The Pitt baseball team entered its three-game series against St. John’s this past weekend with… The Pitt baseball team entered its three-game series against St. John’s this past weekend with just one goal in mind — clinch a spot in the Big East Championships.

To accomplish their goal, the Panthers had to defeat the Red Storm at least once over the weekend. And the team didn’t waste any time getting that first win out of the way.

The Panthers did go on to lose the final two games of the series, but after securing a spot in the playoffs, head coach Joe Jordano decided that it was in the team’s best interest to rest a few pitchers for the playoffs.

“We knew we had to win one game,” Jordano said. “And we didn’t back into this tournament. We won the game that we needed to win, which gave us the opportunity to play. That completely changed our pitching rotation over the weekend. We did not throw P.J. Hiser; we only had Andrew Kuss in there for three innings.”

Pitt 6, St. John’s 4

After two scoreless innings, Pitt took a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to some timely hitting. Sophomore center fielder Ben Copeland got things started for the Panthers when he walked and stole both second and third base. Copeland tied the school record for stolen bases this season, with 36. Bryan Spamer also walked, which left the Panthers with runners on first and third with just one out. P.J. Hiser then stepped to the plate and picked up his 63rd RBI of the season when he hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Copeland to score from third. After that, Tom Cashman launched his 11th home run of the season, which put the Panthers up by three.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Red Storm’s Anthony DeRosa hit his fourth home run of the season. Following the home run, second baseman Jim Negrych committed an error that allowed two more runs to score, which quickly turned Pitt’s three-run lead into a one-run deficit.

But the Panthers showed spectators why they are considered the best-hitting team in the Big East when they responded by hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs in their half of the fifth inning. First it was Copeland, who took full advantage of the short fence in left field by hitting a home run that just barely eked its way out of the ballpark. Spamer was next, as he hit a ball that looked almost identical to Copeland’s. The trio of long balls was complete when Hiser hit a towering shot that cleared the deepest part of the center field fence.

Pitt never looked back after taking the lead, and went on to win the game by the score of 6-4.

The win went to Nick Evangelista (8-2), who pitched five innings, giving up eight hits and two earned runs. T.J. Gornati picked up his second save of the season.

St. John’s 6, Pitt 5

In the nightcap, the Panthers allowed the Red Storm to score five runs in the third inning, which proved to be too big of a deficit to overcome.

However, Pitt did make things interesting in the last two innings, scoring four runs and getting in an on-the-field skirmish in the process.

Cashman hit his 12th home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, which made the score 6-2.

In the bottom of the ninth, Spamer picked up two RBIs on a double. And after Hiser hit an RBI single that made the score 6-5, the Panthers looked poised for the comeback.

But St. John’s reliever Craig Hansen was able to deal with a rowdy Pitt dugout and the pressure of having the tying run in scoring position, and struck out Negrych, giving the Red Storm a 6-5 victory.

Hansen let the Panthers know just how happy he was to get out of the jam by shouting a few choice words at Pitt’s dugout. Both benches cleared, but umpires kept the situation under control. However, disputes between St. John’s and Pitt are nothing new.

“There’s always been bad blood between these two teams,” Cashman said.

St. John’s 17, Pitt 4

Having already secured a spot at the Big East Championships, Jordano decided to give a few inexperienced pitchers a look in the final game of the season on Sunday.

Adam Luckette started on the mound for Pitt, but was pulled after being roughed up for six hits and five runs in just two innings.

Luckette was not the only Panther who struggled on the mound. By the time the game had ended, Pitt had given up 17 runs, which is more than the team had given up in a game all season.

“They’re a great hitting team,” Jordano said. “Some of our younger pitchers made some mistakes. They put up a nine spot in the sixth inning, and that was just tough to come back from.”

Spamer and Cashman each hit home runs in the first inning of the game, but the Red Storm’s hitters overmatched Pitt’s youthful pitchers.

One of the brightest spots of the weekend for Pitt was Cashman, who hit three home runs in the series.

“I think I was a little bit more focused at the plate,” Cashman said. “I got some good pitches to drive, and I just went with them.”

Pitt’s first game is Thursday at 7 p.m. The Panthers are the No. 3 seed and will play No. 2 seed St. John’s at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J.