Weekend Recap: Few highlights in loss-laden slate for Pitt

Alongside a loss for the men’s basketball team at North Carolina on Saturday, it was nearly a down weekend across the board for Pitt athletics. The wrestling team’s hot streak ended with a pair of losses, the softball team endured a tough five-game stretch in Florida and the gymnastics team missed a first-place finish by a narrow margin.

The lone bright spot from the weekend, though, came in the form of a sweep on the tennis court by the Pitt women’s team.

Women’s Gymnastics

For the third meet in a row, Pitt’s gymnastics team settled for a second-place finish, as they were edged out 194.450-194.125 by West Virginia in Morgantown, W.Va., moving the Panthers to 5-3 on the year.

Sophomore Lindsay Offutt had an excellent night, leading Pitt by winning the floor exercise with a score of 9.8. Despite the loss, head coach Debbie Yohman was proud of her team’s effort.

“It was such a close meet,” Yohman said. “It was very hard work for the kids, but they responded really well, and once again, we found ourselves in a tight situation. Every score was tight for both teams. The kids just kept working. We lost by 0.03, and I don’t think we’ve been that close to WVU in a long time. This is a group of kids that is learning how to compete.”

Softball

It was an unsuccessful week for Pitt’s softball team, which finished 2-3 on the weekend, moving to 5-5 on the year. On Friday, the Panthers finished scoreless against their two opponents, losing 2-0 to Illinois and 5-0 to No. 1 Tennessee.

The next day, Pitt was able to find its first win of the weekend, edging out Wright State 2-1. Junior Carissa Throckmorton delivered the game-winning hit on a liner to left field that scored freshman Kaitlin Manuel, but the team was unable to continue its momentum that day, later falling to South Florida 5-1.

Finally, the Panthers were able to end the weekend with a bang, defeating Binghamton 11-10. After falling behind, Pitt generated a four-run rally in the sixth inning that was highlighted by a go-ahead two-run home run by redshirt sophomore Maggie Sevilla to take the lead.

Wrestling

With a chance to continue to boost their resume and move up in the national rankings, the No. 6 Panthers were defeated twice this week, 17-16 by Edinboro and 18-13 by Michigan.

On Friday, Pitt tied No. 14 Edinboro 16-16, but Edinboro picked up a bonus team point and the match on the third criteria of total points, 50-49. The next day, the Panthers fell to No. 8 Michigan after working their way back from a 15-0 deficit. Pitt is now 12-3 on the year.

Tennis

The Panthers continued their winning ways this weekend, improving to 3-0 by sweeping Robert Morris 7-0. 

Pitt got off to a quick start by sweeping doubles and capturing the doubles point. On court one, seniors Taylor Washington and Jocelyn Lu won 8-3. Pitt’s duo of Amanda Wickman and Audrey Ann Blakely earned an 8-3 win, while on court three, Pitt’s Molly Wickman and Lolade Ogungbesan won 8-2. 

The Panthers return to action Saturday, Feb. 22, when they travel to Virginia Tech for their inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference match at 11 a.m.