March 14, 2010
Box Score
Vero Beach, Fla. -
Pittsburgh's Nathan Hood threw eight shutout innings, while Matt Iannazzo pitched a complete game seven-hitter, as the Panthers swept a doubleheader from the Fordham Rams by scores of 13-0 and 10-3 at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida.
With the sweep, Fordham falls to 3-10 overall, while Pittsburgh improves to 10-4.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Phillip Konieczny and Joe Leonard each drove in three runs, while Hood and Alex Caravella pitched a two-hit shutout, as Pittsburgh won the opener, 13-0.
The Panthers opened with a pair of runs in the second on a two-run single by Konieczny, and then scored three times in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to open up an 11-0 lead. In those three frames, six of Pittsburgh's runs came off five Fordham errors.
The Panthers closed out the scoring in the seventh on a two-run home run by Leonard.
Fordham mustered only two hits against the Panthers' duo of Hood and Caravella, an infield single by P.J. Como in the third and a single by Ryan McCrann in the fourth. Hood threw eight shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk to go with five strikeouts, while Caravella struck out two in the ninth inning.
Fordham's J.P. Mack (0-2) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 3.2 innings.
Things didn't get better for the Rams in game two, as a seven-run second inning gave the Panthers all runs they needed in a 10-3 win to complete the series sweep.
After Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the first, the Panthers scored seven runs on seven hits in the top of the second inning to bolt out to an 8-0 edge. Zach Duggan and Danny Lopez highlighted the rally with a two-run single and a two-run triple, respectively.
Fordham finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, making it an 8-2 ballgame. Nick Martinez singled with one out and moved to third on a double by Mike Mobbs. Chris Walker then ripped a single up the middle to score both runners.
The Rams made it 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of some good baserunning by Como. After reaching on a fielder's choice, Como got a running start on a pitch to Angelo Ponte, and scored on Ponte's single to right, all the way from first.
The Panthers however tacked on two more runs in the eighth on an error and a double by Leonard to close out a 10-3 victory.
Pittsburgh's Matt Iannazzo (3-0) pitched a complete game seven-hitter, picking up six strikeouts, while John Schultz was 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
For Fordham, Walker was 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Ponte was 1-for-3 with an RBI. John Flanagan (0-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits in just over an inning of work.
The Fordham baseball team will next be in action on Tuesday, March 16th, when they open a two-game set at the University of Miami, beginning at 6:00 PM.
