Pitt manages only one extra-base hit on first day

It’s been said throughout the history of baseball that good pitching beats good hitting most… It’s been said throughout the history of baseball that good pitching beats good hitting most of the time.

Unfortunately for the Pitt baseball team, the old adage held true over the weekend when the Panthers met up with Anthony Varvaro and Craig Hansen of the St. John’s Red Storm.

The Red Storm (13-9 overall, 4-1 Big East) hurlers combined to shut out the Panthers 2-0 in the first game of the series — highlighted by a 17-strikeout performance by Varvaro — while Hansen came on in relief in game two to pitch four scoreless innings as St. John’s took the contest 3-2.

“He was throwing his fastball around 94 and 95 miles per hour all game long,” Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said. “He, quite frankly, overpowered us.”

The Panthers (13-11 overall, 1-6 Big East), who had scored 24 runs in their last two games, connected for just seven hits in the two games, only one of which was an extra-base hit, a Jim Negrych double in the second game.

St. John’s 2, Pitt 0

Varvaro began game one by recording five strikeouts in the first two innings and went on to finish off the Panthers in a dominating fashion. He went eight innings in the game, recording 17 strikeouts without walking a batter and allowing just four hits in his shutout.

Hansen relieved Varvaro in the ninth inning to notch his fourth save of the season. He entered the game with one runner on base and forced Dan Ford to ground into a double play before striking out Negrych to end the game.

St. John’s used two hits to score one run in the bottom of the first inning when Jim Martin doubled and eventually scored on a P.J. Antoniato single that found its way to center field.

The Red Storm scored an unearned insurance run in the seventh for the 2-0 final score when Pitt shortstop Dan Williams committed an error.

Pitt starter Billy Muldowney suffered the loss for the Panthers, dropping his record to 1-2 on the season despite eight strong innings on the mound. Muldowney allowed six hits and two runs while striking out four and walking one on the day.

St. John’s 3, Pitt 2

Looking to turn things around in game two against the Red Storm, Pitt suffered through offensive struggles again when Hansen entered the game in the fourth inning.

Hansen took over for Rob Delaney in the fourth and finished off the game with four scoreless innings for the Red Storm’s one-run victory. He surrendered just one Panther hit and allowed two walks while striking out seven in the win.

“Hansen is probably going to be a first-round draft pick,” Jordano said. “He’s a tough pitcher and he got the best of us.”

St. John’s jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the third inning thanks to two unearned runs given up by the Panther defense.

Antoniato reached base on a Michael Megale error at third base and scored on Greg Thomson’s double in the next at-bat. Joe Burke then knocked in Thomson with a RBI double of his own for the two-run lead.

Sean Conley tied the game for Pitt in the top of the fourth inning with a two-run single down the left field line that plated Ford and Negrych, who reached base earlier in the inning on a walk and double, respectively.

St. John’s, however, regained the lead for good in the sixth inning when Blake Hershelman singled home Chris Joachim. Joachim drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch to put himself in scoring position before the single.

Don Rhoten’s record fell to 3-2 for the Panthers, taking the loss after pitching 5.1 innings, striking out six batters and walking three along the way.

“There’s nothing I can say to make anyone feel better,” Jordano said. “We have to keep working and pay more attention to detail, because our margin of error is extremely fine.”