Baseball opens season with second-place finish in IMICHotels.com Tournament

The Pitt baseball team headed south to open the 2006 campaign over the weekend, a season with… The Pitt baseball team headed south to open the 2006 campaign over the weekend, a season with expectations that stretch as far as the Big East Championship and the NCAA tournament. The Panthers, who were picked to finish second in the conference according to a coaches poll, visited Coastal Carolina University for the IMICHotels.com Inn-vitational and left with a split of their four games, good enough for second place in the tournament.

George Mason 9, Pitt 2

The Panthers’ season didn’t quite start as expected as the Patriots throttled the Panthers in their season opener. Big East Preseason Pitcher of the Year Billy Muldowney took the hill for the Panthers and after a strong start, faltered down the stretch, leading to his first loss of the season. Muldowney allowed eight hits and six earned runs in five and two-third innings while walking just one and striking out five.

The Patriots broke open a close game in the sixth with five runs, all scoring with two outs, chasing Muldowney. With the bases loaded, Brent Weiss reached base on an infield single, scoring Slattery. Spencer Wiggins followed with a double down the right-field line that plated two more runs before Robby Jacobsen drove in a run with another infield single. The Patriots scored one run in the third and fifth, five in the sixth and two more in the seventh, putting the Panthers in a 9-0 hole.

The Panther offense finally awoke in the bottom of the eighth when Jeff Stevens was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a base hit by Edgard Sucre. Dan Williams then singled through the left side, scoring Stevens. After Sucre advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, he scored on a sacrifice fly by David Cline.

The Panthers committed two errors on the afternoon and left five runners on base.

Pitt 11, Coastal Carolina 5

The Panthers picked up their first win of the season, beating the host Chanticleers with an offensive outpour. The Panthers sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring six runs and led 11-0 before Coastal got on the board late in the contest.

Sophomore Robert Brant got the start on the hill for the Panthers and he picked right up where he left off last season. A freshman All-American a year ago, Brant cruised through five shutout innings before allowing two runs in the sixth and giving way to the bullpen. Brant allowed six hits over his six innings of work, walking three and striking out five.

The second-inning scoring was started once again by Stevens as he walked, moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single by Williams to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. After Cline singled to right, sending Williams to third, Cline stole second and both runners scored on a single by Sean Conley. Jimmy Mayer followed with a single of his own, pushing Conley to third and Big East Pre-Season Player of the Year Jim Negrych continued the scoring with an RBI groundout, plating Conley. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases before Stevens, in his second at-bat of the inning, drove in two more runs with a single to left center.

Freshman Morgan Kielty highlighted the fourth inning with his first career homerun, a solo, opposite field blast. Kielty finished 2-3 with two runs and a RBI. Williams finished with three hits for the Panthers.

Pitt 6, Coastal Carolina 0

Behind starting pitcher Paul Nardozzi, the Panthers earned their first shutout of the season in their second straight victory over the host Coastal Carolina. Nardozzi, a junior right hander, went eight and two-thirds innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out a career-high 13 batters to pick up his first win of the season.

For the second straight day, the second inning proved to be the deciding factor as the Panthers scored five runs in the frame. With Williams on first after a single, Cline singled to right and Conley followed with a single of his own, scoring Williams. After Mayer walked and loaded the bases, it took Negrych just one swing to unload them. The second baseman pulled a pitch to right field for his 24th career homerun and first of the season. Mayer would homer in the seventh, the first of his college career, to make it 6-0 Panthers.

Cline, Mayer and Conley each finished with two hits for the Panthers while Negrych drove in four runs and scored a run. Relief pitcher Justin Cicatello made his third straight appearance and hasn’t allowed a run in four and one-thirds innings so far this season.

George Mason 3, Pitt 1 (11 Innings)

In what was effectively the championship game of the tournament, the Panthers wasted an outstanding pitching performance from redshirt freshman Kyle Landis. Making his first collegiate start, Landis went nine innings, allowing just one run on five hits with no walks, and striking out 10 Patriot batters. However, after the nine innings, the Panthers had only managed to scratch out one run as well.

The Panthers got on the board in the first inning when Kielty drove in Mayer with a sacrifice fly after Mayer had singled and advanced to second on a passed ball and third on a base hit by Negrych. Casey Slattery tied it in the seventh with a solo homerun off Landis, forcing extra innings.

After getting out of a 10th-inning jam, junior Bobby Bell could manage the same in the 11th. The Panthers reliever allowed a two-run homerun to Slattery, his second of the game, with this one coming in walk-off fashion.

Mayer and Williams had two hits apiece for the Panthers in the game and each finished the weekend with a team-leading seven hits.

The Panthers (2-2) are back in action this Friday when they travel to Tennessee to take on Vanderbilt.