University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Backed by surging bats, pitchers taking confidence to mound
12/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Dec. 14, 2010
Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax once said that pitching is the art of instilling fear. That is good news for the Pitt softball team, whose pitching helped lead it through the fall with a tremendous showing and is now looking forward to the start of the season.
Pitt swept its fallball schedule, 8-0, and the pitching staff let up just nine runs in eight games. Three of those victories were shutouts.
"In the four years I've been here, we've never gone undefeated in fallball," senior pitcher Cory Berliner said. "This says a lot about the talent we have this year."
Pitt started things off by defeating Cleveland St., 3-1, at the Youngstown State Tournament. In her first-ever game in a Pitt uniform, freshman Karlyn Jones took the mound and fanned nine batters. Jones also went 2-for-3 in the batter's box and touched home plate to score Pitt's first run of the fall.
"It was definitely exciting going out there for the first time," Jones said. "I was a little nervous, but it was more exciting than anything else."
Pitt stayed steady throughout the fall and impressively won the Kent State and Robert Morris Invitationals. The hurlers were the highlight of the wins, but they said their team's hitting is what allowed them to be so successful.
"In my opinion, the hitting really stood out in our wins, which is something that has greatly improved since last year," senior pitcher Alyssa O'Connell said. "Since we were scoring so many runs as a team during the games, it took pressure off of us as pitchers and helped everyone relax."
The bats really came alive early in a 7-0 win over Youngstown State, helping the pitching staff earn its first of three shutouts. Junior Kelly Hmiel went 3 for 3 with a double and three RBI, while sophomore Holly Stevens tacked on a two-run homer.
Berliner, a 2010 All-Big East selection who was mentioned in the conference honor-roll twice last season, agreed that the aggressive Panther offense was valuable in the fall. She also said she thinks the hitting could be one of the biggest factors for the pitchers in the spring.
"Scoring runs is huge for a pitcher because we're no longer thinking, `I can't let anyone get on base or cross that plate,'" Berliner said. "So instead of worrying about that we can just think about our pitches and each batter."
In Pitt's final fallball game, junior Amanda Heitmeier went 1 for 2 with a RBI and junior Ciera Damon blasted a home run to cap off a 5-0 victory over Robert Morris.
"Just having good bats is going to help us a lot in the spring," Berliner added. "Scoring more runs should equal getting more wins. It's exciting because after seeing how well we did in the fall we are definitely in good shape and ready to go for the spring."
Pitt is coming off a sixth-place Big East finish during the 2009-10 season, and one of its goals is to not only make the Big East Tournament again, but also improve upon that mark this year.
"The goal is always to make it to the Big East Tournament," O'Connell said. "Sixth last year was the highest we've ever finished. Though, I know one of our goals is to definitely finish higher. Winning a title would be amazing."
The Panthers head into the spring looking forward to playing their first game at their facility, the Petersen Sports Complex. Playing in a new home is an added boost to a team that is already high on confidence.
"We are so excited for the new complex," O'Connell said. "The new field is going to make everyone hyped and excited to play."
The Panthers open their 2011 campaign with a 3 p.m. contest against Providence at the FIU Blue and Gold Tournament on Friday, Feb. 18.
"Everyone is really excited for the Florida International Tournament," O'Connell said. "But I think we still have a lot of work to do before then."
