March 2, 2008

Box Score

Princess Anne, Md. -

Princess Anne, Md.-The Pitt baseball team rolled to a 10-0 win over Maryland Eastern Shore Sunday afternoon at Hawks Stadium in the teams' second meeting of the weekend. Brian Chrisman led the Panthers (3-3) on the mound, as he pitched to his second victory of the season. Chrisman gave up just three hits to the Hawks (0-9) in the seven-inning matchup.

Friday, Pitt handed Maryland Eastern Shore a 22-run loss, as the Panthers scored the second-most runs in the program's history with a 25-3 win. In similar fashion, the Pitt offense tallied 10 hits in today's game, scoring runs in five of the contest's seven innings.

The Panthers got on the board early in the top of the second, taking a 2-0 lead. Center fielder Jordan Herr (RS SO Lancaster, Pa./Delaware) drew a leadoff walk from Hawks starter Dan Sterling, as catcher Nick Mullins (SR/Brick, N.J./Brookdale Community College) followed with a walk of his own. Right fielder Zach Duggan (RS FR/Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) bunted to advance both Herr and Mullins.

With two on and one out, left fielder Sean Conley (SR/Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) continued to come through for the Panthers offensively as he ripped a single to right field, scoring both Herr and Mullins for an early Pitt lead.

The Panthers posted runs in each of the next four innings and Chrisman (SR/Pittsburgh, Pa./Marshall) kept the Hawk bats silent. Conley notched another two-RBI single in the third, scoring both Herr and Mullins once again for a 5-0 Pitt advantage.

Conley went 3-5 on the day, tallying four RBI, pushing his weekend-RBI total to an impressive 10. He currently leads the team with 12 RBI thus far in 2008 while posting a team-high 10 hits.

Second baseman Dan Williams (SR/Berwyn, Pa./Episcopal Academy) kept the Panthers' scoring drive going in the fourth inning ripping an RBI-double to left field as teammate Danny Lopez (SO/Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) crossed the plate for Pitt's sixth run.

Taking advantage of two errors by the Hawks' defense, the Panthers added two more runs to the board in the fifth inning to take an 8-0 lead. Williams leadoff for Pitt in the sixth with a single to left field, as third baseman Joe Leonard (FR/Dawson, Pa./Connellsville) followed with a single of his own. Two batters later, Herr ripped an RBI-double to right field as Williams and Leonard scored the Panthers' final two runs.

Chrisman pitched a solid 5.2 innings for Pitt, recording seven strikeouts against the 20 batters he faced, while giving up zero runs. Right-hander Hugh Henry (FR/Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) made his debut appearance for Pitt, relieving Chrisman in the sixth inning. Henry tallied his first career strikeout, retiring both batters he faced to end the inning.

David Kaye (FR/Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) replaced Henry on the mound in the game's final inning, preserving the shutout as Pitt earned its third victory of the season. Chrisman picked up the win, improving his record to 2-0, as Sterling earned his first loss of the season for the Hawks.

The Panthers will travel to Greenville, N.C. for the Keith LeClair Invitational March 7-9. Pitt will face a tough slot of opponents in East Carolina, Georgia Southern and No. 8 Michigan.