Weekend sports recap: Baseball and track and field make up for softball woes

The weekend saw a rough performance for Pitt softball, but strong performances from Pitt track and field and a sweep from the baseball team made up for it.

Softball

Pitt softball continues to struggle, dropping three straight to NC State this weekend. 

Game one featured a pitcher’s duel with only a combined six hits tallied the entire game. The two teams sat tied up 0-0 though five innings when a critical error in the bottom of the sixth allowed NC State to advance on the bases. NC State took the lead 2-0, and the score wouldn’t budge the rest of the game. Pitt had one last chance in the top of the seventh, but a strikeout, a groundout and a flyout called game. 

Game two, on the other hand, was anything but a pitcher’s duel, as NC State started off with five runs in the bottom of the first. The Panthers ended up losing 7-3, with all three of their runs coming from one-run homers. Senior infielder Morgan Batesole, first-year outfield Cami Compson and senior outfielder Hunter Levesque hit the home runs. 

Game three saw another blowout, with NC State taking it 9-1. Pitt’s blowup innings seem to show a recurring theme here. NC State scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth, all six of them unearned. In that inning, Pitt had an error, a wild pitch and hit a batter. Pitt will need to clean up its fielding if it wants to improve its record.

Pitt falls to 10-24 overall and 5-19 in conference. The Panthers will stay at home for a series against North Carolina starting on Friday, April 16.

Track and field

The Panthers had a strong showing in Knoxville this weekend as they capped off the Tennessee Relays with two first-place finishes and more. 

Senior Ade Jones-Roundtree accounted for one of those first places with his performance in the 400-meter dash. In that same event, senior Lonzell Feagin took fifth. There must have been something special about that 400 this weekend, as senior Nikki Scherer took first in the same event for the women. 

Scherer also had a strong performance in the 200-meter dash, placing fourth, and the 4×400-meter relay, where she helped the team bring home a third-place finish. 

Senior Felix Wolter, who earned All-American honors recently, had a strong meet as well. Wolter finished fourth place in the 100-meter dash and seventh in the long jump. 

The final highlight of the weekend featured junior Eddita Pessima’s second-place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. 

Pitt will head to Virginia next weekend for the Virginia Challenge meet. It will take place on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17.

Baseball

No. 24 Pitt baseball squared off against No. 18 Miami this weekend in a three-game series at Charles L. Cost Field.
Game one turned into a shootout, with 28 hits tallied in the game. Pitt ended up outscoring Miami 12-6, with offense highlighted by home runs from sophomore infielder Sky Duff and senior catcher Ramon Padilla.

Game two wound up a bit more defensive, with Pitt winning 6-4. Junior pitcher Matt Gilbertson ended up getting credit for the win, pitching seven innings and only giving up four earned runs. He improved his own record to 4-3 on the season.

Pitt completed the sweep in game three in convincing fashion, outscoring the Hurricanes 12-5. Home runs from senior outfielder Nico Popa, junior outfielder Ron Washington Jr. and junior infielder Bryce Hulett led the offense.

A convincing sweep of a ranked opponent should put Pitt back on track. The Panthers face a quick turnaround before their home game against Lipscomb on Tuesday, April 13.