University of Connecticut Athletics
Baseball Rallies To Defeat Pittsburgh In 10 Innings
5/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (May 12, 2006) – Junior co-captain Larry Day (Amesbury, Mass.) went 2-for-5 with two runs, a RBI and a home run to help lead the Huskies past Pittsburgh 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday night. The victory ties UConn’s best BIG EAST record of 14 wins in a season set in 2000, the last season the Huskies advanced to the championship. The win improves Connecticut’s record to 32-15-1 overall and 14-5-1 in BIG EAST play while the Panthers drop to 19-27 overall and 7-15 in the conference.
Senior starter Tim Norton (Pascoag, R.I.) maintained a four-hit shutout until the seventh inning when pre-season BIG EAST Player of the Year, Jim Negrych, crossed the plate on a single by Jimmy Mayer to put the Panthers on the board. In the bottom of the ninth, Seth Button slugged a home run over the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2 to send the game into extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, UConn recaptured the lead with three runs. Kyle Landis came in to relieve the pre-season BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, Billy Muldowney, in the top of the inning. Muldowney threw nine innings and allowed two runs on 10 hits for the Panthers. With Landis on the mound, the Husky bats came alive. Junior Matt Untiet (Berlin, Conn.) led off the inning with a walk. Day followed with a single to center field to move Untiet into scoring position. Untiet scored the game-winning run on a single to right field by sophomore Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa). Senior Bryan Maler (Ansonia, Conn.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) recorded his second hit of the game with a single down the left field line that scored Mahoney and Day.
The Panthers staged their second comeback of the game in the bottom of the tenth inning with two runs. Senior Joshua MacDonald (Milford, Conn.) was on the mound for UConn and notched his fourth win of the season as the Panthers fell short of the rally. With two men out and two in scoring position, MacDonald forced the final batter of the inning to groundout to end the inning and the game.
The Huskies and Panthers will play game two if their three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Trees Field on the Pittsburgh campus.
