Feb. 4, 2010

PITTSBURGH -

Former Pitt baseball standouts Pete Parise and Ben Copeland are currently participating in the prestigious Winter Caribbean Series, which began on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

Parise, playing with team Puerto Rico (0-2), has pitched in one game to date, logging one inning of work in relief and yielding one hit. He did not surrender a run. Copeland, meanwhile, playing for the Dominican Republic squad (2-0), is active but has yet to register any statistics through two games.

A first-team All-Big East selection at Pitt in 2005, Copeland and was a fourth-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants. His .384 batting average during the 2005 season was good enough to earn him the Big East batting title. He also piled up several all-time records including career runs scored (165), doubles (51) and triples (18).

Parise was a four-year letterman and four-year starter for the Panthers. Following graduation in 2007, he ranked as Pitt’s all-time leader in hits (253), at-bats (827), games-played (208) and games-started (208). He also finished in the top-10 in career doubles, triples, RBI, total bases, strikeouts, runs-scored and saves. He has turned his focus towards pitching in his professional career and reaped great rewards as he was named the Memphis Redbirds 2009 Reliever of the Year in October.

For continued information on the Winter Caribbean Series, follow Parise and Copeland at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/league.jsp?league=cs.