Pitt strikes out of Big East tourney

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The men’s baseball team led the Big East in batting and fielding… BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — The men’s baseball team led the Big East in batting and fielding throughout the regular season, but the statistics were not applicable to the Panthers’ run in the Big East Tournament.

Pitt was swept out of the tournament with a loss to St. John’s in the first round and a loss to Boston College in the second.

The Panthers managed only 13 hits throughout the two games and committed four critical errors that led to four unearned runs.

So why couldn’t the Panthers get it done?

“That’s baseball,” head coach Joe Jordano said. “What it boils down to is this. In tournament situations you’ve got to make big plays, you’ve got to make big pitches, and you’ve got to get big hits. And we did none of the above. We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win a Big East Championship.”

St. John’s pitcher Anthony Varvaro added to the Panthers’ pain by striking out 10 batters in eight innings of work. He was clocked throwing pitches well above 90 miles per hour in the eighth inning.

St. John’s 4, Pitt 2

In the first inning, Pitt shortstop Bryan Spamer attempted a behind-the-back flip to second baseman Jim Negrych on a ground ball, with hopes of completing a double play. Negrych could not control the flip, and all base runners were safe, and so the Panthers’ tournament woes began.

The Panthers escaped the first inning, only allowing one run, but St. John’s would do more damage in the second inning.

With runners on first and third, and two outs, Red Storm second baseman P.J. Antoniato hit a ball down the first baseline that went off the glove of Panther first baseman Tom Cashman. The hit sent one runner home for the 2-0 lead, and sent the other base runner to third to score later on a single by Mike Rozema.

St. John’s would add another run in the fifth inning and ride out the win on the shoulders of starting pitcher Varvaro.

“Varvaro pitched a great game,” Jordano said.

The Panthers had a quality chance to take the lead in the third inning when they had the bases loaded. Varvaro walked two batters, and another reached on an unusual catcher’s interference call. P.J. Hiser, the Big East home run leader, was at the plate, but never saw a pitch he liked, and Varvaro walked in a run.

With the bases still loaded, and one run already in, Negrych stepped to the plate, but a harmless ground ball to second base ended the inning and stranded three base runners.

Negrych and Cashman were the only Panthers to record hits on the day, highlighted by Cashman’s three-for-four performance, which included an RBI-triple.

Nick Evangelista pitched four and one-third innings, allowing four runs on eight hits.

Boston College 8, Pitt 4

Three errors and a five-run second inning made the difference in the elimination game Friday.

“You have a situation where we made a couple mistakes, and Boston College took advantage of it,” Jordano said.

The first run for the Golden Eagles was scored as a result of one of those mistakes. Ryan Morgan singled into center field with Jason Delaney on first base. Center fielder Ben Copeland overthrew third baseman Mike Scanzano, and the ball went into the Panther’s dugout. The error allowed Delaney to score and Morgan to move to third.

Morgan would score on a groundout to give Boston College a 2-0 lead. They would extend their lead three batters later when catcher Marco Albano hit a three-run home run to deep center field.

The Panthers, for the second game in a row, left the bases loaded in the third inning. With one out, Copeland and Spamer reached base on singles. Copeland stole third and ran home on a sacrifice fly by Hiser. Boston College pitcher Kevin Shepard walked Negrych and hit Cashman with a pitch to load the bases. However, Peter Parise popped out to end the inning.

The Panthers would rally again in the seventh inning, but only cut the Boston College lead to 8-4.

As a result of the Panthers’ poor showing at the Big East Tournament, they lost out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the bid went to St. John’s, who will play in the Stanford region against Long Beach State Friday.