Senior pitcher Janelle Pepe (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) went the distance in game two for the Panthers, allowing just the one Husky run and five hits with three strikeouts. The Huskies got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning but Pittsburgh stormed back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and an insurance run in the sixth.

Junior outfielder Beth Gill (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), who was playing in her first games since March 8 after suffering from mononucelosis throughout the past month, doubled to lead off the Panthers’ fourth inning. Freshman Francesca DiMaria (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) followed up with an RBI single that scored Gill and moved to second on the throw home. The next batter, sophomore Casey Pickard (Newhall, Calif./William S. Hart), blasted a triple into right-center field to score DiMaria with what would be the winning run. It was Pickard’s fourth triple of the year and of her career, setting new school records.

In the sixth inning, DiMaria was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, senior Kelly Hulpa (Washington, Pa./Trinity) had an RBI single that scored DiMaria with the third Panthers run.

The first game saw the Panthers score first in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, DiMaria singled to right-center field and scored on an RBI double by Pickard. In the bottom of the fourth inning, catcher Tiffany White (Carlsbad, Calif./Palomar C.C.) made it a 2-0 game with her third home run of the season over the left field fence. Bad luck struck the Panthers in the fifth inning, however, as the Huskies scored four unearned runs off of senior Nikki Gasti (Carmichaels, Pa./Carmichaels) with two outs.

Pittsburgh got one run back in the bottom half of the fifth to close the gap to one. DiMaria had a leadoff single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Hulpa reached on an error, moving DiMaria to third, junior Heather Andrews (Zelienople, Pa./Riverside) came through with an RBI single.

The Panthers are now 18-24 overall and 4-8 in the Big East Conference, while Connecticut is 15-15-1 with a 4-2 mark in conference play. Pittsburgh will visit Youngstown State this week before returning home for a doubleheader against Virginia Tech on Saturday.