Negrych powers past Kent St.

The sun that has shined over Pittsburgh the last two days hasn’t just brought out shorts and… The sun that has shined over Pittsburgh the last two days hasn’t just brought out shorts and tank tops; it’s brought out the baseball team’s bats as well.

After struggling for runs while being swept by Rutgers last weekend, the Panthers have scored 12 runs in back-to-back games, concluding with yesterday’s 12-2 win over visiting Kent State.

“We love the good weather,” head coach Joe Jordano said following his team’s win. “This is exciting, that is the best day we have had since Florida. We are really fired up about it, it was a great day to play and we did a great job.”

Pre-season Big East Player of the Year Jim Negrych homered twice to finish three-for-four, with three runs scored and five RBI’s. Left fielder Sean Conley had three hits for the Panthers, including a double that drove in the first two Panther runs, while catcher Jeff Stevens belted a three-run home run and also finished with two hits.

Robert Brant made it two straight wins for freshman pitchers, following Chad Bakers’ Tuesday performance with seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing just one earned run, walking four and striking out seven. Brant was pulled after seven in his first career start because he hit a predetermined 100-pitch count.

“He has a good, live fastball, a good breaking pitch, he’s not afraid to go inside,” Jordano said of Brant, the Mansfield, Pa., native. “He pitched ahead all day, and that was the difference today.”

After Brant put the Golden Flashes down scoreless in the first, the Panther offense went to work. First baseman Dan Ford walked with two outs before a pitch from Kent State starter John Pacella hit Negrych. Designated hitter Billy Muldowney reached base on the second walk of the inning before Conley ripped a double down the right field line to score two. With runners on second and third, Stevens stepped to the plate and crushed a home run over the center field fence to make the score 5-0.

In the second, the Panthers kept the runs coming. Ben Copeland singled and stole second before Pacella hit Ford with a pitch. Negrych made Pacella pay for it by sending his curveball over the fence for a three-run bomb.

“I feel real good at the plate. They moved me down in the lineup, and everything has been working out since then,” Negrych said.

Against Niagara on Tuesday, Negrych drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to go along with his third home run of the season. His two home runs yesterday gave him five on the season in the stat sheet, but more importantly, more confidence at the plate.

“We all have been making adjustments all year,” he said. “A lot of it is confidence. We are young as a team, and everyone knows that. The more runs we put up, the more confidence we can get and hopefully we can carry that over to this weekend.”

Brant got stronger as the game went on, striking out five batters over his last four innings. He faced just four batters in the first and fifth and he set the Golden Flashes down in order in the third, fourth and seventh.

Eli Friedman worked a scoreless eighth inning, and Shaun Butler allowed a triple and a run in the ninth.

The Panthers take off for New York to take on St. John’s in their first road Big East series this weekend. Two games are scheduled for Saturday and one for Sunday.

GAME NOTES:

Shortstop Jimmy Mayer made his first appearance since getting injured against Seton Hall last week. He grounded out to second in his only at-bat, but fielded all three of his attempts in the field flawlessly. Copeland, who sat out against Niagara because of dehydration, returned with a single and his Big East-leading 19th and 20th stolen bases of the year. Kent State pitchers hit three Panther batters in the game. Jordano said after the game he will most likely not decide until Friday what three starting pitchers he will use this weekend.