April 2, 2008

PITTSBURGH--The Pitt baseball team hosted non-conference foe Kent State today at Trees Field. The Panthers (8-14, 2-4) were hindered by some early mistakes and an inability to get the offense rolling, as they fell to the Golden Flashes by a count of 7-0.

Kent State (9-13, 0-3) mounted a 2-0 lead after Pitt starter Mike Wood (Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott) plunked two batters and saw his defense give up two errors in the top of the first. Wood did well to limit the damage, however and escaped the inning with three runners left on base.

The Panthers appeared poised to answer in the bottom of the inning when Jordan Herr (Lancaster, Pa./Delaware) led off the inning with a single to center and was moved to second by a Sean Conley (Chippewa, Pa./Blackhawk) sacrifice bunt. Things quickly went south as Herr was picked off by Kent hurler Alan Morrison, who then got Danny Lopez (Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) to ground out to the first baseman to end the threat.

The Golden Flashes added another score off of Wood in the top of the second before he was relieved by freshman Cole Taylor (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell). Taylor's entrance appeared promising early on, as he struck out two of the first three batters he faced, but the freshman's magic soured in the fourth when two more Pitt errors led to a three-run inning for the Golden Flashes, pushing their lead to six runs.

Morrison continued to strand Pitt runners well into the fifth inning and was able to pick up his second win of the year. He was replaced by Steve Ross and Justin Gill, who each pitched two innings of scoreless, hitless baseball and smothered any chances of a Pitt comeback.

Kent's final run came by way of a Doug Sanders long ball off of Panther reliever Corey Baker (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South). Baker was replaced by fellow freshman Kevin Dooley (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East), who pitched well in his three innings of work, as he struck out two and allowed only one hit to the nine batters he faced.

Wood suffered the loss, his first of the year, as the Panthers dropped their second-consecutive contest. They will look to get back on track this weekend when they travel to South Orange, N.J., for a three-game series with conference opponent Seton Hall. Pitt's next home game will be Tuesday, April 8, when cross town rival Duquesne visits Trees Field at 3 p.m.