Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

softball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate softball program of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, often referred to as "Pitt", located in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The Pitt softball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference and plays their home games at Vartabedian Field in the

Petersen Sports Complex The Petersen Sports Complex (PSC) is a multi-sport athletic facility on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses Charles L. Cost Field, Vartabedian Field, and Ambrose Urbanic Field, the respective home pr ...

History

The inaugural season of Pitt softball was in 1998 with the program guided by its first head coach, Michelle Phalen. The program competed as an independent during its first season in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

and then played in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

from 1999 to 2013. Phalen guided the program to its first winning season (31-27) and first Big East Tournament appearance in 2006 as well as its first season over .500 in Big East play (12-10) in 2008, a year that saw Pitt upset multiple nationally ranked teams. In 2009, Holly Aprile, and assistant coach in charge of pitchers and catchers under Phalen, took over as the head coach of the program. April began her tenure by leading the team to three consecutive winning seasons, a first for the program to that point, and led the 2011 team to a single season school record of 34 wins that included a victory over national ranked Georgia Tech. On July 1, 2013, Pitt moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 2015, Pitt reached the ACC softball tournament championship game and earned the program's first NCAA tournament appearance on way to an appearance in the Regional Final and a program best 37–22 record. In 2017, after a 5–0 start to the season, Pitt received the first national ranking in the program's history. Pitt won its first ACC Coastal Division championship in 2018. In August 2018, former Ohio head coach Jodi Hermanek was announced as the Panthers' new head coach following Holly Aprile's departure to become head coach at Louisville.

Vartabedian Field

The team's home field includes the 600-seat Vartabedian Field, a softball ballpark that is part of the

on the University of Pittsburgh campus that open for the 2010–11 school year. Vartabedian Field features a skinned infield with an artificial grass outfield. The stadium includes team dugouts, hitting and pitching practice areas, lighting, and a press box. The first softball game played at Vartabedian Field was a 2-1 Pitt victory over Penn State on March 29, 2011. Prior to the program moving into the Petersen Sports Complex and Vartabedian Field, the team played home games at Trees Field on the Pitt campus.

Current coaching staff

*Jodi Hermanek - Head Coach *Jenna Hall - Assistant Coach *Bianka Bell - Assistant Coach *Morgan Gardner- Volunteer Assistant Coach

Conference championships

ACC Coastal Division *2018

Conference honors

During Pitt's time as a member of the Big East Conference, Pitt players garnered 20 All-Big East selections including five First Team All-Big East selections. Two Panthers have also received ECAC All-Star status. Numerous players have also won Big East Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors. *Big East Rookie of the Year :Tori Nirschl, 2013 *Big East First Team All-Conference :Francesca DiMaria, 2003, 2005 :Joey Scarf, 2006 :Jessica Dignon, 2008 :Samantha Card, 2008 *Atlantic Coast Conference First Team All-Conference :Jenna Modic, 2015 :Erin Hershman, 2016 :Giorgiana Zeremenko, 2018 :Olivia Gray, 2018 *Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year :Holly Aprile, 2018

NCAA tournament results

The Panthers have appeared in the NCAA Tournament one time. Their combined record is 2–2.

No-hitters and perfect games

The following ten no-hitters have been thrown by Pitt pitchers over the program's history. There have been two

perfect games Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

thrown which are designated by bold. *March 11, 2000 Gina Bessolo vs Colgate (won 8–0) *April 7, 2001 Gina Bessolo at Syracuse (won 2–0) *March 16, 2002 Nikki Gasti vs Jacksonville State (won 2–0) *April 3, 2002 Gina Bessolo vs Youngstown State (won 10–0) *February 23, 2003 Nikki Gasti at UNC-Charlotte (won 1–0) *April 5, 2008 Kayla Zinger vs Connecticut (won 1–0) *March 30, 2010 Alyssa O'Connell vs St. Francis (won 9–0) *March 26, 2011 Cory Berliner at Seton Hall (won 9–0) *February 27, 2016 Sarah Dawson vs. Providence (won 13–0) *February 6, 2017 Kayla Harris vs. Southeastern Louisiana (won 5–0)

Professional softball

Two former Panthers have played softball professionally in the

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

league. *Jessica Dignon played for the Washington Glory in 2008 and

USSSA Pride The USSSA Pride are a professional softball team based in Viera, Florida and a member of the WPF - Women's Professional Fastpitch League, U.S. Founded in 2009. They previously played in National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) from 2009 to 2019. They play ...

in 2009. *Reba Tutt played for

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

in 2011.

References

External links

Official website
{{Atlantic Coast Conference softball