Panthers Pounce Early on Sunday Morning

Sunday, February 22

Charleston, S.C.

9:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

Pittsburgh

Chloe Giordano had a hit & made several solid defensive plays in Sunday's game vs. Pitt

February 22, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

Pitt posts 9-0 win over BGSU at the Cougar Classic

By: MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The University of Pittsburgh took an early lead and never looked back, as the Panthers downed the Bowling Green State University softball team, 9-0 in five innings, Sunday morning (Feb. 22). The game, the Falcons' final contest in the 2015 Cougar Classic, was held at Patriots Point.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

The Panthers, now 13-1 on the season, scored in each of the first four innings to seize control of Sunday's contest. Pitt pounded out a total of 11 hits against three BG pitchers.

"We are disappointed in how we finished the weekend," said BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg. "We knew Pitt was a solid hitting team, but we didn't match our intensity to theirs."

The Falcons (4-4) had four hits on the day, including three-straight singles in the second inning, but could not break through against Panther starting pitcher Savannah King. King walked one batter while striking out two, and improved to 8-0 on the year.

The Panthers got on the board in the top of the first. After Kaitlin Manuel singled up the middle, Maggie Sevilla followed with a two-run homer to left, and Pitt had staked King to a two-run lead.

After King retired the Falcons in order in the bottom of the first, Erin Hershman began the second with a double to left field, and a stolen base and a walk to Ashlee Sills put runners at the corners with nobody out. Sills stole second, and the Panthers had a pair of runners in scoring position, and a single by Shelby Pickett scored both Hershman and Sills and made it a 4-0 game.

Junior pitcher Braiden Dillow got two quick outs, with a Manuel grounder and a liner to right by Sevilla, but Jenna Modic's single plated Pickett. Sophomore Briana Combs entered the game and got Carly Thea to hit an inning-ending grounder to second base, but the Panthers had a five-run lead.

The Falcons threatened in the bottom of the second with two outs, as sophomore Haley Schrock got on base via an infield single and moved to second when senior Chloe Giordano singled up the middle. Fellow senior Emily McClelland singled through the right side of the Pittsburgh infield to load the bases, but junior Molly Holliday's grounder was gloved by third baseman Modic, who threw to first for the third out.

Pitt's McKayla Taylor led off the third inning with a single up the middle, and Jordan Fannin drew a walk, but Combs struck out Hershman and got Sills to hit a grounder for the second out, with the runners moving to second and third. But, Pickett's infield single scored Taylor with the Panthers' sixth run of the morning.

Sophomore Aspen Searle gave the Falcons a leadoff runner in the bottom of the third, reaching base on an error by shortstop Taylor, and BG had two runners aboard after an infield single by junior Marina Cobbs. A fielder's choice grounder by sophomore Trista Mokienko resulted in a force of Searle at third base, however, and a grounder back to the circle resulted in a double play to end the threat.

Pitt scored three more times, including two unearned runs, in the fourth. Sevilla drew a leadoff walk, and an error enabled Modic to reach base, with Sevilla taking third on the play. After pinch-runner Morgan Choe stole second, Thea's single up the middle scored Sevilla and advanced Choe to third. Then, Taylor's two-run double gave the Panthers a 9-0 lead.

Senior Jamie Kertes replaced Combs in the circle, and threw an 0-2 pitch past Fannin for the first out of the inning. Hershman hit a lazy fly ball to center for the second out, and pinch-hitter Katherine Kramer's liner was grabbed by shortstop Searle to end the inning.

After King retired the Falcons in the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Giordano made a great diving catch of a liner by Pickett for the first out in the top of the fifth. Pitt pinch-hitter Giorgiana Zeremenko singled, but Sevilla hit a grounder to Giordano, who fired to first for the second out, and Kertes induced Modic to hit a harmless grounder back to the circle to end the inning.

The bottom of the fifth saw Holliday draw a one-out walk, but she was stranded there as King got the next two hitters to pop up and ground out, respectively.

King picked up the victory for the Panthers. Dillow took the loss for the Brown and Orange, dropping to 2-2 on the young season.

"We had opportunities to score, but couldn't push the runs across today," said Salsburg. "We look forward to going back to work this week, and we will make the adjustments needed to be ready for next weekend."

The Falcons will head to Bowling Green, Ky., next weekend, taking part in the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Classic. BGSU is scheduled to play five games at the tournament, hosted by Western Kentucky, beginning with Friday (Feb. 27) contests vs. Northern Kentucky and WKU.