PITTSBURGH, Pa. (April 23, 2011) – The Rutgers baseball team fell to Pitt, 8-3, in Saturday’s series finale at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Senior Michael Lang (Dumont, N.J.) reached base all five times he came to the plate and recorded a single, double and triple on the afternoon to go along with a walk and a hit by pitch in the contest as the Scarlet Knights moved to 14-21 overall and 6-9 in the BIG EAST. John Schultz and Kevan Smith combined for seven hits to lead the Panthers, who moved to 25-13 overall and 11-4 in the league.
With the bases loaded in the second, Pitt’s Casey Roche singled back up the middle to bring home a pair of runs and stake the Panthers out to the early advantage.
Pittsburgh added three more runs in the third, capped by a two-run single from Derik Wilson, and plated single runs in the fourth and fifth frames to extend the Panthers’ lead to 7-0.
The Scarlet Knights put a pair of runners in scoring position in the sixth after Lang was hit by a pitch and moved over to third on a double to the gap in right-center field from fellow senior D.J. Anderson (Randolph, N.J.) two batters later. Junior Russ Hopkins (Piscataway, N.J.) brought home the first run on a sacrifice fly to center field and freshman Nick Favatella (Washington Twp., N.J.) drove home another run with a single to center field.
Rutgers continued to chip away at the Pitt lead with a run in the eighth, chasing starter Ethan Mildren out of the game in the process. RU loaded the bases without recording an out as Anderson opened the frame with a single and Hopkins and Favatella each drew a walk. Reliever Alex Caravella came in prior to Favatella’s at-bat and the Panther lefty issued his second-consecutive walk as pinch hitter Brandon Boykin (Teaneck, N.J.) drew a base on balls to bring home Anderson and make it 7-3. Caravella prevented further damage in the inning, however, as the reliever got a strikeout and an inning-ending double play.
Pitt countered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the eighth on back-to-back doubles from Schultz and Smith against newly-inserted reliever Joe Esposito (Metuchen, N.J.).
The Scarlet Knights put the first two on in the ninth on a single from Pat Sweeney (Sparta, N.J.) and a Lang five-pitch walk, but newly-inserted Panther reliever Ray Black got a fly out and a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and preserve the Pitt victory and series sweep.
Scarlet Knight starter Nathaniel Roe (Plainfield, N.J.) (3-6) worked six innings in the loss, while Mildren (4-3) logged seven innings with three runs on seven hits and four strikeouts in the win. The Panther starter, who entered the game without issuing a walk the entire season, walked three batters in the contest.
Rutgers will continue its road swing in Newark, Del. Tuesday as the Scarlet Knights meet the Blue Hens at 3 p.m.
