University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
USF
Panthers Hit Three Homers in Loss to USF
4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 15, 2012
PITTSBURGH – Pitt’s Anthony Defabio hit a pair of home runs and Derik Wilson added one, but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers lost a back-and-forth game to visiting USF, 9-8 on Sunday at Charles L. Cost Field.
It was the second one –run loss in as many days for Pitt against the BIG EAST leading Bulls, and the eighth one-run loss of the season for the Panthers.
The Panthers held leads of 5-1 and 7-6 in a game where they tallied 17 hits, including six for extra bases. Their first two hitters alone – DeFabio and Elvin Soto – combined for seven hits and 16 extra bases. Sam Parente and Stephen Vranka (three singles apiece) and Mike Doubles (two singles) also had multiple hits.
DeFabio put himself back over the .500 mark for on-base percentage this season, thanks to a 3-for-5 day with the two home runs, a double and a hit-by-pitch. He gave Pitt a 1-0 lead just two pitches into the game with an opposite field solo shot over the right field wall. He went opposite field again, this time over the fence in right-center field, in the third inning to put the Panthers up 5-1.
Soto’s perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate raised his season average to .286. The freshman reached base in all six plate appearances with two doubles, two singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. He followed up DeFabio’s homer in the first inning with a double to the warning track in right-center field and later scored on a single by Sam Parente to put Pitt up 2-0.
All nine Pitt batters reached base at least once on either a hit or an intentional walk, but the Panthers could have put up even more runs. They left 14 runners on base, including six in scoring position.
The Bulls win was sparked by a five-run fifth inning that put them up 6-5. Daniel Rockhold, who had hit a solo homer in the previous inning, had the big hit with a two-run double that tied the game at 5-5.
USF took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the eighth inning. Chad Taylor had a RBI single and James Ramsey plated Alex Mendez with a sacrifice fly for the deciding run.
The Panthers looked poised to win the high-scoring game in the ninth as DeFabio led off the inning with a double and scored on a single by Elvin Soto. But with the game-tying run on first and no outs, a double play and groundout ended their chances.
"That was a very difficult game today. Our team played hard but we did not finish the game,” said Pitt head coach Joe Jordano. “Got to give credit to South Florida for getting the big hits in critical situations and they have proved why they are the first place team in the conference. We are very frustrated as a team right now. We must learn how to win. Every series now is absolutely critical.”
Following non-conference games at Kent State on Tuesday and versus Akron on Wednesday. The Panthers will travel to play West Virginia for a three-game conference series over the weekend.
