Panthers look “a little flat” after season’s hot start

After a phenomenal opening weekend to begin the season, the Pitt softball club suffered its… After a phenomenal opening weekend to begin the season, the Pitt softball club suffered its first loss on the way to a 2-2 weekend at the Longwood Leadoff Classic in Farmville, Va.

The Panthers lost their first and last matchups of the weekend to Morehead State and Bucknell, respectively. Pitt defeated host Longwood and Eastern Michigan in the two middle contests.

“On Saturday we came out a little flat,” Pitt coach Michelle Phalen said. “I think it showed in our offensive production.”

The two losses dropped Pitt’s record to 6-2 in the young campaign. Despite the setbacks, the Panthers still own the best overall winning percentage among Big East squads at 0.750.

Pitt recorded victories in all four games of last weekend’s Florida International Tournament to earn a 4-0 record. Two of the wins were major upsets over ranked opponents Virginia Tech and Missouri.

“We played really strong our first weekend,” Phalen said. “This weekend we weren’t as sharp. We just made some mistakes we didn’t make the week before.”

The perfect weekend led to the Panthers receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll this past weekend. Although it didn’t reach the national rankings, Pitt achieved votes in the poll for the first time in the history of the club.

Pitt has the next weekend off and will prepare for the UNLV Eller Media Classic in Las Vegas starting Feb. 29. The Panthers will face five teams in the three-day tournament.

Morehead State 4, Pitt 0

Saturday morning’s first game of the weekend spelled the end of Pitt’s undefeated run with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Morehead State.

Sophomore pitcher Kayla Zinger struck out three and gave up two runs in four innings of work.

A wild pitch in the first inning sent home Morehead State’s first run of the game.

Pitt left the bases loaded in the second inning, squandering a valuable opportunity for multiple runs. A single by Jessica Dignon and two walks loaded the bases with one out, but a force out and groundout ended the frame with no runs on the board.

Morehead State brought home two runs in the fourth inning and another in the sixth to complete the scoring.

The Panthers were limited to only three hits in the affair.

Pitt 6, Longwood 0

Pitt rebounded from its loss to thump host Longwood on Saturday afternoon, 6-0.

Cory Berliner pitched a shutout, giving up only three hits and striking out six Longwood batters.

The Panthers offense ignited for 10 hits, three of them coming in the two-run second inning. Megan Livesey knocked home Zinger and Mary Hecker with a one-out double.

Two more runs crossed the plate in the third inning. Dignon’s double scored Ashley Amistade, and Hecker’s triple brought home Dignon. The RBI was Dignon’s eighth of the year.

Alicia Broudy and Sam Card drove in the final two runs for the Panthers in the fifth and sixth innings.

Pitt 2, Eastern Michigan 0

Pitt recorded its second triumph of the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Eastern Michigan on Sunday morning.

Pitt scored both of its runs in the fourth inning on three hits. Card led off the frame with a triple to right field and scored when Dignon doubled one batter later.

Hecker singled to center to score Dignon for the game’s final run.

Berliner turned in another sterling performance on the mound. She held Eastern Michigan to four hits and struck out eight in her second shutout of the weekend.

Berliner has won all four of her starts, giving up only one earned run in the process.

“[Berliner’s] proven to be really good for us on the mound,” Phalen said. “At this point in the season, she’s at the top of the list.”

Bucknell 4, Pitt 1

Pitt’s defense couldn’t hold an early lead against Bucknell, falling 4-1 after five errors in the fifth inning paved way for the four runs.

Offense was tough to come by, with the clubs combining for nine hits.

Bucknell ran into trouble in the fourth. Card doubled to left with one out, and Dignon and Hecker followed with walks to load the bases. Kelly Stiles hit a sacrifice fly to score Card, but Dignon was called out at third base, halting the chance for more runs.

The Bison made Pitt pay for its mistakes in the fifth inning. All five errors occurred during the first four batters Bucknell sent to the plate.

All four of the runners ended up crossing the plate.

Zinger tossed another complete game and did not give up an earned run. She struck out five Bison hitters.

The loss was particularly tough to swallow, as the victory was the first of the year for Bucknell.