hour and 20 minute rain delay. The Pitt-DePaul contest fell a few outs short of the longest game in Big East Championship history, which was in 1993 when Connecticut defeated Villanova, 2-1, in 12 innings.
Pitt ended the season with its third consecutive Big East Championship berth, off a school-record 12 league wins. The Panthers also earned three all-conference selections for the first time in program history as Card, Dignon and Zinger garnered nods. Additionally, Card and Dignon were named to the first team for the first time in their careers after switching positions this season.
