Softball: Pitt routs Seton Hall, Berliner throws no-hitter

In their first Big East series of the season, members of the softball team added two notes to… In their first Big East series of the season, members of the softball team added two notes to the schools’ record books.

Collectively, they earned two wins against the Seton Hall Pirates, one with a score of 9-0 and another with a score of 6-0. That gave them 13 shut-out victories this year, tying a school record set in 2008.

And senior pitcher Cory Berliner tied Laura Belardinelli’s (2004-07) school record as Berliner earned her 44th career victory in impressive, no-hit fashion. It was Berliner’s first no-hitter and just the eighth in the history of Pitt softball.

The three wins gave Berliner her first mentions in Pitt’s record books and improve the Panthers’ record to 22-6 overall, tying it with Syracuse for first place in the Big East.

But in Berliner’s mind, focusing on the intricacies of the pitching game is more important than chasing records.

“Before the game, I did not know that I was able to tie the career win record,” Berliner said. “I don’t really pay attention to stats like that, but focus on each pitch so I don’t get ahead of myself. It is easy to make a mistake when you think too far ahead.”

That pitch-by-pitch concentration allowed Berliner to strike out six batters en route to her sixth win of the season.

The offense was just as significant as the pitching, as the Panthers out-scored the Pirates 25-1 in the three-game series. Meanwhile, the Panthers held the Pirate offense to a .109 team batting average.

Pitt’s offense generated early in the first 9-0 win as seven Panthers crossed home plate in the first inning before the Pirates could record an out.

Leading that surge was junior Amanda Heitmeier, whose grand slam came after an early first-inning pitching change. The grand slam was the first of Heitmeier’s career and her first home run of the season.

For Pitt head coach Holly Aprile, Heitmeier’s success was a model of a coaching principle.

“We’ve always talked about swinging on the first good pitch we see after a pitching change,” Aprile said. “Amanda capitalized on her opportunity to do that.”

With two more runs in the fifth inning, the Panthers enacted the nine-run advantage mercy rule for the seventh time this season.

In the second game of the day, neither the pitching or offensive dominance suffered as the Panthers secured a 6-0 victory with freshman Karlyn Jones recording her eighth win of the season.

Jones struck out eight batters and allowed just two hits in her complete game of seven innings.

The offensive attack was led by sophomore catcher Holly Stevens and junior right fielder Yvette Bravo, who both finished the game 3 for 4.

Throughout the three-game series, Bravo collected six hits in her nine plate appearances and contributed two RBIs in each contest.

Aprile noted that the entire team contributed to the scoring as the Panthers adhered to the original offensive strategy.

“We stuck to our game plan by getting runners on base and hitting the ball hard,” Aprile said. “We continued to keep the ball in play and put runners in scoring position.”

Improving to a perfect 3-0 conference record, the Panthers completed the series sweep of Seton Hall on Sunday with another convincing 10-1 victory.

The win was credited to senior Alyssa O’Connell, who gave up one run and recorded five strike-outs. O’Connell has been impressive in her recent play, allowing just two runs in her last 31 innings pitched.

Once again, the Panthers started their scoring early with four runs in the first inning and added three more in the third by way of two home runs.

Stevens smacked her fifth long-ball of the season to make the score 5-1 and shortstop Niki Cognigni hit her first homer of the year, a two-run blast.

Cognigni was 3 for 3 on the day from the plate and drove in three of the Panthers’ 10 runs.

Though the home runs were a vital part of the Panther offense, the smaller aspects of the hitting game also proved to be important.

With two stolen bases in the final game of the series, senior outfielder Ashley Amistade brought her series total to four and her season total to 19.

The positive start to the Big East season was important for the Panthers, as they are aware of the challenges they face in the conference.

“Every year there are good teams in the Big East,” Berliner said. “We got off to a good start, and we want to continue that style of play throughout the season.”

The next chance for the Panthers to do that will come at home at the new Petersen Sports Complex as they welcome Penn State in a double-header contest today.