March 12, 2008

Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md.--Handing No. 23 Maryland just their second loss of the season, Pitt's softball team earned the split, as the Panthers won 5-4 in the second game of the doubleheader at Robert Taylor Stadium. Pitt improved to 10-8 on the season, while the Terps fell to 19-2 on the year.

The Panthers ended a 16-game win streak for Maryland, and posted their third victory of the season over a ranked opponent. Earlier, Pitt upset then-No. 16 Virginia Tech (3-0) and then-No. 25 Missouri (2-1).

Two members of the squad lifted the Panthers to the win with home runs, as freshman Reba Tutt (Culpeper, Va./Highland) tallied her first of the season and junior Samantha Card (Miami, Fla./Our Lady of Lourdes/Florida International) blasted her third.

Tutt's homer was a deep shot over the right center field wall that drove in senior Rebecca Stottlemyer (Charleroi, Pa./Home schooled) and put the Panthers ahead 4-2 in the fifth inning. One out later, Card homered through center field, giving Pitt its winning run.

The game opened with a 2-0 lead from the Panthers, after senior Jessica Dignon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) drove Tutt and freshman Ashley Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) in with a single to center field.

Maryland tied the ball game in the bottom of the fourth with a RBI homer. Later in the seventh, they scored another two runs off four hits to cut into Pitt's three-run lead. However, Pitt turned their second double play of the game to halt a potential tie, as freshman Cory Berliner (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) threw home to Card and Card fired a pass to freshman Alicia Broudy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) at first with the bases juiced.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Schuster (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) entered the game in the bottom of the fourth gave up three hits and two runs in her 2.2 innings, earning her first win of the season on the mound.

Additionally, Berliner tallied her second save on the year, as she closed the game in the seventh inning.

Tutt stole her team-leading eighth base of the season, while Amistade recorded two in the contest.

The Panthers travel to the three-day James Madison Tournament in Harrisonburg, Va., on Friday, March 14.