Davis to coach Friars

Perhaps nine is their magic number.

The Pitt softball team scored nine runs in each game of… Perhaps nine is their magic number.

The Pitt softball team scored nine runs in each game of a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon to sweep Robert Morris and improve to 24-17 for the season.

The Panthers will return to action on Saturday as they host Big East rival Seton Hall for a doubleheader. The first game is set to start at 11 a.m.

Pitt 9, RMU 2

Freshman pitcher Cory Berliner allowed seven hits while striking out two on the way to her 13th victory of the season.

“For the most part, she was in control of the game,” coach Michelle Phalen said. “She had really good presence on the mound.”

Pitt fell behind in the top of the third inning when Berliner gave up two hits following an error by second baseman Mary Hecker, plating the first run of the game. With two runners on and no outs, Berliner was able to work her way out of trouble, forcing two fielder’s choice outs and fanning the last Colonial batter of the inning.

The Panthers responded in the bottom of the inning.

After Rebecca Stottlemyer reached first on an error, centerfielder Reba Tutt doubled to center, and Jess Dignon bunted her way on base to load the diamond for Samantha Card. The junior catcher hit a single to right field to plate two runs and give the Panthers a lead they would never relinquish.

Mary Hecker followed with another two RBI single to expand the Pitt lead to 4-1.

After a scoreless top of the fourth inning from the Colonials, the Panthers added four more runs in the bottom of the inning. Pinch hitter Mollie Illenberger drove in two runs as she reached base on an error by the Robert Morris first baseman.

With the 8-1 advantage in hand, Berliner cruised through the final three innings allowing only one unearned run and three hits to earn the complete game victory.

Sam Card, a transfer from Florida International, led the Pitt hitters with three RBIs on two hits and a run scored.

Pitt 9, RMU 0

Just breaking a team record wasn’t enough for the Panthers.

Pitt recorded its 13th shutout of the season in the second game of their doubleheader with Robert Morris, improving upon the previous record of 11 shutouts set in 2000.

Sophomore Kayla Zinger earned her 10th victory of the season, allowing only five hits over four innings of work. The combined shutout is Zinger’s fifth of the season and second consecutive.

Pitt opened the game by scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Freshman Ashley Amistade scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch by Robert Morris’ Lindsay Moates.

Following a two-RBI single by Mary Hecker, Zinger helped her own cause by dropping a blooper into shallow center field, plating Hecker.

Kelly Murphy was called upon to pinch run for Zinger, and she scored the fifth run of the inning by stealing home on a throw to second by the Colonial catcher. Alicia Broudy scored the inning’s final run on a sacrifice groundout by second baseman Kelly Stiles.

With the 6-0 lead, Zinger allowed only three more hits through her final three innings of work before giving way to Kaitlyn Schuster. With the lead at 9-0, Schuster worked a perfect fifth inning to preserve the Panther victory.

“Kaitlyn came in and pitched the fifth inning and they barely got the bat on the ball,” Phalen said. “The pitching has been really wonderful for us the past couple weeks.”

Hecker finished the game with a team-best two RBIs, giving her four on the day to go along with her four hits and one run scored.

Pitt pitching did not allow an earned run in either game and allowed only 12 hits for the entire doubleheader.

The longest, most public search for a head coach this college basketball offseason ended Tuesday when Providence named former Drake coach Keno Davis its new leader.

Davis coached one season at Drake, leading the Bulldogs to a 28-5 record, a top 25 ranking and a fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament. Davis replaces former coach Tim Welsh, who in 10 years at Providence accomplished little more than a few first-round appearances in the Tournament and some very disappointing seasons.

It’s funny because Welsh was a hot young mid-major coach at Iona when Providence hired him 10 years ago. Now, the Friars brought in the national coach of the year in Davis, who has one year of head coaching experience. Will he stumble into a similar fate as Welsh? Who knows, but the Big East is not a very forgiving league.

The Big East will be the nation’s best conference in the 2008-09 season. Providence returns all five starters plus playmaking point guard Sharaud Curry. If Welsh were returning, I’d say the Friars were headed for a ninth- or 10th-place finish.

With Davis, this team might surprise a few people and make some heads turn. Davis’s Drake team overachieved with minimal talent. Just imagine what Davis’s Providence team can do with some of the better talent in the Big East.

But after this coming season, Davis has his hands full. Providence will have seven scholarships available for the 2009-10 season. That means Davis has to start recruiting seven replacements for what should be a good team this year. Davis’s job will start nicely, like it did at Drake, but how he’ll do once the maiden voyage finishes is another question.

With Rhode Island’s thin recruiting base and Boston College to the north and Connecticut to the east, Davis won’t have it easy. It’ll be fun to see how the young coach handles it.

After all, Providence is the school of Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino. Final Four banners hang in the Dunkin Donuts Center rafters. Adding another one to those rafters this season might be a stretch, but with the 36-year-old Davis at the helm, Providence might be the team everyone hates to play come next season.

Let’s get to a longer rapid fire than usual. It’s for the ladies.

– Providence went after George Mason’s Jim Larranaga, Massachusetts’ Travis Ford and Davidson’s Bob McKillop before it hired Davis. The Friars also had interest in Fran Fraschilla, Larry Brown, George Washington’s Karl Hobbs and a few others. They also called The Pitt News and asked our editor in chief for permission to speak with me. I listened, but turned down the offer.

– Did you see it, Roc? Joe Lunardi’s very early Bracketology on ESPN.com has Pitt as a No. 1 seed. Somebody has been drinking some very strange liquids.

– TRIVIA: I’ll give you a hearty pat on the back, Roc, if you can tell where Connecticut guard Doug Wiggins, who is now transferring from UConn, had committed to go to school before backing out to go to UConn.

– The presidential candidates seem bored, very bored.

– CNN.com has a story about Jack Handey, the humor writer for SNL’s Jack Handey skits. He supposedly exists.

– One more column after this, Roc. I’m starting to feel like an old man.

– Ted Danson: Zombie or Frankenstein?

– Go away, Dr. Phil. Please.

– Don’t watch MTV’s “The Paper.” It’s an annoying show with annoying people.

– How old is Mariah Carey?

– Pitt’s getting a lot of love for a team without an outside scoring threat or legitimate wing player to help Levance Fields.

– Jamie Dixon isn’t going anywhere this year. Not Stanford. Not Cal. Not Indiana. Not Neptune. He’ll be in Pittsburgh, where he belongs.

– Tell you what: Pitt football’s Blue-Gold game on Saturday might have decent attendance. It should. It’ll be on NFL Network, too. And if none of that is reason enough to watch in person or on TV, this should help: Coach Wannstedt will be the color guy!

Tom Crean never did much at Marquette. The Final Four bid was all Dwyane Wade. Now he’s never going to do much at Indiana.

The Celtics are going to win the Eastern Conference and make the NBA Finals and I’m going to celebrate.

– Um, Nate McLouth is not the second coming of anyone, folks. A hot start does not mean a big year. Get back to me in three months when he’s hitting 0.280.

– Jason Bay has to go.

– So does Jack Wilson.

– The Penguins look awfully good, Roc. If they play like this continuously, we might be hosting some Stanley Cup finals games here in the ‘Burgh.

– TRIVIA ANSWER: Wiggins had committed to St. John’s before backing out and heading to UConn.

– Parting thought: Sam Young may want to test the waters of the NBA Draft, but he’ll come back. He has too much to work on to go pro.