Panthers ride Bulls, take weekend series from USF

Although their series against South Florida was in Pittsburgh, the Panther baseball team was… Although their series against South Florida was in Pittsburgh, the Panther baseball team was taken for a journey that resembled a Gulf Coast hurricane before landing safely on its feet. Pitt (16-21 overall, 6-12 Big East) split Saturday’s matchups, winning 7-1 and losing 5-3, before taking the series with a thrilling 11-9 win on Sunday.

Pitt 7, South Florida 1

The first ever meeting between the two schools was part of a doubleheader on Saturday just before Friday’s originally scheduled game.

The Panthers wanted to be on the safe side and put some early runs on the board, but in an unconventional fashion. In the bottom of the first, the Bulls’ Casey Hudspeth threw wide on a pickoff attempt of Jim Negrych and David Cline scored from third for a 1-0 lead.

Pitt had the bases loaded in the third when Jimmy Mayer was hit by a pitch. Sean Conley was on third when David Cline reached on a fielding error off his bunt before Negrych put two runs on the board with a single.

Pitt added two more to the scoreboard in the fifth, when Jimmy Mayer scored on Morgan Kielty’s sacrifice fly and Rob Lawler followed with a single that brought Negrych home. One run was added in each of the next two innings when Kielty singled in Cline and Peter Parise scored from second on Bulls pitcher Jim Cassidy’s wild pitch.

Junior Billy Muldowney pitched 7.1 scoreless innings and struck out 11 batters in the win.

South Florida 5, Pitt 3

Saturday’s nightcap was moved to 8 p.m. because of rain once again, but few runs were raining early on. For the Panthers, Rob Brant poured in 10 strikeouts and shut the Bulls out through 7.1 innings, despite six walks.

The Panthers scored first when Mayer reached on an infield single and Negrych drew a walk. South Florida catcher, Braulio Pardo, was unaware of this and as he tried to rip Mayer off at second, the throw went into centerfield and the senior shortstop from Somerset advanced to third on the error. Though Negrych was caught stealing, Mayer scored on the throw.

Pitt scored once again in the seventh when a balk on Bulls pitcher Nick Manganaro allowed Parise to score from third, and looked to hold on entering the ninth. That’s when a torrential downpour came in the form of five South Florida runs.

Panthers’ pitcher Justin Cicatello was relieved of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, but Mike Bassage wasn’t so fortunate in the ninth. Inheriting two runners, Bassage walked two batters, bringing in a run. Then thunder came onto Trees Field by way of Brad Karns’ grand slam.

Pitt tried to strike some lightning of its own in the bottom of the ninth when Seth Button singled home Parise, but the rally stalled, and the Bulls held on for the win.

Pitt 11, South Florida 9

Both teams fought vigilantly to take possession of the series. South Florida (19-22, 8-10) took first dibs when Gus Fernandez and Kris Howell both homered over the net in right center courtesy of pitcher Paul Nardozzi.

But the Panthers struck back. In the bottom of the second, Conley hit a bases-loaded double to deep center that scored Parise, Lawler and Button. Conley himself scored when Cline reached first on a throwing error, then advanced to second and scored on a Negrych double to center.

As quickly as the Panthers took the lead, the Bulls regained it. Howell hit an RBI double and dingers from Brian Baisley and Matt McHargue gave South Florida a 6-5 lead after three.

Two innings later, USF added three runs, two of them from Joey Angelberger’s blast. Parise chipped off the deficit by a run, when his RBI double scored Negrych in the bottom of the fifth.

Playing with their backs against the wall, Pitt got off the launch pad in the eighth. Button led off with a solo blast off Yuri Higgins, then Dan Williams and Conley walked. Cline then singled home Williams, sending Higgins to the dugout. USF made some pitching changes, but a Parise triple later in the inning scored Mayer and Cline and gave the Panthers a two-run cushion for the bottom half of the inning.

“I knew we matched up well with them and the win definitely felt good,” Pitt coach, Joe Jordano commented after Sunday’s win.

For Jordano, this series was like a ride at Kennywood. “It was a roller-coaster up and down. We’ll take it. South Florida’s a great baseball team and we’re playing well.

“Our kids know what we want to do, we did a solid job defensively and I thought we pitched well late in the game. Kyle did a tremendous job in relief.”

The Panthers resume action after finals when they travel to Kent State on Tuesday, May 2.