Ominous Red Storm hovers over Trees

Amidst a bevy of injuries, it hasn’t been easy for the Pitt baseball team up to this point…. Amidst a bevy of injuries, it hasn’t been easy for the Pitt baseball team up to this point. This weekend, it won’t get any easier.

The Panthers (11-21, 3-9 Big East) host conference foe St. John’s in a challenging three-game set at Trees Field, a series the Panthers desperately need to capture.

St. John’s (26-8, 9-3 Big East) enters the weekend second in the Big East standings, while Pitt is struggling toward the bottom of the pile. The Panthers currently sit 11th in the 12-team conference, and just eight teams make the postseason conference tournament.

However, Pitt’s scant record doesn’t tell the whole story and is more indicative of the injuries it has endured, not the way it has played.

“This has been a very frustrating year for us,” Pitt coach Joe Jordano said. “But we have been very competitive despite some major losses to our club.”

Among Pitt’s losses are, arguably, its best player, sophomore Gary Bucuren and, most recently, senior standout pitcher Brian Chrisman, who left a game against Seton Hall after facing just two batters and who will not pitch this weekend.

The absence of some of the Panthers’ more experienced players has led to promising contributions from freshmen.

The Panthers come into the St. John’s series off a 17-6 drubbing of cross-town rival Duquesne on Wednesday at PNC Park, a game in which three freshmen played key roles. Phillip Koniczny and John Schultz had four hits apiece and freshman hurler David Kaye allowed just one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.

Pitt will need its bats to stay hot if it wants to contend with the dominant arms of St. John’s.

The Red Storm boast the league’s best pitching staff with a team ERA of 3.30. And the Panthers are likely to face the best St. John’s has to offer. The Red Storm has its rotation set up for this weekend, and Pitt will probably have to contend with two 2007 All-Big East pitchers in George Brown and Scott Barnes.

Brown leads the Big East in wins (7), while Barnes has the lowest opposing batting average (.201) in the conference.

Leading the offensive attack against St. John’s dynamic duo will be senior slugger Sean Conley. Conley leads the Panthers in average (.336), runs (31), home runs (9) and RBIs (39). Conley is currently on a seven-game hitting streak.

“Sean is a threat at the plate,” Jordano said. “He’s a tough out, and he deserves anything he gets out of this season. He’s having a fine year.”

Despite Conley’s dominance at the dish, Jordano understands that it may be difficult to produce runs against such a prominent pitching staff, but he insists that his team will not change its approach at the plate.

“All three St. John’s starters have the ability to shut down the opposition,” Jordano said. “Our offensive philosophy will not change, though. However, we will do our best to be aggressive in manufacturing runs and taking advantage of our opportunities.”

Like St. John’s, Pitt, too, will have its rotation in order. The Panthers’ probable starters are sophomore Nate Reed on Friday, freshman Corey Baker on Saturday and senior Rob Brant in the series finale on Sunday.

Jordano opted to flip Baker and Brant in the rotation to give Brant an extra day’s rest after he complained of shoulder tenderness following his start at Cincinnati last weekend.

Baker is an important stopgap for the Panthers’ depleted pitching staff, and Jordano knows it.

“Corey Baker has to step up his game,” Jordano said.

After Pitt dropped the first two games against Cincinnati – the second in 11 innings – Baker did just that, providing a boost to the luckless Panthers. In his second career start on Sunday, Baker hurled his first-career complete game, lifting the Panthers to a 3-2 win in the series finale against the Bearcats while rescuing Pitt from the scope of a sweep.

“Corey has done a super job for us,” Jordano said, “and he really threw an important game for us last Sunday. It was a great, gusty effort.”

The whole Panthers team will need an unexpected outburst if it hopes to be playing past May 17. There are a lot of games left, but a series win against one of the Big East’s best teams should do a lot for Pitt’s statistical standing, and even more importantly, for its injury-battered psyche.

“I have the utmost respect for St. John’s,” Jordano said. “They are solid. Great pitching, solid defense and very well coached. We are all looking forward to this series. It has definitely been very challenging, but with every challenge comes great opportunity.”