Since its establishment in 1998, the Pitt softball team has slowly become one of the most successful athletic programs on campus. Since its establishment in 1998, the Pitt softball team has slowly become one of the most successful athletic programs on campus.

After struggling to earn a foothold in the competitive Big East Conference for the first decade of the program’s history, the Panthers have flourished under fourth-year head coach Holly Aprile, who led the team to three straight winning seasons since taking the job.

And even though this season has been a transitional one, the Panthers still finished with a 26-26 record and sent off the first senior class in the program’s history that has never suffered a losing season.

Perhaps the biggest contributing factor to the transitional nature of this season was that the Panthers’ two starting pitchers were both freshmen.

Coach Aprile believes that the pitching duo of Savannah King and Alexa Larkin can help Pitt’s softball program to continue in the right direction.

“Together, they’re a pretty solid foundation for our program, and if they can continue to learn and get better, they can help us take that step to the next level,” Aprile said.

For Aprile, that next level is for Pitt to begin competing for conference championships.

“We’ve established ourselves in the conference, and now we have to be able to show up and beat the better teams in the conference on a more consistent basis,” she said.

King, who originally hails from California, already broke the school record for most wins in a season during her first year at Pitt. But she said that there is still room for significant improvement from both herself and Larkin.

“We want to take this program as far as we possibly can,” King said. “But it’s a game-by-game process of getting better every day in order to reach those ultimate goals.”

Larkin agreed and said that the two have a great relationship.

“We know that we’re there for each other and will support each other,” she said.

Although Pitt lost eight seniors from this year’s roster at graduation, the future of the program remains bright with King, Larkin and the other six members of the talented rising sophomore class who are set to lead the team for the next three years.

Maggie Sevilla has blossomed into one of the team’s best hitters, and first-year second baseman Carissa Throckmorton has established herself as a permanent starter in the infield.

The Panthers also have another large, highly touted recruiting class joining the program next season to help fill the void left by the departing seniors as Pitt prepares to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The team plays its games on campus during the spring at Vartabedian Field in the new Petersen Sports Complex, behind Trees Hall. Aprile said that the new facilities have helped immensely in recruiting because there is such a drastic improvement over the Panthers’ old playing field.

“When I got here, the field was basically a cut-out of dirt and it definitely wasn’t spectator-friendly at all,” she said. “But I knew the program was building, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

King also said that she and Larkin share the same goal for the future of the Pitt softball program.

“We want to take it all the way,” she said.