Pitt baseball’s road to the Big East championship

After completing a turnaround that took them from 1-6 in the Big East to fourth place, the… After completing a turnaround that took them from 1-6 in the Big East to fourth place, the Panthers headed to Bridgewater, N.J., for the conference tournament May 26-28. They ended up in the championship game before falling to Notre Dame, along the way beating top-ranked St. John’s and winning an extra-inning thriller over Boston College.

Pitt 4, St. John’s 1

St. John’s won 30 of its last 35 games in the regular season en route to the tournament’s top seed. The Red Storm owed much of its success to the pitching staff, anchored by closer Craig Hansen, the Big East Pitcher of the Year.

The Panthers turned the tables on St. John’s, however, using stifling pitching of their own to score the upset in the tournament’s first game. Freshman Robert Brant got the win, striking out seven in his seven innings.

The Panthers got on the board early when Jimmy Mayer singled, stole second and advanced to third on an error to set up Jim Negrych’s sacrifice fly. This played right into Pitt head coach Joe Jordano’s strategy.

“Our goal in that game was to get a couple of runs early and neutralize Hansen coming out of the bullpen,” he said

Pitt broke the game open in the seventh when Peter Parise led off with a single and moved to second on Jeff Stevens’ walk. After Edgard Sucre bunted Parise and Stevens over, St. John’s pitcher Jim Wladyka walked Conley to load the bases. After grounding into a fielder’s choice to score Parise, David Cline stole second. Dan Williams then hit a bloop single to right to drive in Stevens and Cline.

The Panthers held a 4-0 lead until the bottom of the eighth, when St. John’s plated its only run. P.J. Antoniato led off with a bunt single and scored when Greg Thomson followed with a double.

Notre Dame 4, Pitt 2

Billy Muldowney threw a complete game for the Panthers — his seventh of the season — but bad defense hurt Pitt in the second-round contest.

Notre Dame got on the board first, scoring in the bottom of the second. Stevens overthrew third base when he tried to catch Matt Edwards stealing, allowing Edwards to score. Steve Andres gave the Irish breathing room in the fourth, smacking a two-run homer off of the right-field foul pole.

Pitt did rally with two outs in the top of the seventh, getting two runs back when Mayer drove in Williams with a single. Copeland later scored when Edwards misplayed a Negrych grounder.

The Panthers didn’t get any closer, though, as Notre Dame added an unearned insurance run in the bottom half of the inning. The miscues weren’t lost on Jordano.

“We had a couple of errors that hurt us,” he said of the defensive lapses.

Jeff Samardzija went 6 and two-thirds innings for the Irish to pick up the win.

Pitt 3, Boston College 2 (12 innings)

Pitt had little time to rest, as play resumed later that night. The Panthers drew Boston College, who had eliminated St. John’s earlier in the day. Both teams knew what was at stake: a date with Notre Dame in the championship for the winner, and a long ride home for the loser.

The game turned into a pitchers’ duel, as each team managed just a single run through 11 innings. Nate Jeanes threw six and two-thirds innings, giving up only Negrych’s solo blast. Kevin Boggan came on in the seventh and went the rest of the way. Pitt countered with Andrew Kuss, who threw eight innings before giving way to Paul Nardozzi for the last four.

Both teams scored in the fourth, the Eagles when Ryan Flynn singled home Big East Player of the Year Jared McGuire, the Panthers when Negrych answered with a solo home run in the bottom frame.

Both offenses were silent until the top of the 12th, when Negrych misplayed a grounder at second, allowing Drew Locke to score. The Panthers got out of the inning after that one run. Jordano knew his team was in a tight spot, but only one thing went through his mind.

“All I thought was, ‘I hope [Negrych] gets an opportunity to redeem himself,'” he said. At first it looked like he wouldn’t, as Williams flew out and Copeland grounded out. But then Jimmy Mayer’s grounder found a hole, bringing up Negrych.

The second baseman, who has come through in the clutch for the Panthers all year, didn’t disappoint this night. He hit a 2-2 pitch from Boggan over the center field wall, hitting a walk-off home run and sending the Panthers to the championship.