Pitt Resumes ACC Play, Heads to Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team closes out the road portion of its 2018 regular season this weekend, traveling to Notre Dame, Ind., for a three-game series with the Fighting Irish in an ACC series showdown.

The Panthers and Fighting Irish will kick off the weekend Friday at 6 p.m. with game two set for 2 p.m. Saturday and the finale at 1 p.m. Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Live stats will be available for all three games.
- Game 1
- Game 2
- Game 3
The series can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
- Game 1
- Game 2
- Game 3
Fans can also follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.

LEADING OFF

Pitt (25-17, 10-11 ACC) returns to the road for the first time since a series win at Miami two weeks prior, traveling to Notre Dame, Ind., for a league matchup with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Panthers enter the game winners of four straight ACC series and seven of their last eight games. Pitt swept Maryland Eastern Shore in a two-game mid-week series Tuesday and Wednesday as the offense came alive as the Panthers outscored the Hawks 33-8 at Charles L. Cost Field.
Leading the offensive charge this season has been redshirt senior Frank Maldonado, who is the lone Panther hitting above the .300 mark, as he now sits at .304 on the year. The centerfielder has tallied 33 RBI on the year, second only to Liam Sabino (35) and tied with shortstop David Yanni (33). Sabino owns an impressive .568 slug mark, which ranks fifth in the ACC, while Yanni's .413 on base percentage paces the team. Freshman Ron Washington Jr. has also been a force for the Panthers this season, hitting .285 to follow Maldonado, adding 22 RBI and a .417 slug percentage.
On the mound the rotation will stay the same for the fourth straight week as the pitchers have dominated in recent weeks. Dan Hammer will get the call Friday as the sophomore has continued to shine after a slow start to the season. Hammer owns a 2-2 record with a 6.53 ERA, tallying 38 strikeouts in 12 appearances (seven starts). Ace Matt Pidich will take the hill Saturday, bringing in a team-best 2.56 ERA with a record of 5-1. The redshirt senior has let up just 20 runs this year, tallying 75 strikeouts in 70.1 innings. Blair Calvo gets the call Sunday, bringing in a record of 1-4 and a 4.35 ERA. The redshirt junior has struck out 44 over 41.1 innings, walking just 17.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame (21-24, 10-14 ACC) sit in sixth place in the ACC's Atlantic Division, entering the game after a 14-4 victory in a mid-week matchup with Western Michigan Tuesday. The Fighting Irish have won back-to-back ACC series, taking two from both Boston College and Virginia Tech, both at home. The Fighting Irish have strung together some marquee wins this season, taking games from North Carolina State, Clemson, Florida State and a series win at LSU to open the year.
Offensively, three starters are hitting above .300 on the year, with Nick Podkul (.327), Matt Vierling (.306) and Jake Johnson (.306) pacing a group that hits .268 as a team. Vierling (34), Eric Gilgenbach (33) and Podkul (32) lead the team in RBI, while Podkul owns the ACC's 10th-best slugging mark (.542).
On the hill, the Fighting Irish are expected to start a trio of left handed pitchers, starting with Scott Tully Friday. Tully owns a 4-1 record with a 4.11 ERA to pace the starting rotation. He has allowed 30 earned runs off 54 hits and 31 walks, striking out 39 in 65.2 innings. Saturday will see Cameron Brown take the mound as he brings in a 2-0 record and a 5.11 ERA. Brown has let up 25 earned runs off 42 hits and 19 walks, whiffing 35 in 44.0 frames. Tommy Sheehan will get the call in the finale, owning a 2-4 record with a 5.68 ERA. He has surrendered 33 earned runs off 49 hits and 36 walks, striking out 21 in 52.1 innings.

SERIES WITH NOTRE DAME

The two teams have a historic series, dating back to the 1951 season, with the Fighting Irish owning a 43-21 all-time advantage. Notre Dame is 9-3 over the Panthers in ACC play
The two teams last met in 2017 as the Fighting Irish took two-of-three from the Panthers at Charles L. Cost Field. The last meeting in Notre Dame, Ind., saw the Panthers take two-of-three.

WHO'S STREAKING

Liam Sabino brings in the team's longest hit streak, sitting at six games. He's followed by David Yanni, Cole MacLaren, Frank Maldonado and Caleb Parry, who all sit at three games, while four more Panthers sit at two.
Connor Perry and Sabino's seven-game reached base streaks pace the team, while Yanni sits at six and MacLaren at five.

STEEL CURTAIN

The Panthers have been a solid defensive force this season, boasting the second best fielding percentage in the ACC. Pitt owns a .977 mark, tallying 37 errors, second fewest amongst the 14 ACC schools, adding 1,125 putouts and 422 assists in 1,584 chances.
The Panthers' fielding percentage ranks 33rd in the nation.
In conference play, the Panthers have put up the top defensive numbers in the ACC, owning a .981 percentage. In ACC action, Pitt has committed just 15 errors, a league-best, while tallying 573 putouts and 222 assists in 810 opportunities.

