University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Win One, Tie One against Robert Morris
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 26, 1999
In the Panthers only action of the week, they faced Robert Morris in a double-header March 25 and came away with one win and a tie.
The first game of the matchup featured a 6-5 Pittsburgh win.
The Panthers opened with a big three-run inning, capitalizing on three Robert Morris wild pitches to take a 3-1 lead after one.
Pittsburgh increased its lead to 4-1 in the top of the third off redshirt freshman Jackie Haar's (Naples, Fla./Lely) solo homerun to centerfield, marking her seventh of the season.
The Colonials rallied with a two-run fourth, but the Panthers added two insurance runs in the top of the fifth off freshman shortstop Tiffany Barrett's (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) two-run homer, her third of the season, for a 6-4 advantage.
Robert Morris could only muster one run in the final inning, and the Panthers came away with the 6-5 win in game one. Junior Laura LeViere (Pittsburgh, Pa./Northgate) worked six innings on the mound for her fourth win of the season, while freshman Gina Bessolo (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood) came in to pitch the final inning for her second save of the year.
The Panthers and Colonials played to a 7-7 tie in eight innings in the second game of the double-header before the game was discontinued due to darkness.
Freshman third baseman Rhianna Rogers (Camarillo, Calif./Rio Mesa) opened the scoring for the Panthers in the first. Rogers hit her sixth double of the year and crossed the plate on an error by a Colonials error at third. Robert Morris came back to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.
In the top of the third, freshman first baseman Katie Mitchell (Wildwood, Mo./ Lafayette) hit the first of two Pittsburgh homeruns in the game with a shot to left centerfield. Barrett followed with a triple to right field and crossed the plate one batter later on a short stop error to pull the Panthers ahead 3-1.
Robert Morris evened the score, but the Panthers put together a three-run fifth for a 6-3 lead. Rogers began the inning with her fifth homerun of the season. Pitcher Bessolo hit a two- run triple to score both Haar and Barrett who each reached on singles to complete the scoring.
The Colonials rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score and send the game into extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, freshman Clare McCann (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) singled to centerfield to score fellow freshman Jodi McGartland (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park). Robert Morris added a run of its own to knot the score once again in the bottom half of the inning, but the game was ended after eight and secured a tie.
The Panthers record stands at 9-13-1 overall. They return to action March 31 when the travel to Akron. Pittsburgh opens Big East conference play with an April 3 contest at Notre Dame.
