Baseball has stellar showing with 8-1 record over break

Like many spring break-goers, the Pitt baseball team headed south to escape the cold of the… Like many spring break-goers, the Pitt baseball team headed south to escape the cold of the Steel City.

The trip proved successful as the Panthers amassed eight wins to just one loss, lifting their season record to 10-4.

While in the warm weather in Homestead, Fla., the Panthers’ offense dominated their nine opponents, outscoring them by a total of 89-29.

Pitt 8, Purdue 7

The Panthers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead through four innings. However, the Boilermakers responded with seven runs of their own, which included four in the top of the ninth inning.

Panther pitcher T.J. Gornati came in to end the Purdue scoring threat in the top of the ninth as he recorded the final out of the inning.

Pitt responded in the bottom half of the inning with Bryan Spamer earning a leadoff walk. Following Spamer’s walk, Pitt first basemen Tom Cashman doubled to center field, moving Spamer to third base.

With Panthers on second and third, Purdue made a pitching change only to have Mike Scanzano rip the game winning single back through the box to give Pitt the 8-7 victory.

Cashman and Scanzano led the Panthers with three hits apiece, while Spamer and Copeland each notched three RBIs. Gornati’s one batter effort earned him his first win of the season.

Pitt 6, Sacred Heart 0

Pitt starting pitcher Nick Evangelista shut down the Pioneers as he tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout.

The victory gave Evangelista his team-leading third of the season and the first shutout of his career. Evangelista struck out 10 batters, a career high, while not issuing a walk for his nine innings of work.

Pitt got all the offense it needed in the first inning as Stuart Rykaceski and Cashman each netted RBIs. In the ninth inning, the Panthers padded their lead as they added four more runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Rykaceski finished the day with three RBIs and three hits. Scott Folmar and Ben Copeland had key hits for the Panthers as the pair had five hits and two RBIs.

This game marked the second consecutive game that Pitt’s offense belted 14 hits, while their defense committed no miscues against the Pioneers.

Pitt 16, Mount St. Mary’s 1

The Panthers’ offense continued to shine as they sprinted out to a 10-0 lead after three innings. The 10-run lead featured five runs in the first inning as Chris Papst, Spamer, Cashman and Alex Rybczak had RBIs.

Cashman finished the game with five RBIs, while Rykaceski belted four hits and scored four runs.

The only Mount St. Mary’s run came in the fourth inning when Pitt starting pitcher Don Rhoten tossed a wild pitch.

Rhoten went the distance for the Panthers as he gave up only six hits while notching nine strikeouts and one walk.

Pitt’s offense blasted a season-high seven extra-base hits, and for the second straight game, did not commit an error.

Pitt 8, Detroit 0

For the third consecutive game Pitt got solid starting pitching, as Todd Schultz went all nine innings to earn his first career victory.

Schultz allowed six hits, no runs and earned four strikeouts over nine innings.

Once again the Panthers got all the offense they would need in the first inning when Scanzano hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Rykaceski.

Pitt added to its lead in the fourth as Michael Bell had an RBI double and would later score on a Detroit error.

Then in the top of the ninth, Pitt blew the game open with four runs as Papst added two RBIs to his total with a single.

Pitt 6, Sacred Heart 3

The Panthers fell behind early in the game as Sacred Heart plated two runs against Pitt starter Gornati.

Pitt answered back, however, in the fourth with three runs to grab the lead, 3-2. The three-run inning was highlighted with Copeland’s leadoff triple, while Spamer and Rykaceski scored on a Sacred Heart error.

Sacred Heart tied the game at three apiece in the top of the fifth inning, but the tie would be short lived as Pitt responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning.

Mike Rhoten got the win as he came on to relieve Gornati. Rhoten tossed five scoreless innings, while scattering five hits and striking out five batters.

Spamer finished the game with three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Copeland added two hits and two runs.

Pitt 8, Mount St. Mary’s 6

The second game with Mount St. Mary’s was much more competitive as the Panthers had to come from behind twice to gain the victory.

Pitt got on the board first with a run in the first off a Cashman single and then plated another run in the second as Copeland forced another run in when he walked with the bases loaded.

Mount St. Mary’s plated three runs to take the lead in the third inning. However, Pitt responded in the fifth when Cashman blasted a two-run home run giving Pitt a narrow 4-3 lead.

Then in the seventh, Mount St. Mary’s added three more runs to take the 6-4 lead. But in the bottom of the same inning, Pitt responded with three runs of their own as Rykaceski added an RBI single and Scanzano belted a two-run triple.

Jimmy Blue earned the win for the Panthers as he worked 2 1/3 innings of relief.

In their next game, Pitt earned a 15-0 victory over Detroit-Mercy University.

Florida International 10, Pitt 2

Despite taking the early 2-0 lead, the Panthers’ offense was silenced by Golden Panther starting pitcher Josh Banks.

Banks went eight innings, striking out five Panthers while surrendering two walks.

The big story in the game was Pitt’s defensive breakdown as it committed a season-high six errors. The Golden Panthers used this to their advantage as they took the lead in the fourth inning, 3-2.

Florida International batters teed off on Pitt starting pitcher Evangelista as he surrendered five runs on nine hits while allowing only one walk. Evangelista did strike out four, but the timely hitting of FIU coupled with the errors was too much.

In Pitt’s final game of the road trip, they took out their aggression out on Chicago State University. The Panthers pounded CSU 20-2.

Pitt returns home this weekend as it hosts Niagara University with a three-game series scheduled at Trees Field beginning Saturday at noon.