The Pitt baseball team is warming up and Duquesne has gone cold as conference play begins to heat up.

		Last week revisited Individual and team highlights from performances in district colleges last week: Sixth-seeded Duquesne, led by freshman Rachel McGowan's 3-1 record at No. 4 singles and 2-1 at No. 2 doubles, was fifth to tie the school's best finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference women's team tennis championships. The Dukes won three of four matches. Grove City won five of the six individual and all three doubles titles as the Wolverines captured their 17th consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference men's team tennis championship. Thomas More's Michael Selm won the No. 1 singles title and was named the PAC Player of the Year. Carnegie Mellon's Amy Staloch won No. 1 singles and paired with Mona Iyer to win No. 1 doubles as the Tartans lost to Emory, 6-3, in the championship match of the University Athletic Association women's team tennis tournament. California (25-1), led by Inga Chilingaryan's titles at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, defeated Millersville, 6-0, and Bloomsburg, 5-0, to win its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference women's team tennis championship since 1993. Pitt sophomore Kristy Borza, who played No. 1 singles, set a school record for wins in a season with a 27-7 record and is the team's MVP for the second consecutive season.

The Panthers have rebounded from an 0-8 start to build their record to 19-16 with four consecutive victories, all with late-inning comebacks. Pitt has won eight of its past 10 games.

The Panthers are coming off a three-game sweep of Villanova this past weekend and are in fourth place in the Big East at 11-6.

Pitt steps out of the Big East this weekend with a doubleheader Saturday and a game Sunday against New York Institute of Technology at Trees Field.

Two redshirt freshmen, third baseman Gary Bucuren and center fielder Jordan Herr, have been catalysts for Pitt's resurgence. Bucuren, a transfer from Kentucky who was drafted in the 34th round by the Pirates in 2005, is the team's statistical leader with a .342 average, 5 home runs and 27 RBI.

The pitching staff features Paul Nardozzi (5-3, 4.73 ERA), whose two complete games are shutouts, and Kyle Landis (3-2), who has four saves and a league-low 1.11 ERA.

While Pitt is surging, Duquesne is sinking.

The Dukes (13-22, 4-11) have lost seven in a row and 9 of 10 after a promising start. They can make up some ground in the Atlantic 10 Conference this weekend with a three-game series at home against last-place Saint Joseph's (6-29, 3-12).

Duquesne is led by infielder Anthony Manley (.327), a sophomore from Greensburg Salem, and first baseman Aaron Janusey (.303, 6 HRs, 34 RBI), a junior from Peters Township. Senior right-hander Jeff Naughton (4-3, 5.70 ERA) is the only pitcher on the team with a winning record.

Division II

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West promises to produce a wild finish on the final weekend of the regular season, with Shippensburg (12-4), California (11-5) and Slippery Rock (11-5) battling for first place.

Slippery Rock, winner of six in a row, finishes with two doubleheaders against Shippensburg and California closes with two doubleheaders against Lock Haven.

California's headliners are outfielder Lee Rohan (.429) and first baseman Chris Novia (.325, 6 HRs, 24 RBIs) and Chris Doerschner (6-1, 3.50 ERA), a senior right-hander from Carrick. Slippery Rock's leaders are outfielder M.J. Parsons (.388, 29 RBIs) and pitchers Rich Hocanson (4-0, 1.86) and Mark Tanner (4-0, 4.13).

Seton Hill's Griffins (29-14), coming off a 7-3 victory against California, have won five in a row and seven of eight. They moved to Division II this season after reaching the 2006 NAIA World Series and are not eligible to compete for the league championship in their inaugural season as a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Seton Hill's offense relies on infielder Matt McCarthy (.393), a sophomore from Baldwin, and infielder Jerry Harness (.356, 4 HRs, 35 RBIs), a senior from Chartiers Valley. Matt Nelson, a junior left-hander from Ringgold, is 9-1 with a 3.49 ERA.

Division III

Washington & Jefferson, 23-7 and winner of five of its past six games, moved up five spots to No. 23 in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Top 30 poll. The Presidents are third in the Mideast Region.

W&J, tied for first place at 10-2 with Thomas More in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, plays a three-game series this weekend against Grove City and completes the league's regular season with a three-game showdown at Thomas More, May 5-6.

The Presidents, who own a .362 team batting average and score 7.8 runs per game, are led in hitting by senior first baseman/pitcher Sam Mann (.485, 3 HRs, 31 RBIs), shortstop Nick Fiorilli (.449, 4 HRs, 20 RBIs), second baseman Chris Varacall (.394, 2 HRs, 24 RBIs) and outfielder Ryan Gregg (.393, 2 HRs, 20 RBIs), a junior from Baldwin.

The core of a deep pitching staff is John Astfalk (5-1, 2.47 ERA), a senior from Chartiers Valley, Mann (5-2, 2.25) and Ian Poole (4-1, 3.06).