Softball Drops Extra-Inning Thriller to Mississippi State, 5-4

3/2/2003

It was the Panthers' first game of the Florida State Seminole Challenge after Saturday's action was rained out.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a back-and-forth battle, the Pittsburgh softball team dropped a 5-4 decision to Mississippi State in eight innings at the Florida State Seminole Challenge on Sunday.

Pittsburgh (4-5) had leads of 2-0 and 3-2 but the Bulldogs (14-5) scored a run in the seventh to tie the game and two more in the eighth before the Panthers' one-run comeback in the bottom of the eighth inning fell short.

The Panthers scored the game's first two runs in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Ana Velazquez (Santa Ana, Calif./Santa Ana C.C.) reached on an infield single and Angela Blackmon (San Diego, Calif./Palomar C.C.) followed with an infield hit of her own and Velazquez moved to third on the play. When the Bulldogs tried to get Velazquez out at third, Blackmon moved up to second.

Velazquez scored on the next play when freshman Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) reached on an error. Senior Kelly Hulpa (Washington, Pa./Trinity) came through with a single to left field on the next play, scoring Blackmon to make it a 2-0 game.

After Mississippi State scored two runs off of Pittsburgh starter Nikki Gasti (Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels) in the fifth to tie the game, the Panthers came right back in the bottom half of the inning to take their second lead. DiMaria reached on another error to begin the inning and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hulpa. After a second out was recorded, freshman Christa Hunter (Sacramento, Calif./Hiram Johnson West) doubled into left field to score DiMaria

A home run in the seventh inning tied the game for the Bulldogs and they scored two more runs off of Gasti in the eighth to take a 5-3 advantage.

In the bottom of the eighth, needing two runs to keep it going, the Pittsburgh rally fell short. Hunter led off the inning with her second double of the game and was removed for pinch runner Heather Andrews (Zelienople, Pa./Riverside). Andrews moved to third on a fly out and scored on an RBI single by catcher Tiffany White (Carlsbad, Calif./Palomar C.C.). Beth Gill (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) singled back to the pitcher on a bunt, putting the winning run on base for the Panthers and moving White to second. After a sacrifice by Velazquez put the tying run at third and the winning run at second base, Blackmon grounded out to second base to end the game.

The Panthers had 10 hits in the loss, including two each by Hulpa, Hunter, and Gill. Gill also had a stolen base and Gasti went the distance on the mound, falling to 2-3 on the year. She pitched eight innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs, walking six Bulldog batters with four strikeouts.

Pittsburgh faces host Florida State at 4 p.m. in the final game of the Seminole Invitational today.