Softball swept by Bobby Mo, splits at Kent State

Last week Pitt (23-34, 8-11 Big East) embarked on its final road trip of the 2007 regular… Last week Pitt (23-34, 8-11 Big East) embarked on its final road trip of the 2007 regular season.

On May 2, the Panthers traveled to Kent, Ohio to take on a very strong Kent State team that defeated Pitt 3-2 early in the preseason. Pitt came away with a split against the Golden Flashes with some great base running and stellar defensive plays.

Pitt’s victory against Kent State in the second game showed why Sheena Hellon is the best base-stealer that has ever put on a Pitt uniform. Hellon stole a Pitt-record four bases in the game and often put herself into position for teammates to send her home.

With the record, she now owns every base-stealing title in the Pitt softball record books, including most in a career, most in a season and now most in a single game. According to Pitt coach Michelle Phalen, Hellon can really affect the opposing team’s attention when she is on base.

“Sheena is a great base runner and can make a lot of things happen for us with her speed,” Phalen said. “She forces defenses to make plays quicker and puts pressure on the catchers to make perfect throws.”

Pitt didn’t play as well in its doubleheader on May 3 against pesky neighbor Robert Morris. The Panthers were swept in their final series of the regular season.

Phalen said the Panthers were sloppy in both games and didn’t play up to their potential in the season-ending series.

“Robert Morris was a day where whatever can go wrong does, and they played us tough in both games,” Phalen said. “It was a lot about not executing and finishing plays. We can play better than that, and we just didn’t get the job done.”

Pitt faces off against South Florida in the first round of the Big East Tournament on May 10 in South Bend, Ind. The Panthers upset South Florida in the first round last season, but the Bulls swept Pitt in a series earlier this season.

Kent State 3, Pitt 0

Pitt had trouble settling down at the plate against Kent State freshman Kylie Reynolds in the first game of the doubleheader on Wednesday.

Reynolds was perfect through three innings until Jessica Dignon ripped one to center to break the streak of retired Panthers. Dignon was stranded after Alex Shoemaker was frozen at the plate looking at strikes. The Golden Flashes scored their first run off an RBI single in the first inning, and they added two more off a home run by Amy Hair to put the game out of in the fourth.

The Panthers had their best chance to get a rally going after Sheena Hellon doubled to left in the sixth inning. Hellon moved over to third on a balk, but the next batter was one of the twelve victims who were fanned by Reynolds in the game.

Freshman Kayla Zinger earned the loss for the Panthers, surrendering seven hits and allowing three runs.

Pitt 5, Kent State 3

In the second game against the Golden Flashes, senior Sheena Hellon decided to take matters into her own hands.

After walking to start off the game, Hellon wasted no time getting her uniform dirty. She got a good jump on Kent State’s starter and took second. The throw from the catcher was off and Hellon had an easy route to the third with no outs.

Joey Scarf followed Hellon’s moves identically and took second right after she was walked.

The Golden Flashes got the first and second outs but weren’t able to get the third before the Panthers struck. Samantha Card smacked a two-RBI single to left with the bases loaded and two more reached home when the Kent State shortstop misplayed a grounder in the hole.

Kent State got a run back off an RBI single in the fourth, but it didn’t mean much with Sheena Hellon due up in the next half inning.

After Hellon was walked again to start off the inning, she had made it all the way to third before the Kent State defense could blink. Another overthrow by the catcher on Hellon’s record-breaking fourth steal of the game allowed her to score the Panthers final run. The threat of Hellon on the base path was too much for the Golden Flashes to handle in the second game.

Robert Morris 10, Pitt 1

Despite taking an early lead in the second when Samantha Card led off the inning with a solo shot over the wall in center, Pitt trailed Robert Morris throughout most of the short first game.

The Colonials answered the home run quickly with an RBI single in the next half inning and were poised to score more. With runners on second and third and only one out, Laura Belardinelli used every ounce of energy she had to escape the inning with only one earned run.

Belardinelli threw a ton of pitches in the first two innings, so Pitt decided to go to the bullpen and bring in Kaitlyn Schuster. But Schuster wasn’t effective on the mound in 1 1/3 innings of work.

After giving up a double to start off the third, Schuster hung a pitch over the plate against the Colonial center fielder, and she belted it over the left field wall to take the lead. The barrage of runs didn’t stop there as Susan Perich smacked one over the left-field wall with two runners on base.

Robert Morris did more damage in the following inning when it capitalized on an error by Pitt second baseman Alex Shoemaker. One runner scored on the error, and the following batter brought another runner home with a single.

Pitt tried to stop the bleeding by bringing in Kayla Zinger, but the first batter she faced hit a two run homer to extend the lead to 10-1. In its last at bat in the fifth, Pitt got two runners aboard, but failed to get any runs to prevent the mercy rule.

Robert Morris 5, Pitt 4

After a wild pitch by Laura Belardinelli moved a runner into scoring position, a single by the Colonials brought the first runner of the game home in the bottom of the first.

The Panther bats didn’t get on track until the third inning when Joey Scarf hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to left to let Morgan Howard even the score.

Jessica Dignon ripped a double off the wall in center to allow Sheena Hellon to score. Valerie Mihalik then sent Dignon home with a single to left.

The fourth and final run of the inning came when the Robert Morris third baseman overthrew the first baseman on a hard shot by Samantha Card. All Pitt needed from there was some stiff defense.

But the Panthers never got it.

A two-run home run by the Colonials in the next half inning cut the lead to one and a rare pair of errors by Sheena Hellon allowed another run to tie the game.

Two wild pitches by Belardinelli in the fourth led to Robert Morris getting runners to second and third with one out. Coach Phalen didn’t hesitate and went right to her ace in the bullpen, Meghan Bostick.

Bostick came in and retired the next two batters to get the Panthers out of the jam to keep the score tied at four.

Two more errors in the seventh by Hellon, coupled with a wild pitch from Bostick, put a Colonial runner on third with no outs. Bostick was able to get two outs without allowing the runner to score, but surrendered a single to left and the game’s winning run made it home.