March 31, 2007
ND-Pittsburgh Game 2 Boxscore in PDF Format
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PITTSBURGH – Paul Nardozzi tossed a two-hit shutout while the Panthers offense scored in four straight midgame innings, as Pittsburgh topped Notre Dame, 5-0, in game-2 of the BIG EAST baseball series at Trees Field.
Pittsburgh (11-12; 5-3 BIG EAST) scored without the benefit of a hit in the 3rd inning before adding solo home runs from Dan Williams and Seth Button (in the 4th and 5th), followed by a pair of unearned runs in the 6th. The home team put the leadoff batter on base in six of its eight offensive innings while providing plenty of run support for Nardozzi (3-2). The senior righthander faced just 32 batters, with two reaching on walks, plus Brett Lilley’s pair of times hit-by-pitch.
Junior lefthander Wade Korpi (1-4) took the loss, after allowing a pair of runs on five hits and two walks in 4.0 innings. His classmate Joey Williamson then struck out five over the final 4.0 innings, but the righthander also served up a solo home run and made a pair of errors that helped bring home the two unearned runs.
Notre Dame (12-14; 1-4 BIG EAST) tracks the stat of “freebies” and the Irish helped the opposition 11 times in those areas, with two walks, three hit batters, three errors and three stolen bases allowed.
Pitt’s first run came after a single by Sean Conley, a stolen base and a pair of flyouts that advanced the runner. Williams later hit his first home run of the season and Button his fourth, extending the Panthers lead to 3-0.
NOTES: Lilley has 11 HBPs this season and 62 in his career (already 8th-most in NCAA D-I history, spanning two-and-a-half seasons) … the game lasted just 2:09 … ND now is just 6-7 vs. Pitt at Trees Field (20-3 at all other sites) and the Irish have lost six of the past seven games played at the Panthers’ home facility … the error late in Friday’s game had ended ND’s errorless streak at 28 games … freshman third baseman A.J. Pollock (0-for-4) still leads the Irish in season batting avg. at .385 … only three freshmen ever have led ND in batting, including current junior SS Brett Lilley (.355, in 2005), Eric Danapilis in 1990 (.429) and Pete Schmidt in 1971 (.367) … the Irish will look to spark their offense in Sunday’s series finale, after totaling just 14 runs in five BIG EAST games this season (10 of those runs came in game-2 of the USF series) … senior RHP Dan Kapala is slated to start game-3 vs. Pitt … relief pitchers who are on the trip and available to pitch on Sunday include Jess Stewart, Mike Dury, Kyle Weiland, Eric Maust, Brett Graffy, Sam Elam and Tony Langford.
Notre Dame (12-14; 1-4 BIG EAST) 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 – 0 2 3
Pittsburgh (11-12; 5-3 BIG EAST) 0-0-1 1-1-2 0-0-0 – 5 9 0
Wade Korpi (L, 1-4), Joey Williamson (6) and Ryan Smith.
Paul Nardozzi (W, 3-2) and Nick Mullins.
Home Runs: Dan Williamson, Pitt (solo in 4th; 1st of season); Seth Button, Pitt (solo in 5th; 4th of season).