Softball: Panthers take 2 of 3 from Villanova

The Pitt softball team earned its first two Big East victories this weekend.

Pitt (17-13,… The Pitt softball team earned its first two Big East victories this weekend.

Pitt (17-13, 2-3 Big East) won its first two games at Villanova over the weekend 5-3 and 6-4 before falling in the final game of the series 2-1.

The first win at VU Field came in 13 innings. Pitt scored the winning run in the 13th inning after three hours of play. Catcher Holly Stevens drove in Reba Tutt with a double. Then Stevens scored when Yvette Bravo safely reached base due to an outfield error.

Ashley Amistade scored the opening run on an error in the first inning. Pitt ended up leading 3-0 in the third inning when Tutt hit her second homerun of the season to left field. Then, Stevens scored because of a right field error.

Villanova (11-15, 1-2) answered in the bottom of the inning. Tessa Braga singled up the middle, then Amanda Marquez drove her home with a single to right field.

The Wildcats scored again in the fifth, when Shannon O’Brien scored off a Danielle Maricle groundout to second base. In the bottom of the seventh, Maricle tied the game at three when she doubled to center field.

Pitchers Cory Berliner and Alyssa O’Connell each threw six innings in the win. O’Connell gave up seven hits with two strikeouts in 6.2 innings, while Berliner gave up four hits and struck out five in 6.1 innings.

Bravo recorded three RBIs on the day.

Pitt didn’t need extra innings in the second game. The Panthers scored in the first inning when Kristen Cheesebrew’s single drove in Stevens. In the top of the seventh, the Panthers secured the victory by adding five runs.

Megan Livesey started the inning with a single and Tutt walked two batters later. After they both advanced a base on a passed ball, Bravo recorded two RBIs with a single to right field. Later that inning, Niki Cognigni hit a bases loaded single to drive in Cheesebrew, Amanda Heitmeier, and Jessica Rhodunda.

The Wildcats attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, scoring all four of their runs in the last inning.

Valerie Ortega started the scoring when she grounded out to third to drive in Christina Botkins. Maricle doubled to left field for an RBI and Marquez followed with a single to bring O’Brien home. The last run of the inning came when Maricle scored on a passed ball. Tutt secured the victory by catching a fly ball for the last out.

Berliner picked up the win, her ninth of the season, by allowing one run in 6.1 innings. O’Connell recorded her first save of the season by pitching the last two outs.

Cheesebrew went 2 for 3 with one RBI and scored a run in the win.

In the final game, Villanova scored in the first inning when Molly Manning singled up the middle, but Pitt tied the game in the top of the second after Keli Gaynor knocked a pinch-hit single to bring home Cheesebrew.

The Wildcats scored the winning run in the fourth inning after Eryn Teague reached base on an error. O’Connell picked up her seventh loss of the season, after allowing seven hits and one earned run.

The Panthers travel to State College to take on Penn State on Tuesday.