Baseball: Panthers earn trip to Big East Tournament

Going into the final weekend of the Big East regular season, four teams prepared to battle for… Going into the final weekend of the Big East regular season, four teams prepared to battle for the final spot in the Big East Tournament in Clearwater, Fla.

With the all-important No. 8 spot in the standings on the line, the Pitt baseball team prepared to host Louisville. The Cardinals, despite already clinching their place in the tournament, had a lot to play for, as they could still earn the regular season Big East title.

After a nervous weekend that saw Pitt drop two of three games to Louisville, the Panthers snuck into the tournament after losses for Villanova and West Virginia combined with a Georgetown win to create a three-team tie for the eighth spot. Pitt, Villanova and Georgetown all finished the regular season with a 10-17 conference record, but the Panthers, because of their 2-1 record against the Hoyas, earned the final spot in the tournament.

“I am pleased that our seniors, all of whom have had great careers at Pitt — Matt Iannazzo, Anthony DeFabio and Rick Devereaux — will have the opportunity to play for a championship,” Pitt manager Joe Jordano said. “They are great players and even better kids. It was a privilege to coach them.”

Louisville 6, Pitt 5 (12 innings)

Iannazzo took the mound in Thursday’s series opener for the last time at home looking for a big win.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on only one hit. Sophomore outfielder Stephen Vranka scored after walking when freshman outfielder Boo Vazquez grounded into a double play. DeFabio, the designated hitter, reached on a fielder’s choice and was driven home by junior third baseman Sam Parente, who got the only hit of the inning.

Louisville got on the board with a single that brought in a runner who reached on an error by junior shortstop Evan Oswald, and the Cardinals tied the game in the third inning when Oswald took the out at first, allowing a runner to score.

With the game tied up, the Panthers plated three runs in their half of the third inning to build a 5-2 advantage. Vazquez singled in first baseman Devereaux, who reached on a single. Following a double by sophomore outfielder Casey Roche, Vazquez scored when Parente picked up his second RBI of the game with a single, and Roche came home when freshman catcher Elvin Soto reached on a fielder’s choice.

The scoring stopped until the top of the seventh. After picking up two outs, Iannazzo got the hitter to pop up to right field, but Roche was charged with an error after missing the fly ball. The Cardinals took full advantage of the Pitt mistake by plating three runs, all unearned, to put an end to the senior pitcher’s final home start.

Iannazzo’s day ended with six and two-thirds innings pitched, zero earned runs, four hits, four strikeouts and three walks.

The game continued scoreless for four more innings before Louisville broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the 12th inning.

J.R. Leonardi entered the game for the Panthers and let up two singles followed by two straight walked batters to give up the game-winning run.

Devereaux singled in the bottom of the inning and was bunted to second base, but the Panthers were unable to come up with the tying run and disappointingly dropped the first game of the series.

Pitt 8, Louisville 2

Sophomore right-hander Ethan Mildren put the team on his back in another crucial game for Pitt and recorded a complete game as the Panthers picked up the win in Friday’s game. Along with Mildren’s great pitching, the offense provided plenty of support and allowed him to pitch with a lead for much of the game.

“It’s nice going the whole game and giving some rest to the guys in the bullpen,” Mildren said. “After a 12-inning game, it’s good to get them rest.”

After the Cardinals took the lead in the top of the second inning, Pitt countered with two runs of its own. Vranka hit a sacrifice fly to score Soto, and DeFabio singled to score Oswald.

In the third, Vazquez scored when Parente hit into a double play to stretch the lead to two runs.

Then the offense broke out for a three-run inning in the fourth. Roche hit a two-RBI double down the right-field line, scoring Vazquez and Devereaux. Parente then singled in Roche to give the Panthers a 6-1 lead.

Pitt’s offense continued scoring as it added a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings.

Louisville got one run back off Mildren in the eighth, but that wasn’t nearly enough to put much of a dent in the lead.

Mildren finished the game with seven strikeouts, two walks and only one earned run.

“It was a very exciting game. I thought we executed extremely well and made some plays today,” Jordano said. “Obviously, Ethan pitched a fantastic game. We got some big hits, so I was very pleased with the performance. It kept us alive.”

Louisville 9, Pitt 5

Louisville picked up an early run off Pitt starter Matt Wotherspoon in the second inning, and the Cardinals’ offense exploded on him in the top of the fourth.

On six hits, the visiting team plated six runs to take a 7-0 lead and forced Wotherspoon out of the game with only three and two-thirds innings completed. His short day ended with seven earned runs, four strikeouts and two walks.

The Panthers picked up some runs with one-run innings in the fifth, sixth, and eighth innings, but they couldn’t come through with some clutch hits that could have turned those innings into a true chance at a comeback.

Louisville ended any lingering Pitt hopes by scoring two more runs in the ninth.

“Although today did not go our way, I thought we played hard all weekend. Louisville is an outstanding team with a tremendous staff,” Jordano said. “We had our opportunities to win on Thursday and simply did not finish the game.”

Despite the tough loss, which clinched the Big East regular season championship for the Cardinals, settin up a first-round Big East Tournament game on Wednesday between No. 1-seed Louisville and No. 8-seed Pitt, the Panthers are already looking forward to matching up with the Cardinals again.

“I can’t wait to play Louisville again,” Iannazzo said.

After Pitt’s chances of qualifying looked slim just a few weeks ago, the team is pleased to be in the tournament and knows that anything can happen in Florida. Just last year, No. 5-seed Seton Hall cruised through the double-elimination tournament to earn the automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

“I’m excited to get into the Big East Tournament,” Iannazzo said. “We battled and caught some luck. We had success versus Louisville and will fight to the last out.”