Baseball: Panthers earn Big East Tournament berth

Pitt baseball continued its winning ways in the Big East this past weekend, sweeping a series for the fifth time this season in conference play on the road against Georgetown. The wins propelled Pitt into a tie for first place in the Big East standings as the Panthers approach the Big East Tournament.

The Georgetown series also marked the fifth time that the Panthers swept a Big East opponent in 2013, improving on a school record after breaking the previous record of three with a victory over Cincinnati at home April 27-28.

The Panthers currently ride a 12-game winning streak after South Florida won over the first weekend of April and are now tied with the Bulls for first place in the Big East. Additionally, the three wins sealed a Big East Tournament berth for the Panthers.

Pitt (36-11, 15-3 Big East) outscored the Hoyas (25-21, 5-13 Big East) by 27-8 over the series and saw the starting weekend rotation run its collective record to 23-3 on the season behind strong starts by Ethan Mildren, Matt Wotherspoon and Rhys Aldenhoven.

The weekend also saw Wotherspoon and outfielder Stephen Vranka named to the Big East Honor Roll. As a whole, Pitt maintained its No. 17 ranking in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll and earned its first ranking since 2010 at No. 24 in the recent Baseball America poll, making for its second ranking in program history.

“I thought we played solid baseball,” head coach Joe Jordano said. “Coming off of a very tough loss on Wednesday [against Akron], I thought we came out and did what we had to do. We got a good performance from Ethan, solid performance from Spoon and Aldenhoven, so overall I was pleased with the effort.”

Pitt 8, Georgetown 3

Mildren, who is 9-2 on the season, earned his conference-high ninth win Friday with another stellar performance as the staff ace, pitching eight innings while allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out six Hoyas.

“I felt good, ran into a little trouble in the seventh inning but after that came back out and got a zero, which is big,” Mildren said.

Mildren’s effort on the mound held Georgetown’s offense in check long enough for the Panthers to establish a 5-0 lead after six innings before the Hoyas touched Mildren for three runs in the seventh inning.

At the plate, designated hitter Boo Vazquez, hitting a team-high .353 after the weekend, powered the Pitt offense as he went 5-for-6 with two doubles and four runs batted in. Vazquez staked the Panthers to an early lead when he brought lead-off hitter Stephen Vranka home from second base with his single to center field.

Vranka doubled to begin the game, one of his two on the day. Vranka finished 3-for-4 with two walks and scored three runs out of his lead-off spot.

After Georgetown came within two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Pitt responded immediately in the top of the eighth to increase its lead from 5-3 to 7-3. Third baseman and team captain Sam Parente delivered a one-out single through the right side, which scored Vazquez and Steven Shelinsky from second and third bases.

Vazquez gave the Panthers another insurance run in the ninth with an RBI double to right-center field, which scored John Peluso.

Pitt 13, Georgetown 3

Like Mildren accomplished on Friday, Wotherspoon kept the Hoya offense quiet long enough for Pitt to build a substantial lead Saturday. The Panthers scored four in the second inning, a total that proved enough to defeat Georgetown since Pitt pitchers allowed only three runs later in the contest.

Wotherspoon, who is 7-1 this season, finished his day after scattering one run and five hits over seven innings of work and striking out six batters.

In the second inning, shortstop Dylan Wolsonovich delivered his second home run of the season in the second inning, a three-run blast to left-center field. The redshirt freshman finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Pitt tacked on another run in the third, two in the fifth and another one in the sixth, giving the Panthers a 8-0 lead before the Hoyas could get on the board.

Pitt 6, Georgetown 2

Aldenhoven, 7-0, maintained his perfect record Sunday as he pitched the Panthers to a clean sweep of Georgetown, working seven innings and allowing two runs, one of which was unearned. Aldenhoven’s performance also lowered his earned run average to a team-best 2.13.

Offensively, Vranka carried his hot hitting through the end of the weekend with his seventh home run of the season in a 2-for-5 day at the dish. Vranka’s hitting continues to improve his numbers after starting the season hitting in the low .200s. His average is now up to .304 alongside his seven home runs and team-high 17 doubles.

“Just taking a new approach, just kind of being more hyper at the fastball,” Vranka said about his improvement over the season. “I’ve just been seeing the ball a little better and being a little more patient too.”

But for the first time all weekend, the Panthers faced a deficit in the second inning after the Hoyas’ first baseman Steve Anderson scored on a throwing error by Sam Parente at third, putting Gerogetown up 1-0.

Aldenhoven prevented the lead from growing any larger, and Pitt scored two in the fourth to take the lead on a two-RBI double by Parente, who atoned for his miscue in the field.

Pitt tacked on runs in the ensuing innings. In the fifth, Shelinsky singled to center to bring catcher Elvin Soto home after his lead-off double. Vranka then hit his home run in the sixth, and Evan Oswald drove Shelinsky in from second with a single in the seventh, pushing the Panther lead to 6-1.

The weekend domination kept Pitt on its torrid pace, one that will likely land the Panthers in the College World Series for the first time in Jordano’s tenure. But the future doesn’t concern Jordano, as the team still has two weeks of baseball left to play.

“This is what we call our postseason run. It’s like a new, new beginning today,” Jordano said. “It starts the next five games at home and will obviously continue to the Louisville series and then into the playoffs. We’re going to continue to focus on very simple things that we’ve been doing all year, but having a renewed energy and a renewed focus.”