After facing several Big East opponents recently, the Pitt baseball team looked to improve on… After facing several Big East opponents recently, the Pitt baseball team looked to improve on its non-conference record this week by taking on two teams in Ohio, but the Panthers came away with a split in the two-game road trip with the Akron Zips and Kent State Golden Flashes. After beating Akron 10-4 on Tuesday, the Panthers took a 14-3 beating from Kent State Wednesday night.

Pitt 10, Akron 4

Pitt designated hitter Joe Burger turned in a 3-for-5 performance as Pitt defeated Akron 10-4. The Panthers didn’t waste any time as they scored four runs in the first inning.

Burger knocked in two runs with his first triple of the season, and the Panthers were up 4-0 going into the bottom of the first, but the Zips came back with a run.

This didn’t deter the Panthers as they came back with two runs in the top of the second inning, which put Pitt ahead 6-1. Bryan Spamer drove in Tom Cashman with a double down the leftfield line, and an Akron error allowed the second run to score.

Akron sliced into Pitt’s lead with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Panthers padded their lead with a three-run seventh inning. Stuart Rykaceski had an RBI double, and Burger and Cashman had RBI singles, which put Pitt on top 10-4 giving them it all of the insurance it would need.

Spamer, Cashman and Ben Copeland all collected two hits. Adam Luckette picked up the win, making him 2-0 on the season. Luckette pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs and four hits before turning the game over to T.J. Gornati in relief.

Kent State 14, Pitt 3

The Panthers probably wish that they could have back the second inning of their game vs. Kent State as the Golden Flashes put together an 11-run second inning in their 14-3 victory over the Panthers.

Pitt’s Mike Rhoten took the loss, giving up eight runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. The 11-run rally took place with two outs, and dropped Rhoten to 2-2 on the season. Todd Shultz came on in relief and gave up five runs in four innings with two of the runs being earned.

Alex Rybaczak got the Panthers on the board with an RBI single, which scored Burger in the top of the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Andre Williams added another RBI single. Copeland and Scott Folmar led the Panthers with two hits apiece.

The Panthers are next in action in a three-game weekend series against Villanova. On Saturday the two teams will get together for a doubleheader, which begins at noon. The teams will finish the series on Sunday with the final game at noon.