Baseball: Pitt loses three to Connecticut at home

he Pitt baseball team continued to struggle in important at-bats this weekend as Connecticut… The Pitt baseball team continued to struggle in important at-bats this weekend as Connecticut swept the Panthers at Cost Field.

Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said the Panthers didn’t take advantage of their offensive opportunities.

“We needed to have some big at-bats, and we didn’t get them,” Jordano said. “We’re going to need to be in a little better position, especially against a team like UConn, who pitches extremely well. We have to take advantage of our opportunities.”

Connecticut 8, Pitt 2

Connecticut got out to an early lead on Pitt’s ace Matt Iannazzo with two runs in the first inning on three hits.

The senior left-hander settled in for two scoreless innings after the first, but the Huskies got back on the board in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring a run in each.

Pitt plated its first run of the game in the sixth inning when Stephen Vranka singled to start the inning. Anthony DeFabio continued his hot season, doubling to bring Vranka around to third. Rick Devereaux then picked up an RBI when he grounded out to shortstop.

In the next inning, the Panthers picked up another run after three straight singles and a throwing error allowed the second run to score. Jordano said he would have liked to see his team plate more runs in an inning that started with three singles before recording an out.

“If we push a couple of those runs across, it’s a different ballgame,” Jordano said. “It affects everything we do. I’m a little bit disappointed in how we executed today.”

Jordano pulled Iannazzo after a Connecticut runner reached base on an error. The senior finished the day with seven innings pitched, allowing nine hits and four earned runs. He also walked three batters while striking out four.

“I wasn’t throwing my off-speed for strikes early in the counts,” Iannazzo said.

It was the first time in the senior’s career that he dropped back-to-back starts.

Joe Harvey replaced the left-handed pitcher and struggled in the eighth, only picking up one out for the Panthers. Harvey faced five batters, allowing four hits and three runs. Pitcher Luke Novosel picked up the last two outs to get the Panthers out of the rough eighth inning that put the game out of reach.

Connecticut 3, Pitt 1

Pitt’s Ethan Mildren continued his stretch of solid pitching outings on Friday with his third straight complete game. He said he has approached every game this season with the goal of going the whole game and giving his team the best chance to win.

“As a pitcher, you always like to plan pitching the whole game,” Mildren said. “The main thing I always try to do is keep my pitch count down, throw strikes and give my team the best opportunity to win.”

The sophomore entered Saturday with 16 consecutive scoreless innings and kept that streak going until the seventh inning, when the streak was halted at 22.

“It was a well-played game today. Ethan gave us another outstanding performance and put us in a position to win,” Jordano said. “We played well again defensively but did not get the timely hit; although, we did hit some balls hard.”

The Panthers jumped out in the lead when Boo Vazquez singled and was brought home by Devereaux in the bottom of the sixth inning.

After Pitt took the lead, Mildren struggled in the top of the seventh. He gave up three hits, leading to two runs for the Huskies.

“Late in the game, I left one or two pitches up,” Mildren said. “They were able to put good swings on the ball.”

All of the game’s scoring occurred in the two half-innings, and Connecticut took home the second game of the series.

Connecticut 5, Pitt 3

Much like the first game, the Huskies struck early by getting a solo home run off Pitt’s starter Matt Wotherspoon.

The Panthers took the lead in the sixth inning with two runs off RBI from Devereaux and Sam Parente.

In the next frame, Connecticut tied the game after Harvey allowed a hit that scored the Huskies’ second run. The run was credited to Wotherspoon, who finished with six innings pitched, allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out six batters and walked only one.

Pitt took the lead again in the bottom of the seventh when Vranka scored on an Evan Oswald single.

The Huskies countered with the final scoring attack in the ninth inning, picking up three runs on two hits.