This isn't how Pitt wanted finish the regular season, heading into the Big East Conference baseball tournament this week.

The Panthers (27-25, 15-11), already locked into fourth place, lost to Seton Hall, 9-3, yesterday at Trees Field for its second consecutive defeat against the Pirates (25-25, 9-15).

	This week What: Big East baseball tournament. When: Tuesday-Sunday. Where: KeySpan Park, Brooklyn, N.Y. Pitt: The Panthers are locked into the No. 4 seed and begin play at 5 p.m. Tuesday against South Florida. The rest of the openers: Louisville vs. Villanova, 10 a.m.; Rutgers vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m.; St. John's vs. UConn, 8 p.m.

"I was very disappointed with our performance this weekend," Pitt coach Joe Jordano said. "This week exemplifies the parity of the Big East. Anyone can beat anyone on a given day. With that said, we're excited for the tournament."

Fourth-seeded Pitt will meet No. 5 South Florida (31-24, 12-14) at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament at Key Span Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. South Florida won two of three against visiting Pitt in mid-March.

In the loss yesterday, Pitt got RBI singles from Seth Button, Brian Muldowney and Dan Williams. Senior outfielder Peter Parise went 2 for 4, giving him 250 career hits and tying the school record set by Bryan Spamer in 2001-04.

West Virginia (29-22, 10-16), which needed a win to become the No .8 seed, lost to visiting Georgetown, 10-1. Kenny Durst (5-5) was the losing pitcher, allowing three runs and 10 hits in 6²/₃ innings. WVU has had consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1998 and 1999.

For West Virginia, Trent Ridgley had two hits and an RBI and batted .391 in conference games.

Atlantic 10

Duquesne (22-28, 10-16), already eliminated from the A-10 tournament, lost at George Washington, 6-2. The Colonials (23-31-1) swept the three-game series and ended the season with a six-game win streak. The Dukes took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with just one hit sandwiched between two walks and two hit batters.

NCAA Division II baseball

Slippery Rock (36-17) was ousted from the double-elimination North Atlantic regional with two defeats yesterday.

The first loss was 7-3 against top-seed and host Kutztown (49-5). Slippery Rock's Matt Adams had two hits and Billy Messer a solo home run. For Kutztown, Ryan Loper had a two-run home run and three RBIs and Mike McCardell (7-2) allowed eight hits for the win.

Slippery Rock later lost to West Chester, 11-10, in 10 innings after grabbing a 9-0 lead at the end of two innings. Adams had three hits and three RBIs and Billy Herman, Dan Hudeck and M.J. Parson each had two RBIs. Slippery Rock starting pitcher Mark Tanner allowed eight runs in 6¹/₃ innings and Craig Misiewicz picked up the loss after giving up three runs in 3²/₃ innings.

NCAA Division I softball

Penn State (26-25) lost to North Carolina State, 1-0, and was eliminated in the second round of the double-elimination Columbia (S.C.) regional. Penn State had just one hit against Abbie Sims. The Nittany Lions lost to Oregon, 4-0, Friday in the opening game.