Baseball: Panthers sweep of West Virginia sets up showdown against Huskies

The Pitt baseball team swept its weekend series against West Virginia, exploding for a… The Pitt baseball team swept its weekend series against West Virginia, exploding for a season-high 24 runs on 27 hits in the series finale.

With the weekend sweep of the Mountaineers and Louisville’s loss to Seton Hall, the Panthers (30-10, 12-3) now sit in second place in the Big East. The Panthers trail only Connecticut, and the two play a three-game series this weekend at Trees Field.

“Coach [Jim] Penders does a phenomenal job with the Huskies,” Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said. “We have a great deal of respect for them, and they are playing as well as any team in the country. It will be a great series, but we will take the same approach as we have all season.”

Jordano said the team will take three days off for finals and return to practice on Thursday to prepare for Connecticut.

Pitt won the final game at Morgantown, W.Va., 24-9. The 24 runs were just one shy of a Jordano-coached team record of 25 runs scored against Coppin State in 2008, and well short of the school record of 36 runs scored against IUP in 1953.

Jordano said patience at the plate made the difference.

“We had a great approach at the plate today, the 24 runs was the result of that approach,” Jordano said.

Junior Joe Leonard and redshirt junior Zach Duggan paced the Panthers in the finale. Leonard went 5-for-6 at the plate, with one homerun and driving in five. Duggan hit 6-for-7 with four RBIs and four runs scored.

Pitt’s bullpen secured the victory by holding down the opposing offense, something they’ve struggled with at times.

The Panthers have blown a lead or tie after the seventh inning four times this season. Jordano said the bullpen has been a “work in progress” during the season while using young players in key roles.

In the West Virginia finale, freshman Alex Caravella entered the game in relief and threw seven innings, giving up five runs on seven hits in just his third start of the season to pick up his first career win at Pitt.

Junior Cole Taylor started for Pitt, but gave up four runs in an inning and a third of work. Caravella entered and didn’t leave until he turned the ball over to redshirt freshman Ray Black with one out in the ninth inning. Black finished the game off, holding West Virginia scoreless in the ninth.

“We had two freshmen, Caravella and Black, come in today and do a great job,” Jordano said.

Pitching led the way for the Panthers in its first two games against the Mountaineers.

In the opener, junior Corey Baker picked up his ninth win of the season, pitching 6.2 innings and giving up nine runs in Pitt’s 13-9 victory over West Virginia.

Junior Sean Toole went 3-for-4 at the plate, scoring two runs.

In the second game, sophomore Matt Iannazzo pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on 10 hits and striking out four to pick up his seventh win of the season. Pitt won the game 6-3.

“Matt has been solid. He does a great job attacking the zone and he throws strikes,” Jordano said. “He gained some great experience last year and has done very well this year.”

Pitt meets Connecticut this Saturday at 3 p.m.