Pitt picks up two wins at New Orleans

Pitt’s baseball team used two dominant pitching performances to take the first two games of… Pitt’s baseball team used two dominant pitching performances to take the first two games of its series against New Orleans last weekend. With a sweep in mind, Pitt took a 3-3 tie to the bottom of the seventh inning, only to give up its chance of a win.

“We had a chance to sweep,” said head coach Joe Jordano. “Again, in consideration, New Orleans beat Tulane, who is ranked No. 9, and Alabama the previous weekend. To take two out of three coming right out of the gym is a good way to get started.”

Pitt 3, New Orleans 2

In a 2-2 game, Pitt freshman second baseman Jim Negrych hit a game-winning solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Privateers.

First baseman Tom Cashman put up Pitt’s first runs when he ripped a double down the right field line, scoring Peter Parise and Bryan Spamer. The Panthers held the Privateers scoreless in the bottom of the inning to head into the fourth with a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, New Orleans responded with two runs to tie the score, when third baseman Jay Yaconetti hit a solo home run and Kody Valverde delivered an RBI single.

The game remained tied until Negrych blasted his first career home run and RBI to break the tie in the seventh inning.

P.J. Hiser started on the mound for Pitt and went five strong innings, allowing only two runs, while striking out six. It was Hiser’s first start after sitting out all of last year due to an injury.

“He was very fired up to pitch. Obviously, by the numbers, he did a fantastic job,” said Jordano.

T.J. Gornati earned his first victory for Pitt by tossing four relief innings of one-hit baseball and striking out a game-high seven Privateers.

“T.J. was outstanding,” said Jordano. “He had command and excellent velocity.”

Pitt’s offense totaled nine hits in the game to hand the loss to New Orleans’ pre-season All-American pitcher Thomas Diamond. Also included in the hits were the first career hits for freshmen Parise and Tony Marciante.

“Negrych, Parise and Marciante are all freshmen and did a great job,” said Jordano. “They will be in the lineup every day and will have to get used to it quickly.”

Pitt 9, New Orleans 3

In the second game of the series, Pitt rode the arm of senior pitcher Nick Evangelista and the bat of Hiser to a 9-3 victory over the Privateers.

Evangelista threw seven shutout innings, allowing only three hits and striking out six. At one point, he retired a string of 15 Privateer batters in a row. Hiser hit two home runs as the designated hitter and had a game-high three hits and three RBIs.

“Nick did a great job. He was dominant with his fastball and threw his change-up, slider and breaking pitch all for strikes,” said Jordano. “When you don’t walk people and you’re making plays behind him, good things are going to happen.”

Pitt’s offense jumped on New Orleans’ starting pitcher Michael Jones early, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning to take a quick 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Hiser hit his first of two home runs down the left-field line to give Pitt the 4-0 lead. The four runs would turn out to be enough, as Evangelista was in complete control of New Orleans’ lineup.

Cashman added two hits in the game and was on base when Hiser launched his second home run. Cashman recorded three hits and two doubles between the first two games of the series.

“[Cashman] is a very solid player and will always be in the middle of our lineup. We expect him to drive in a lot of runs,” said Jordano. “He was also selected by Baseball America as the best defensive first baseman in the Big East.”

New Orleans 10, Pitt 3

Pitt failed to complete the sweep of New Orleans when it broke down in the seventh inning to lose the game by a final score of 10-3.

Parise delivered a home run for Pitt in the first inning to give the Panthers the early lead, but it was not enough; they fell behind heading into the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, Pitt catcher Mike Zambriczki drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. However, in the bottom of the seventh, New Orleans’ offense produced six runs to bust the tight game wide open.

“It was 3-3 going into the seventh, and we had some control problems and walked a couple of batters,” Jordano said. “A couple of hits, a hit batsman, a passed ball and a throwing error, cost us six runs.”

With the series win, Pitt improves their record to 2-1 in the early season, while New Orleans drops to 4-5. Pitt will travel again this weekend to take on the Duke Blue Devils.

“Quite frankly, being an ACC school, [Duke] is always going to be good regardless of where they finish. I’m looking for a great challenge,” said Jordano. “Our approach is to do what we can do. We’re going to play hard baseball and see what happens in the three games.”