Baseball stays in playoff hunt

Having only one win seven games into the Big East schedule this season, Pitt’s baseball team… Having only one win seven games into the Big East schedule this season, Pitt’s baseball team found itself way out of reach for a spot in the postseason.

A lot can change over the course of a full season, though, and Head Coach Joe Jordano’s Panthers (27-19 overall, 12-10 Big East) have taken a turn for the better.

Pitt’s doubleheader sweep against Notre Dame (29-21-1, 11-9-1) on Sunday to win its fifth straight Big East series keeps the Panthers locked in the fourth and final position of the Big East tournament, despite losing the final game of the series 21-1 on Monday.

“For us to come in and sweep the doubleheader, with the reputation they have and the respect I have for their program, it was pretty special,” Jordano said after the doubleheader. “Now this is the fifth series we’ve won in a row. That’s amazing.”

Pitt 4, Notre Dame 1

The two teams held each other scoreless until the third inning when the Panthers put three runs on the board, which would prove to be all they would need.

Junior Ben Copeland reached base on an error. Jimmy Mayer followed and drew a walk, putting two men on base. Second baseman Jim Negrych then lined an offering from Notre Dame pitcher Dan Kapala over the left field wall for a 3-0 Panther lead.

Pitt added their final run in the next inning as catcher Jeff Stevens led off the inning with a solo homer to center field — his sixth of the season.

“If you look at the hitting, we got productivity out of our seven through nine hitters of the lineup, too,” Jordano said. “When that happens, that makes for some pretty successful days.”

Billy Muldowney notched the win for Pitt on the mound, improving his record to 6-2. He pitched a complete game, allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out five Irish batters.

Pitt 8, Notre Dame 5

Pitt swept the doubleheader with an 8-5 win in the second game, using the long ball to its advantage as Copeland and Negrych each provided a home run off their respective bats.

The Panthers scored early with three runs in the first inning as Copeland and Mayer led off with back-to-back doubles. Negrych then knocked in Mayer with his second homer of the day.

Copeland’s blast came in the very next inning and scored Edgard Sucre and Dan Williams for a 6-1 Panther lead.

Freshman Robert Brant picked up the win on the mound, while Eli Friedman recorded his second save. The two combined to hold the Irish to five runs on seven hits. Brant struck out seven batters in his six innings of work.

“The thing that I was most impressed with was that we got some big pitches when we needed them,” Jordano said. “They did a fantastic job on the mound.”

Notre Dame 21, Pitt 1

Notre Dame, however, avoided the sweep of the series by bouncing back on the offensive and laying into three different Panther pitchers in the final game.

Pitt starter Shaun Butler suffered the loss by giving up five runs in two innings, while Jeff Barnyak gave up 11 runs in three innings. Adam Luckette pitched the final two innings, giving up five runs of his own.

Craig Cooper led the Irish, going 3-for-5, including two home runs for five RBI. Cody Rizzo and Ross Brezovsky each added a long ball of their own in the rout.

Irish starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija, who doubles as a wide receiver on the Notre Dame football team, improved his record to 6-1 on the mound this season. Samardzija pitched six innings, allowing only one run on three hits.

The Panthers will resume Big East play Thursday when they travel to Georgetown to take on the Hoyas in their final Big East series. Thursday’s doubleheader is slated to begin at 5 p.m. with a 1 p.m. start time scheduled for Friday’s game three.

“It’s just fun to be in the hunt,” Jordano said. “We’re hanging tough and we’re doing it with all these young guys, and that makes it really exciting.”

“This is it. This is our season,” he said.