Softball: Frigid weather causes 11th cancellation

The very last line on the box scores from Pitt’s softball games doesn’t seem imposing.

It’s at the bottom of a section of details that don’t really say anything about what happened in the game. The names of the umpires, the time the first pitch was thrown, the duration of the game and the attendance are there, if you’re interested. But there is even something below all those minutiae: “Weather.”

Maybe you never noticed it there — or maybe you just never cared. For nearly a week, though, the weather has been the proverbial bottom line for the Panthers. There have been no box scores since March 15 because there haven’t been any games. There haven’t been games because the weather has not felt warm enough for the eighth consecutive scheduled contest and 11th overall.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has a rule that prevents teams from playing unless temperatures “feel warmer than 32 degrees according to Weather.com,” Pitt’s team website says.

So instead of patrolling the outfield grass or toeing the batter’s box in a meaningful game on Tuesday, junior outfielder Carly Thea was stuck indoors at the Cost Center with the rest of her teammates, working on fielding balls that roll to the outfield and other aspects of defense.

“We worked on our defense because we weren’t able to go outside,” Thea said. “Unfortunately, our games were cancelled, but this seems to be the case where weather predicts to be not in our favor, then turns out to be just OK.”

Tuesday’s scheduled doubleheader against Ohio State was canceled because of temperatures that read in the mid 30s with a chance of snow, but the sun was shining. This most recent decision stretches the number of series that have been called off to four. Three of those series were slated as home games at Vartabedian Field.

This past weekend, the Panthers traveled to Notre Dame for a three-game set — only to have the series canceled. Thea said such letdowns have slightly bothered the team.

“Sometimes we’re there, we’re game-ready and it’s maybe not that cold out, the sun’s out, but we can’t play because of the rules,” she said, adding that rules state the team would forfeit if it wasn’t game-ready and weather permitted competition.

Thea said that the team remained outside the fields for about four hours waiting for the temperatures to rise, but they never did. So instead of trying to snap a six-game losing streak, the Panthers were stuck inside their hotel doing homework. By Sunday, they showed up at the field still in warmups with their bags packed because they knew what was in store.

But while the Panthers are mired in a losing streak that has the team at the bottom of the ACC standings, Thea has been on fire all year. Her .368 batting average ranks ninth in the conference and she’s added three home runs, 11 RBIs and a .596 slugging percentage.

It seems as though the weather has been the only thing that can halt her production.

“It’s been truly something I’m not used to, but I try not to think about it too much and keep focused on the few pitches that I’ve seen and review my video,” Thea said. “I just keep thinking what has been going good for me and what has been going good for all of us.”

The issue, though, is that not much has even been happening for Pitt, and it might cost the team a chance at the postseason. The teams that finish in the top eight in terms of win percentage in the conference advance to the playoffs. Pitt has 28 ACC games scheduled this year, but four of the first nine have already been wiped out.

With no foreseeable time to make up the cancellations before the ACC Tournament, which begins May 8 in College Park, Md., the Panthers have to quickly climb out of their 0-5 start to conference play.

This weekend presents reasonable hope to do just that when 10th-place Virginia visits. But although the Panthers are excited to get on the field after what might be a two-week hiatus, Thea said they’re not overlooking their opponent.

“We’re ready to play, we’re ready to get a win,” she said. “I definitely think this weekend’s going to be our weekend. We’re going to come in, we’re going to come in hard and show Virginia that they’re playing Pittsburgh.”

Of course, “playing Pittsburgh” might entail that, well, the game might not actually be played. The forecast is set for the mid-50s — but with a 50 percent chance of rain Friday and 70 percent chance Saturday.

On the off chance that any part of the Virginia series is called off, Pitt expects to get a game in before then with a recently scheduled contest on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Youngstown State.

Maybe the teams organized it just to simply play a meaningful game or face live pitching in fair weather — forecasts have Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio, at 51 degrees, cloudy and windy. Or maybe, if that prediction doesn’t hold up, they’ll play anyway.

How does Pitt’s opponent seem prepared for a chance of cold weather?

Youngstown State’s logo is a penguin bundled in a scarf and snowcap.