Name: Laura Belardinelli Sport: Softball Year: Senior Major: Political science, communications… Name: Laura Belardinelli Sport: Softball Year: Senior Major: Political science, communications

As one of the aces on the Panther softball staff, Pitt senior Laura Belardinelli is constantly communicating with those around her. She and her catcher need to be on the same page. The outfielders need to know how many outs there are and where the play is going. There’s more talk going out there than most might realize.

But still, it isn’t the kind of talking that the four-year starter enjoys the most.

“For a dream career, I’d actually want to be a talk show host,” she said with a laugh. “Oprah is my idol. In fact, each class does a skit each year for the rest of the team and in our junior class skit last year, we had a talk show called ‘Laugh with Laura’ that we did. We have a lot of fun with it.”

Most people start playing softball for fun, something the New York native did at a young age. Her oldest sister was throwing hard and nobody in the Belardinelli family would catch for her.

So the 7-year-old stepped in.

“When she hit 12 [years old] and wasn’t in Little League anymore, my dad said we needed a new pitcher,” she said. “I also have a twin sister, but she didn’t want to do it. So I started to throw and she would catch for me.”

As she has her entire career, Belardinelli strung together two solid starts this week for Pitt softball, moving closer to school history in the process. On April 10, she scattered six runs and nine hits while pitching a complete-game, 9-6 win over Youngstown State. Three days later, the senior fanned a season-high eight batters, but the Panthers couldn’t muster up enough offense as they fell, 5-2.

Still, the win moved her career total to 41, one shy of tying the school record. The eight strikeouts also brought her season total to 72, fueling a campaign in which she is on pace to have one of her best statistical seasons as a Panther.

“It’s been a good experience, especially from the beginning where I was given an opportunity to come in as a freshman when we had an opening,” she said of being thrown into the mix early on. “It definitely made me grow and I don’t think mentally I’d be where I’m at now without that experience.

“In every situation I just feel like I’ve been there before and that nothing is too overwhelming,” she said.

Even if the diamond doesn’t become overpowering, the combination of a Division-I sport and a full course load still can.

“Actually, I’m also really big into art,” she said. “There isn’t a lot of time during the season, but I am working on some pieces. It’s a complete outlet from softball and even school.”

She admitted to not having a lot of free time to work on her art, but that is poised to change soon when the political science and communications major graduates with plans to work for a Pittsburgh marketing firm.

“I do want to go to volunteer in South Africa,” she said. “It’s always been something I’ve wanted to do.”