YA! YA!

In his three seasons with the Panthers, closer Yaya Chentouf has been a force, and that trend continues in 2018 as he has already accumulated seven saves on the year.
Chentouf ranks sixth in the league in saves and has already surpassed his single season record of six saves set as a freshman in 2016. Chentouf is Pitt's all-time saves leader, having accumulated 15 in his three year stint.
Opponents struggle against the righty, who has allowed just 10 earned runs off 24 hits and 14 walks in 31.2 innings, whiffing 34 and holding batters to just a .212 average.

#HAMMERTIME

Sophomore Dan Hammer had a rough start to the season, but has turned things around and has been a force for the Panthers over his last three starts.
In his first nine appearances, Hammer held an 11.70 ERA, giving up 26 runs on 27 hits over 20.0 innings. Since then, the sophomore has held a 1.69 ERA, giving up just four runs off of 13 hits, while striking out 16 batters over the course of 21.1 innings.

FRANK'S RED HOT

Redshirt senior Frank Maldonado has led the offensive charge for the majority of the season, taking control of the hitting core with a team-best .304 average. The centerfielder owns a .400 mark with runners in scoring positon to lead the team, owning five game winning RBI on the year.
In two games against Maryland Eastern Shore, Maldonado hit at a .429 mark, tallying five RBI off three hits with one double and one homer and a 1.000 slugging mark.
Maldonado leads the team in ACC play as well, hitting .316 in league action. He has a team-best 16 RBI in ACC play, recording a .474 slugging percentage and .402 on-base mark as one of just five players to earn the start in all 21 ACC contests this year.

JUST BEING FRANK WITH YA

Not just electric on the offensive side of the ball, redshirt senior Frank Maldonado is the rock of the Panther defense, having yet to commit an error this season in 84 chances. Maldonado has made a slew of spectacular plays in centerfield, tallying two assists.
In his career, the Short Hills, N.J., native has committed just two errors, owning a .995 career fielding percentage (384 putouts). It has been 49 games since Maldonado's last miscue, which came on May 8, 2017 in the finale of the Georgia Tech series and snapped a 110-game streak of errorless play.

PITT(CHER) PERFECT

It's been another season of solid pitching for the Panthers as the team owns the ACC's eighth best ERA (3.98) and has been highlighted by some spectacular individual performances. As a group, the Panthers are holding opponents to a miniscule .236 average, seventh in the league.
Redshirt senior Matt Pidich has emerged as the group's leader, holding down the Saturday role with a team-best 2.56 ERA. He has struck out 75 to pace the starting rotation, having tossed a team-high 70.1 frames.
Reliever RJ Freure has been dominant as well, leading the team with a gaudy 77 strikeouts in just 48.0 innings, ranking second in the nation with a 14.44 strikeouts per nine innings mark. His 77 punch outs rank seventh in the ACC and 57th in the country as Pitt is one of just three pitching staffs to have to players ranked in the top 10 in strikeouts in the ACC. Freure is holding opponents to a .201 average, second only to freshman Chase Smith, who has held batters to a .128 average, fourth in the ACC.

WALK IT OUT

The Panthers have accumulated the seventh most walks in the ACC, taking 216 free passes on the season. That number ranks 37th in the nation as Pitt is led by David Yanni, who has recorded 35 walks on the season. In addition to Yanni, four more Panthers have 20 or more walks on the year with Liam Sabino (29), Cole MacLaren (29), Nick Banman (24) and Connor Perry (23) each racking up the free passes.

INTRODUCING THE HOME RUN HELMET

Any time a Pitt batter hits a home run this season, as he crosses the plate fans may notice him sport a gold construction helmet, adorned with the 3-D script P logo and a smattering of numbers of those who have lined one over the wall before. It's the home run helmet.
Dreamt up by redshirt senior Caleb Parry, the Panthers have used the home run helmet 26 times so far this season, on pace for just over 32 dingers. Liam Sabino has seen his number stuck to the helmet a team-best 11 times, while David Yanni sits at five, followed by Frank Maldonado (3), Ron Washington Jr. (3), Nick Banman (2) and Nico Popa (2).

BINO BOMBS

Redshirt junior Liam Sabino has knocked 11 home runs on the season to pace the Panther offense. Sabino's mark ranks seventh in the ACC, as the leader is Kyle McCann (14) of Georgia Tech. Sabino is on pace for nearly 14 homers this season.
On the season, Sabino has tallied two multiple homer games, smacking two against USC Upstate and Saint Peter's.
The Vanderbilt transfer has 12 homers in his career, bringing one from his former team.

UP NEXT

The Panthers return home Tuesday to match up with rival Penn State, closing out non-conference play, opening a seven-game homestand to close out the regular season.
Pitt will return to ACC play that weekend, welcoming perennial powerhouse Louisville to the friendly confines of Charles L. Cost Field.

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Pitt Resumes ACC Play, Heads to Notre Dame

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