March 24, 2002

BLACKSBURG, Va.-The University of Pittsburgh baseball came up short of sweeping Virginia Tech as it fell 8-5 Sunday afternoon at English Field in the final contest of the three-game series. On Saturday, the Panthers (15-4-1, 2-1 Big East) notched two wins over the Hokies, a 10-7 triumph and a 5-2 victory.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh went ahead 5-1 after five innings, thanks to a two-run blast by junior Brant Colamarino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) in the third inning and an RBI-single by senior Brad Rea (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) in the fifth inning.

However, the Panthers committed two costly errors in the bottom of the sixth inning to relinguish the advantage. Virginia Tech (7-10, 1-2 Big East) capitalized by plating five runs and grabbing the lead for good, 7-5. The Hokies tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning to preserve the win.

Colamarino finished with two runs and two RBIs on the day, while junior Michael Bell (Baldwin, Pa./Baldwin) and Rea each knocked out two hits apiece with one RBI.

Despite suffering the loss, sophomore Don Rhoten (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) pitched 5.2 innings and gave up seven runs, but they were all unearned.

The Panthers committed four errors on the afternoon and left seven runners on base.

Pittsburgh is back in action on Thursday as it hosts St. John's in a doubleheader at Trees Field. First pitch is slated for noon.