Softball: Panthers’ stiff competition leaves them guessing

The Pitt softball team remains winless in Big East play, but the Panthers’ struggles are… The Pitt softball team remains winless in Big East play, but the Panthers’ struggles are directly linked to their difficult early schedule in the conference.

For the second consecutive weekend in the Big East, Pitt (16-16, 0-6 Big East) faced and lost to nationally ranked opposition after the No. 21 South Florida Bulls (33-5, 6-0 Big East) swept the Panthers at the Petersen Sports Complex.

No. 11 Louisville — who swept Pitt last weekend — and USF are currently the only two Big East softball teams in the top 25 of the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

Despite the defeats, freshman pitcher Savannah King said that the Panthers believe that they can still finish with a strong season.

“Even though we haven’t won, we’ve been competitive with the two best teams in our conference,” King said. “We know we have the ability to win games, we just need to make sure we play with confidence and energy.”

South Florida 5, Pitt 0

The Bulls’ star sophomore pitcher Sara Nevins stole the show in Saturday’s series opener.

Nevins, who entered the weekend boasting a 17-2 record and leading the nation with a .55 earned run average, struck out 16 of the 22 batters she faced en route to a no-hit shutout.

Senior Holly Stevens was the only Pitt batter to reach base after she was hit by a pitch in the first inning.

On the mound, King kept her team in the game until the fifth inning when South Florida scored all of its runs thanks to four singles and a home run.

South Florida 4, Pitt 0

Pitt’s hitting struggles continued as the Panthers were shut out again in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader.

This time the Bulls jumped on King early with three runs in the first inning. That lead was never in doubt, as Pitt only managed two hits against South Florida’s other starting pitcher, Sam Greiner, a true freshman.

Pitt freshman infielder Carissa Throckmorton said after the series that the Panthers knew they had to hit better in Game 3 if they wanted to have a chance.

“We were really struggling with the bats,” she said. “But we made some adjustments before [Sunday’s] game, and I think it definitely helped.”

South Florida 3, Pitt 2

The Panthers finally forced a few runs across the plate in Sunday’s series finale, but they fell for the eighth time in their last nine games after a late South Florida run earned the Bulls the sweep.

Pitt’s other freshman pitcher, Alexa Larkin, pitched well to limit the Bulls to solitary runs in the second and fourth innings.

Then the Panthers’ hitters finally solved South Florida’s pitching.

Leading off at the bottom of the fourth inning, Stevens reached on an error. Then, three consecutive singles and a walk tied the game and loaded the bases for Pitt with just one out in the inning.

But the next two hitters got out, leaving the winning runs on base. The missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Panthers when South Florida scored the winning run in the seventh inning.

After Sunday’s game, senior infielder Niki Cognigni said she hopes the Panthers can move on from another tough series.

“I think that the adjustments we made today will help us for our games this week,” she said. “We need to carry that hitting momentum over into the next couple games.”

Cognigni also added that she was impressed with the weekend’s performances by King and Larkin.

“We are confident that our pitchers can keep us in games. Now we just need to start scoring,” she said.

Pitt will hit the road for a pair of games at Penn State on Wednesday before traveling to Providence this weekend in search of the team’s first Big East win.