Baseball: Pitt drops series with USF, prepares for Big East tournament

The Pitt baseball team secured the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament this weekend despite… The Pitt baseball team secured the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament this weekend despite dropping two of three games to South Florida in its last series of the regular season.

The Panthers (32-21, 16-11 Big East) won the first game of the series 6-5 on Thursday but saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Friday.

The Panthers will face No. 6-seed Louisville Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the first round of the Big East tournament in Clearwater, Fla.

Pitt’s volatile offense led the team to victory in the first game against USF, but couldn’t hold on for the rest of the series. Over the course of the season, Pitt’s batters have been explosive, an asset they will need in the postseason.

In the first contest against USF on Thursday, catcher Kevan Smith led Pitt to the win with four hits and one RBI. First baseman David Chester and second baseman Travis Whitmore both finished with three hits and two RBI each.

The Panthers fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, but Pitt rallied back, eventually tying the game with consecutive home runs from Smith and Chester in the fifth inning.

Pitt grabbed its first lead later in the inning when a wild third strike allowed Whitmore to score from second base.

The Bulls tied the game again in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers took the lead for good in the seventh inning when Whitmore drove in Smith with a single.

After taking game one of the series against the Bulls, the Panthers fell behind early in the second game and couldn’t rally to keep their winning streak alive.

In the seventh inning, a two-run home run from Chester provided the only scores for Pitt on the night.

Chester now leads the conference in home runs with 14 and has gone deep four out of the last five games. Chester will compete in the Big East Home Run Derby on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

In the season finale, the Panthers fell 4-3 after giving up a late-game lead.

On the heels of a two-out RBI double by senior John Schultz to take the lead in the top of the ninth, Pittsburgh entered the bottom of the inning ahead by two.

The first four South Florida batters reached base in the final inning. After a bases-loaded walk brought in the first run, the Bulls tied the game on a fielder’s choice hit by Chad Taylor.

With the bases still full, the next hitter grounded a ball to third baseman Ronald Sucre, who went home on the play to get the force out at the plate.

The Panthers attempted to throw out another runner on the play, but Smith made an errant throw, allowing the runner from second to tie the game. Smith was charged with an error.

With runners at first and third and one out, the Bulls pulled off a successful squeeze, ending the game.

Entering the tournament, the Panthers will try to forget the late season woes. They are 6-15 all-time in the Big East tournament and have only won it once, in 1995.

The winner of the Big East tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All conference champions are given a bid, and a committee decides the rest of the 64-team field.

Junior ace Matt Iannazzo will start the game on Wednesday.

Iannazzo leads the Panthers in wins, with seven, innings pitched, with 93.1, and strikeouts , with 58, this season. He has pitched four complete games this season and won the Big East Pitcher of the Week award on May 16th.

Louisville (29-27, 14-13) is 15-6 all-time in the tournament. The Cardinals lead the all-time series against Pitt 7-6 and are no strangers to post-season success after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament last year.

Following the Louisville contest, the Panthers will play Thursday at either 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. against the winner or loser, depending on Pitt’s success against the Cardinals, of the St. John’s-Cincinnati opening day matchup.

The Championship will be played on Sunday and will be nationally televised on ESPNU at noon. All games leading to the championship will be streamed live for free on the Big East’s website.

The Pitt baseball team was unavailable for comment due to an intensive practice schedule.