Panthers Finish Up Tournament Beating Rider, 6-4
2/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Panthers Finish Up Tournament Beating Rider, 6-4
2/27/2005
PITTSBURGH
Pittsburgh?s Ben Copeland (Bradford, Pa./Bradford) led off the first inning as he belted one down the right field line for a triple. Copeland later scored as Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) picked up the RBI when he lined out to center.
Rider responded quickly in the bottom of the first. Jon Leise walked to get on base and scored off a Jon Rehm single to make the game tied 1-1.
The Panthers scored two more in the top of the fourth as Jim Negrych (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Francis) singled through the left side. Dan Ford (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) then doubled to right center scoring Negrych. Ford would go on to score as Mike Zambriczki (Newton, Pa./Council Rock) flied out to right field.
In the bottom of the fourth, Rider picked up one more run as Jon Rehm scored on a Charles Van Schiack single to left field.
Pittburgh took a 5-2 lead in the top of the sixth. Negrych walked to get on base and made it to second on a single by Ford. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and Negrych then scored on another wild pitch as Ford went on to third. Ford later scored on an error by the second basemen.
Rider scored two more in the bottom of the sixth, making it a 5-4 game. However, this was not enough for Rider as the Panthers scored again in the top of the nineth to go on to win it 6-4. Mike Megale (Stamford, C.T./Stamford) walked to lead off the inning. He then advanced to second on a single by Jim Mayer (Somerset, Pa./Somerset). Dave Cline (Mercersburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) provided a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Megale eventually scored as Parise grounded out to short.
Andrew Kuss (Marcellus, N.Y./Marcellus) picked up his first win on the mound for Pittsburgh as Shaun Butler (Blackhawk, Pa./Blackhawk) got his second save on the season.
Rider?s Joe Monronese suffered the loss, his first of the season.
The Panthers will continue their tournament play March 5-13, when they head to Florida to face LaSalle, Wagner, Miami, and Temple.
NOTES: Pittsburgh?s Jim Mayer led the team with three hits...the Panthers committed three errors while Rider had two...each team left five men on base.