Weekend Sports Recap | Pitt beats ranked opponents, qualifies for championships

The Panthers played some contests, canceled others and qualified for national championship competitions over the weekend. With the exception of the track and field team, each Pitt sport played a ranked opponent with varying results. Here’s how the athletic department fared during the weekend.

Baseball

The Panthers swept No. 20 Clemson in a doubleheader on Friday, winning 8-0 in the first game and 10-7 in the second game. The third game of the series was canceled due to inclement weather. The game will not be made up.

Pitt will travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State on March 29 at 5 p.m.

Gymnastics

Senior Katie Chamberlain and first year Hallie Copperwheat qualified for the NCAA Regional championships. The Panthers team did not qualify for regionals.

Both gymnasts will compete at host NC State in the Raleigh regional. Chamberlain will only compete in the uneven bars, while Copperwheat will compete in both the uneven bars and the balance beam. Since the Pitt team did not qualify for the NCAAs, they both earned qualification by finishing in the top 16 for their respective events out of gymnasts on teams that did not qualify.

This is Chamberlain’s second NCAA regional qualification, but it will be only her first appearance after she withdrew in 2021 due to injury. Copperwheat will make her NCAA regionals debut when they begin on March 31, ending April 2.

Lacrosse

The Panthers hosted No. 2 Boston College on Saturday and lost to the reigning national champions, 19-12.

Up next, Pitt will host Akron on March 28 at 5 p.m.

Softball

Pitt played No. 5 Virginia Tech in a doubleheader on Friday, and the Hokies won both games.

The Hokies did all their damage in the first three innings of the first game. They scored five runs in the first frame, four in the second and three in the third. Hokies sophomore outfielder Emma Ritter went 2 for 3 with a double and a home run, while also tacking on three RBIs and two runs scored. Pitt senior outfielder Katlyn Pavlick and junior infielder Kayla Lane hit RBI-doubles in the fifth inning, but by then it was too late. Virginia Tech won 12-3 in five innings.

In the back half of the twin bill, Pitt again waited until the last inning to score. Pavlick and sophomore outfielder Cami Compson each had RBI knocks in the seventh inning, but by then Tech had already scored seven runs to seal the doubleheader sweep. Six Hokies recorded RBIs in the game, and Ritter had two, thanks to a seventh-inning home run.

The two schools were set to play a third game, but like baseball’s series finale, it was canceled because of the cold temperatures. This game will not be made up.

For their next game, the Panthers will travel to nearby Moon Township to play Robert Morris on March 30 at 3 p.m.

Track and Field

The Panthers competed in two separate meets over the weekend — the Texas Relays at UT Austin and the Raleigh Relays at NC State.

Not many Panthers competed in the Texas Relays, but they did have some good finishes in select events. Junior Clement Campbell finished fourth in the men’s long jump with a 7.42-meter jump for his best jump. Sophomore Folake Olujide-Ajibade placed sixth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, finishing with a 14.09-second time. Graduate student Cabe Wiggins competed in the men’s decathlon and finished 12th out of 22 athletes with 6829 points.

Pitt had a slightly larger presence in the Raleigh Regionals. Some notable finishes included graduate Student Noah Walker placing fifth in the men’s hammer throw, with a throw of 62.15 meters. Senior Abena Atuobi put a 14.9-meter shot in the women’s shot put, good enough for 11th. But the best Panther finish belonged to graduate student Josh Higgins, who placed third in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase, finishing with an 8:44.31 time.

Pitt will travel to Gainesville on March 31 and will compete in the Florida Relays until April 2.