Rutgers keeps Pitt batters in dugout

Two strong performances from starting pitchers led the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-8 overall,… Two strong performances from starting pitchers led the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-8 overall, 3-1 Big East) to a doubleheader sweep of the Pitt Panthers (11-8, 1-3) Saturday afternoon at Trees Field. O.J. DeChristofano and Steve Holt kept the Panthers’ bats in check as the Knights offense used timely hitting for a come-from-behind win in game one and a solid all-around victory in game two.

“I am very pleased. It is hard to win both games of a doubleheader,” Rutgers head coach Fred Hill said after the sweep. “It is a very difficult thing to do.”

Rutgers 5, Pitt 3

The Scarlet Knights opened the double dip by coming back from a two-run deficit with three runs in the sixth and an insurance marker in the seventh. After allowing three runs through four innings, DeChristofano settled down and kept the Panthers off the board for the final three frames, earning the complete game victory.

DeChristofano, a junior who improved his record to 3-1 on the season, got stronger as the game went on, retiring 10 of the last 11 batters he faced. He allowed just seven hits, walking one and striking out six.

The Panthers opened in the scoring in the home half of the first when Peter Parise walked and advanced to third on Jim Negrych’s double off the left field fence. First baseman Dan Ford hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Parise and give the Panthers the lead.

The Scarlet Knights tried to answer in the third, but Rich Canuso was thrown out at the plate by Parise, preserving the shutout for Panther starter Andrew Kuss.

After adding a single run in the third, the Panthers executed some small ball for another run in the fourth. After Billy Muldowney singled, David Cline pinch ran for him and quickly stole second base. Dan Williams followed that up with a single up the middle, giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

The wheels came off for the Panthers in the sixth inning, as the Knights sent seven batters to the plate and scored three runs. Panther reliever Shaun Butler (1-2) walked Jason Grover to start the inning, and after inducing Todd Frazier into a strikeout, Jeff Grose singled down the line, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.

Designated hitter Colin Gaynor followed by lacing a double into the left-center gap to tie the game before scoring the eventual winning run on a Canuso single.

Negrych finished with two doubles and a RBI while Ben Copeland, Cline and Sean Conley each added hits for the Panthers. Kuss left the game in the fifth inning with the lead allowing just five hits, walking four and striking out two, but finished with a no-decision.

“We are so young in some spots that we can’t make mistakes and there is little room for mistakes,” Panther head coach Joe Jordano said. “We’re making those mistakes, and that’s catching up with us.”

Rutgers 7, Pitt 1

After blowing the lead in the first game, the air seemed to come out of the Panthers as they didn’t manage a hit or run until the seventh inning and committed three sloppy errors in their third straight loss.

“I don’t think [losing the first game] had really much to do with the second game, but it hurt,” Jordano said.

Sophomore Steve Holt (2-0), making just his second career start, had something special going as he carried a no-hitter and shutout into the seventh inning, but Muldowney ended both bids in one swing as he crushed a solo home run over the left field fence, cutting the Knights’ lead to three.

Holt, who retired the Panthers in order in the third, fifth and sixth innings, left with the lead after seven and one-third innings, allowing two hits, one run and four walks. He also struck out five batters. The Panthers hit the ball hard all game but couldn’t get many to fall.

“He didn’t establish his breaking pitch for a strike, and we hit the ball hard several times,” Jordano said of Holt. “When we are struggling at the plate, then people start pressing, and I think that is what we are doing right now.”

Rutgers scored a lone run in the first, and the scored remained 1-0 until the sixth when the Knights broke it open. Panther starter Don Rhoten walked Dave Williams and then allowed a single to Jon Gossard, pushing Williams to third. The Knights followed with a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by Grover before Frazier hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot to deep left field, putting the Panthers away.

“There is a very fine line with our ball club between being average, pretty good, below average, and we were obviously on that edge today,” Jordano said following the sweep.

The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday against Niagara at Trees Field with Chad Baker expected to start on the mound. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.