Pitt stays sharp in Maryland

They just wanted to get some games in.

Forced to cancel a weekend series with Youngstown… They just wanted to get some games in.

Forced to cancel a weekend series with Youngstown State because of bad weather, the Pitt baseball team instead traveled to Maryland where it gathered two substantial wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore and suffered a tough loss to Rhode Island.

Friday’s game against Maryland-Eastern Shore (0-6) gave Pitt one of its most dominating wins as the Panthers won, 25-3.

“[Maryland Eastern Shore] is a young team, a little inexperienced,” Pitt coach Joe Jordano said. “But we played very well.”

The game was scheduled and played within 24 hours as Pitt looked to gain more playing time before heading to Greenville, N.C., next weekend to play preseason-ranked teams like East Carolina and Michigan in the Keith LeClair Invitational.

“It gave us an opportunity to get outside and play and to get a few more games under our belt,” Jordano said.

After the Hawks led 3-1 in the second, nearly every Pitt player went on to achieve individual career-high stats.

Shortstop Danny Lopez went 5 for 7 with five RBIs as freshman third baseman Joe Leonard continued a strong first-year performance by going 4 for 5 at the plate. And, in addition to the 23 RBIs, Pitt still managed to leave 17 men on base.

Pitt starting pitcher Nate Reed went seven innings while giving up six hits, giving way for reliever Josh Smith in the eighth to finish with no hits or runs given up.

“I thought we did a good job of staying in our zone and making the pitcher pitch to us,” Jordano said.

“We are very disciplined at the plate. We got a lot of walks. Conversely, on Saturday, we weren’t doing any of these things.”

Saturday’s loss to Rhode Island (1-4) saw an end to Pitt’s offensive stride as the Panthers were held hitless for the first six innings.

Rhode Island sporadically scored four individual runs in the first six innings.

With Pitt losing 4-0, an RBI triple from catcher Nick Mullins and a three-run home run from left fielder Sean Conley tied the score at four in the seventh.

Reliever Corey Baker gave up the two winning runs after replacing starter Rob Brant, who had eight strikeouts in his 5 2/3 innings to finish the game with a 6-4 loss.

“It was just a poor effort on our part,” Jordano said.

The next day saw more production from Pitt’s offense, however, as the Panthers once again faced Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Playing only seven innings, Pitt managed to score runs in five of them while gathering 10 hits in the game.

Center fielder Jordan Herr went 2 for 3 with two RBIs as Sean Conley had another productive performance, going 3 for 5 with four RBIs.

Pitt’s defense also had a good night as starter Brian Chrisman gave up only three hits in his 5 2/3 innings. Relievers Hugh Henry and David Kaye each pitched 2/3 innings to finish the game with a 10-0 win.