Pitt takes two from Eagles

The Pitt baseball team entered last weekend’s three-game series with Boston College looking… The Pitt baseball team entered last weekend’s three-game series with Boston College looking to remain undefeated in the Big East. The Panthers (17-5 overall, 5-1 Big East) used solid pitching and timely hitting to take two out of three from the Eagles and win their second straight conference series.

After a lopsided first game, the last two games of the series finished in classic fashion, with one going into extra innings and the other being won in the Panther’s final at-bat.

Pitt 9, Boston College 4

In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Panther Nick Evangelista out-dueled the Big East Conference’s Pre-Season Pitcher of the Year, Chris Lambert, as the Panthers won their fourth straight Big East contest, 9-4 over the Eagles.

Evangelista picked up his third win of the season by going six and two-thirds innings, striking out six Eagle batters.

The Panthers continued their red-hot hitting, led by freshman second baseman Jim Negrych, who went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, extending his career-high hitting streak to 12 games. Senior catcher Alex Rybczak hit his first home run of the season in the second inning off of Lambert, and finished the game 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI.

Lambert, who is projected as a possible first-round draft pick this summer in the Major League Baseball draft, gave up six hits and six earned runs in only three and one-third innings of work against the Panther bats before being pulled.

“We took care of our at-bats and did a good job of getting [Lambert’s] pitch count up,” Panther head coach Joe Jordano said. “I think it was a very solid effort offensively the whole game. We pitched well, we played good defense, and top to bottom, it was a very solid effort.”

Boston College 4, Pitt 2 (10 innings)

In the second game of the double-header at Trees Field, Boston College left-hander Kevin Shepard cooled the Panther bats off, allowing only two runs on three hits over eight and one-third innings of work as the Eagles earned the split with the Panthers, 4-2, in 10 innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, with one out and the Panther’s trailing 2-1, Bryan Spamer singled home P.J. Hiser to tie the game at two. However, Mike Scanzano grounded into a one-two-three double play to end the threat and force extra innings.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Eagles plated two runs off Panther reliever T.J. Gornati to secure the victory.

The Panther offensive attack was led by sophomore center fielder Ben Copeland, who had two singles in the game, while Spamer added a triple.

“Overall, it was a good, solid day of baseball. The second game could have gone either way,” said Jordano.

Pitt 7, Boston College 6

The two teams braved freezing-cold weather in the rubber game of the series on Sunday afternoon, but the Panthers were able to leave Trees Field with a warm feeling after beating the Eagles, 7-6, to take the series, two games to one.

Scanzano singled home pinch-runner Copeland with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Panthers the victory after the Eagles had tied the game at six in the top half of the ninth.

Hiser worked seven and one-third innings, giving up seven hits and five runs before giving way to the Panther bullpen. Junior Eli Friedman picked up his second victory of the season in relief.

Leading the offensive attack for the Panthers was Hiser, who had three hits, including a solo home run and a double. Freshman Peter Parise also had three hits for the Panthers.

In the bottom of the ninth, with the game tied at six, Tom Cashman led off with a single and was replaced on the base paths by Copeland. After Copeland stole second and Hiser struck out, Bryan Spamer singled, moving Copeland to third base and setting up Scanzano’s heroics.

“I am very pleased, because that is a good baseball team,” said Jordano. “Our objective is to go out and win series, and we have won our first two. I am very happy with the effort that we gave today.”

The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to take on cross-town rival Duquesne. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.