Offensive firepower leads Panthers to series sweeps

The Pitt softball team found its offensive power in recent doubleheaders against Buffalo and… The Pitt softball team found its offensive power in recent doubleheaders against Buffalo and Seton Hall. In sweeping both teams, the Panthers’ bats came alive and provided timely hits that have eluded them at times this season.

In the first game against Seton Hall on Saturday, the Panthers scored eight runs to come back from an early three-run deficit. Pitt scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth on.

An Amanda Heitmeier home run in the sixth inning brought three runs home, as the Panthers finished the game with a 8-3 victory.

In the second game, the Panthers recorded eight hits and seven runs, including a five-run second inning that sealed the victory. Three different Panthers, Heitmeier, Jessica Rhodunda and Reba Tutt, had RBIs in the inning to guide the team to a 7-5 win.

Sunday’s games brought a quick lapse back to non-scoring ways, as Pitt fell to Providence in the first part of a doubleheader, 2-1. But the bats awoke in time for the second half, with seven Panther hits accumulating eight runs in an 8-4 triumph.

Rhodunda connected for a home run in the sixth inning of the afternoon victory. Pitt didn’t score in the first three innings, but plated runs in each of the final four innings to complete the weekend 3-1.

With the victories, the Panthers’ record moved to 21-22 overall and 7-13 in the Big East. The top eight conference teams play in the Big East tournament, and the Panthers are currently just below the cutoff.

Pitt’s fate might come down to its final Big East games, including the last home stand, which begins on May 2 against Rutgers and South Florida .

Pitt coach Holly Aprile often said this season that Pitt needed to improve offensively in order to balance out solid defense and pitching. After the Panthers scored nine and five runs against Buffalo while holding the Bulls scoreless, Aprile said she thought the team was heading in the right direction.

Against Seton Hall, the Panthers continued on that path, sweeping the first of two doubleheaders in what Aprile said was a very important weekend for her team.

In their last four games, the Panthers are averaging around seven runs. It’s no coincidence that going into Sunday’s Big East doubleheader, Pitt was riding a four-game win streak. Its stretch now stands at five wins in six contests.

Some Panthers reached historic measures during the streak. Senior Sam Card blasted her 19th career home run against Buffalo last week. The blast placed her second on Pitt’s all-time home run list. Card is four home runs shy of tying for first place.

The recent surge of offense complements the consistent defense and pitching the Panthers have enjoyed this season. Pitchers Cory Berliner, Kayla Zinger and Alyssa O’Connell have three of the lowest earned run averages in the Big East.

Before Sunday’s games against Providence, Berliner stood at No. 2 with a 1.73 ERA. Zinger was eighth with a 2.09 ERA and O’Connell 12th at 2.41. Combined, the Pitchers give Pitt the second-lowest ERA in the Big East, coming in behind Louisville with an ERA of 2.46.

The Panthers have no games during finals week and go 10 days without playing until squaring off against Youngstown State for a doubleheader on the road on April 29.

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