Softball upsets Bulls, falls to Irish

Pitt softball did at the Big East softball tournament what it has been doing all season —… Pitt softball did at the Big East softball tournament what it has been doing all season — achieving program milestones. The latest is its first-ever postseason win in the tournament’s first round.

To keep their season alive, however, the Panthers had to accomplish another first — defeat the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, something not accomplished on this weekend as Pitt fell 5-0 in the second round of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Notre Dame would go on to win the tournament with a 1-0 win over top-seeded Louisville, but the loss only put a meager damper on the rain-filled weekend as seventh-seeded Pitt upended second-seeded and nationally ranked South Florida 2-1 the day prior.

“I don’t think we even know yet what this win means to our program,” head coach Michelle Phalen said of the win over the 25th-ranked Bulls. “Talking to the kids and the families that were there and have been involved, we just know that it is a game that will be talked about for a long time.”

It sure will, given that Pitt softball is not even a decade old and the Panthers have just put together a season that saw nearly a dozen team records fall. The win over the Bulls became a bit sweeter even after the loss to Notre Dame once the NCAA announced that the Bulls would be a part of the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The win over South Florida also avenged a two-game sweep at the hands of the Bulls earlier this season, and it came in dramatic fashion.

Shortstop Sheena Hellon recorded her sixth homer of the season to get Pitt on the board, blasting a two-run shot over the leftfield wall in the top of the fourth to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

“When I hit it I wasn’t even expecting it to go that far,” Hellon said. “I just wanted to hit it far enough for Morgan [Howard] to score, so when it kept going my mouth dropped. After I crossed home plate I was excited, but I also realized that there were three more innings to play, and I had to play defense.”

Sophomore Jess Dignon saw it differently.

“I was standing in the on-deck circle when she hit it and I knew once it left her bat that it was going to be out of here,” the third baseman said. Later, she said that the two-run lead was no security blanket, given USF’s talent.

Dignon was right, because the lead was cut in half only minutes later when the Bulls’ leadoff batter belted a solo homer.

South Florida then put runners on first and second with two outs off consecutive hits on Pitt starter Meghan Bostick. Senior Christa Hunter relived Bostick, only to throw a wild pitch that advanced South Florida’s runners to second and third.

The next USF batter hit a hard shot to left but Hellon scooped it up and recorded the final out of the inning, ending the Bulls’ biggest threat.

South Florida (47-23) never seriously threatened again as a few stellar defensive plays and sound pitching by Hunter made the Panthers (32-27) the owners of the tournament’s biggest upset.

“History was made,” Phalen said. “This was our first-ever postseason game and we won it. It was also our first-ever victory over a ranked opponent and I am very proud of this team and everyone’s efforts.”

Pitt found life in the semifinals a bit harder, though, as third-seeded Notre Dame (40-19) came in on a tear. Irish ace Heather Booth held the Panthers to a single hit, a two-out single by sophomore Jess Dignon, to keep Pitt winless against the Irish.

Junior Laura Belardinelli took the loss for Phalen’s squad, dropping her final season record to 15-11. The 15 wins tie the record for wins by a Pitt pitcher in a single season.

After loading the bases in the first inning but failing to score a run, the Irish got on the board in the top of the third inning with a one-out single to right field. The pass from right field hit a base runner as she slid into the plate and that freed up enough time for a Notre Dame player at third to race home.

The second runner came home on a deep double to center field for a quick 2-0 lead. Bostick relieved Belardinelli and kept the Irish off the board until the sixth, when three Notre Dame runs opened the gap and put an end to the Panthers’ season.

“It’s felt like Notre Dame has been unbeatable for so long, and there have been situations where we have been real close, but something happens and we don’t win,” Phalen said of the Irish, noting that beating the Irish is a viable goal for her 2007 Panthers. “I would say, though, that when we do beat them, it will be a big deal.”

Despite the loss and the goose egg stuck in the win column in the Notre Dame series, Phalen couldn’t be happier with her team’s record-setting season, one that saw the Panthers win a school-record 32 games, including a program-high 10 Big East games.

“The way we finished the tournament was obviously not the way we wanted to finish the season, but the girls are real proud of all that we accomplished this season and those are the things we will take with us from this season,” she said.