Irish top Pitt in Big East championship

Simply put, Pitt just ran out of gas.

Playing their fourth game in three days, the Panthers… Simply put, Pitt just ran out of gas.

Playing their fourth game in three days, the Panthers couldn’t muster up enough offense in an 11-4 season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the Big East baseball championship Saturday afternoon.

“We were coming off a 12-inning ballgame, which meant that going into the championship, we had 30 innings pitched [for the tournament] and Notre Dame only had 18,” head coach Joe Jordano said.

Appearing in the championship for the first time since 1995, the Panthers got off to a rocky start in trying to avenge a 4-2 tournament loss to the Irish the day before. Notre Dame’s Matt Edwards plated the first run with an RBI-double in the first inning. The very next batter, Cody Rizzo, brought himself and Edwards home with a two-run home run to left field.

Bad turned to worse for the Panthers in the third when Notre Dame extended its lead to 6-0, all before Pitt even recorded a hit. A two-run double by Steve Andres made it 5-0 before Sean Gaston singled up the middle to push home Andres for the final run of the inning.

Pitt didn’t go quietly, though. Ben Copeland led the inning off with a solo home run, his single-season, record-breaking 219 hit of the year, before Sean Conley drove in another run. Breaking an 0-for-10 tournament slump was catcher Jeff Stevens, whose two-run single down the third baseline chopped the lead to 6-4.

“I said to myself, ‘We’re going to do this again,'” Jordano said.

Notre Dame wasted no time in regaining the momentum, however. The Irish gathered four more runs in the top of the fourth to negate the Panther rally. All four runs came off Pitt closer Eli Friedman, who relieved starter Dan Rhoten.

All in all, Pitt’s pitching staff surrendered 14 hits to go along with the 11 earned runs compared to six hits and three earned by the Notre Dame staff. What was more, the game was the final outing for senior hurlers Rhoten, Friedman and Jeff Barnyak, who pitched the final three innings.

Pitt finishes the season with a 33-22 overall mark, including a 15-10 record in the conference, winning two conference tournament games for the first time since winning it all in 1995. Notre Dame advances to the NCAA tournament along with St. John’s, who earned an at-large bid.

“This was a great run. I’m very proud of what we did,” Jordano said. “With the youth we had in the lineup, it was very gratifying.”