Pitt looks for Big East title

For the first time since the conference went to a four-team playoff format, Pitt’s baseball… For the first time since the conference went to a four-team playoff format, Pitt’s baseball team has secured a spot in the Big East Championship.

The Panthers enter the tournament as a No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 St. John’s, whom they finished the season against.

The Big East tournament is a double-elimination tournament, with the winner gaining an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. Should the Panthers qualify, it would be only the second time in school history that the team earned a berth in the national tournament. Back in 1995, Pitt posted a 39-16 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Nick Evangelista is the probable starter in game one, and head coach Joe Jordano knows he can’t hold anything back in the playoffs.

“We want to win game one,” Jordano said. “It’s not like you save your pitchers for game two. We’re going to do everything we can to win that first game, and then just go from there.”

If the Panthers can beat St. John’s in game one on Thursday, they will face the winner of the Notre Dame vs. Boston College match up. If the regular season is any indication, Pitt has a realistic shot at winning the tournament.

Pitt’s record against the three other teams that qualified for the Big East Championship is 5-3, which includes a two-game sweep of top-seeded Notre Dame. Factor in that the Panthers’ team batting average of .320 is tops in the Big East, and it’s plain to see where this team gets its confidence.

“We’re a pretty confident team, and we think we can beat everybody,” first baseman Tom Cashman said. “So we’re going to come out and hopefully win game one, and then win game two, and hopefully make it to the championship game.”

Before thinking about advancing in the tournament, the Panthers will have to take care of business against the Red Storm. After suffering a 17-4 massacre with young pitchers on the mound on Sunday, the Panthers should have all of the motivation they’ll need to go out and play their best baseball.

“I think this game is going to put a little bit of fire under our belt,” Cashman said. “I think we’re going to come out with more intensity in the playoffs, and I think we’ll get the job done.”

Jordano believes that if the Panthers can stay focused and keep doing the little things that they’ve done well all season, the team should come out on top.

“We need to be a little more patient at the plate,” Jordano said. “We need to increase our strikeouts on the mound. But other than that, continue to run the bases, continue to play defense, get solid starting pitching, a little help out of the bull pen, patience at the plate, and those are the areas we’ve done all year.”

The Panthers’ first game is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Bridgewater, N.J. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Radio 970. Bill Hillgrove will call the play-by-play, and Dick Groat will provide the color analysis.