Pitt Opens Seven-Game Homestand with Penn State

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team opens a seven-game homestand Tuesday, welcoming rival Penn State to Charles L. Cost Field for its final non-conference game of the 2018 season.

The Panthers and Nittany Lions are set to get underway at 6 p.m. Tuesday, meeting for the first time in 2018 after the first of the scheduled home-and-home series was cancelled due to inclement weather.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Live stats will be available here.
The series can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
Fans can also follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.

PROMOTIONS

The first 100 fans will receive a replica Pitt baseball jersey tshirt
It's Taco Tuesday! Special deals on walking tacos at the concession stand

LEADING OFF

Pitt (26-19, 11-13 ACC) begins a seven-game homestand that will conclude the 2018 regular season, hosting rival Penn State in the lone meeting between the two teams. Pitt and Penn State were originally scheduled to take part in a home-and-home series, but saw the March 21 game cancelled due to inclement weather.
The Panthers enter the game after dropping their first ACC series in five attempts, taking one game from Notre Dame on the road. Pitt fell in the first two games of the weekend series before battling back to capture the finale 8-7 thanks to a pair of homers from Nick Banman.
Redshirt senior Frank Maldonado continues to pace the offense, hitting at a .294 clip with a team-best 37 RBI. Maldonado has collected eight doubles and four homers on the season, owning a .419 slugging mark and a.376 on base percentage. Freshman Ron Washington Jr. has been a significant contributor in his rookie campaign, hitting .285 with a .406 slug mark, while Liam Sabino is tied with Maldonado with 37 RBI and owns a team-best .569 slugging percentage, including a team-best 12 homers. Freshman Chris Cappas has been hot of late, hitting .304 in his 30 games, tallying 17 hits and 12 RBI, adding a .406 on base mark.
Redshirt sophomore Derek West is set to get the start on the mound, his ninth start of the season. West brings in a record of 2-4 with a 4.05 ERA since returning from back-to-back missed seasons due to injury. The right hander has allowed 15 earned runs off 27 hits and 17 walks in 33.1 innings, striking out 33 and holding opponents to a .225 average.

SCOUTING PENN STATE

Penn State (11-29, 3-17 Big 10) enters the mid-week matchup off a series win against conference-rival Michigan State, taking game one by a dominating score of 13-1 and the first game of a Saturday doubleheader 6-1 before falling to the Spartans 6-4 in the finale.
Juniors Ryan Sloniger and Jordan Bowersock have led the Nittany Lions offense this season. Sloniger, who is hitting a team-high .309, has 43 hits and 24 RBI with 22 walks. Blowersox leads the team with 48 hits and 25 runs across 40 games, one of only two players who has played in every game this season.
Eric Mock will make his third start on the mound for Penn State, bringing in a 1-1 record and 7.66 ERA. Mock has given up 30 hits, 22 runs and 12 walks while fanning 29 over the course of 22.1 innings.

SERIES WITH PENN STATE

The Nittany Lions own a 69-29-1 all-time advantage over the Panthers in a series dating back to the 1939 season.
The Panthers and Nittany Lions squared off twice last season, with Pitt capturing both meetings. In the first meeting, the Panthers edged Penn State 3-2 at Charles L. Cost Field and moved on to collect a resounding 9-1 win in State College, Pa. a few weeks later.

WHO'S STREAKING

Caleb Parry brings in the team's longest hit-streak with six, his longest streak of the season. Parry is followed by Chris Cappas with five and Frank Maldonado with two, while six Panther batters sit at one.
Connor Perry and Liam Sabino lead the team with 10-game reached base streaks, while David Yanni brings in nine and Cole MacLaren eight.

BREAKING RECORDS

The Panthers have tallied 11 wins in ACC play this season, tying the program record for ACC victories in a single season.
Pitt last tallied 11 wins in its inaugural season in the league, going 11-19 in 2014, which included a sweep of Duke and nationally-ranked Georgia Tech, as well as a win over then top-ranked Virginia and nationally-ranked North Carolina and Clemson.

FREURE ON FIRE

Sophomore RJ Freure (4-1) has been the leader out of the bullpen this season, giving up owning a 4.03 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 51.1 innings.
Freure's 85 punch outs ranks seventh in the ACC and 50th in the nation, while also holding the number 10 spot in program history for strikeouts in a single season.
This year, Freure has fanned 33 batters looking, good for second in the ACC.
Freure currently ranks second in the country in strikeouts per nine innings, with a 14.90 mark.

FRESHMEN LEAD THE WAY

Freshmen Ron Washington Jr. and Chris Cappas are leading the Panthers offense in ACC play this season, both hitting above the .300 mark in league action.
Cappas, who is hitting a team-best .357 against ACC teams, is currently on a season-high five game hit-streak, after going 6-11 at Notre Dame.
Washington Jr. has appeared in all but one ACC game, batting .311 with 28 hits, 13 RBI and a .467 slugging percentage. In the series opener against Miami, Washington Jr. went 3-4 including a ninth inning home run to capture the 2-1 win for the Panthers.

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 39 errors, second fewest amongst the 14 ACC schools, adding 1,200 putouts and 451 assists in 1,690 chances.
The Panthers' fielding percentage ranks 32nd 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 17 errors, a league-best, while tallying 648 putouts and 251 assists in 916 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 11 earned runs off 27 hits and 14 walks in 33.0 innings, whiffing 25 and holding batters to just a .225 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 2.96 ERA, giving up just nine runs off of 21 hits, while striking out 25 batters over the course of 27.1 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 .294 average. The centerfielder owns a .392 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.
In ACC action, Maldonado is hitting at a .295 mark, behind just Ron Washington Jr. amongst starters. He has a team-best 20 RBI in league action, owning a .466 slugging percentage and a .398 on base percentage, which leads the team. He's tallied six doubles and three homers in ACC outings.

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 86 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 (386 putouts). It has been 52 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 ninth best ERA (4.21) and has been highlighted by some spectacular individual performances. As a group, the Panthers are holding opponents to a miniscule .241 average, 10th in the league.
Redshirt senior Matt Pidich has emerged as the group's leader, holding down the Saturday role with a team-best 2.85 ERA. He has struck out 80 to pace the starting rotation, having tossed a team-high 75.2 frames.
Reliever RJ Freure has been dominant as well, leading the team with a gaudy 85 strikeouts in just 51.1 innings, ranking second in the nation with a 14.90 strikeouts per nine innings mark. His 85 punch outs rank seventh in the ACC and 50th in the country as Pitt is one of just three pitching staffs to have two players ranked in the top 10 in strikeouts in the ACC. Freure is holding opponents to a .213 average, second only to freshman Chase Smith, who has held batters to a .136 average, third in the ACC.

WALK IT OUT

The Panthers have accumulated the seventh most walks in the ACC, taking 234 free passes on the season. That number ranks 30th in the nation as Pitt is led by David Yanni, who has recorded 38 walks on the season. In addition to Yanni, four more Panthers have 20 or more walks on the year with Cole MacLaren (35), Liam Sabino (30), Connor Perry (25) and Nick Banman (24) 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 30 times so far this season, on pace for about 35 dingers. Liam Sabino has seen his number stuck to the helmet a team-best 12 times, while David Yanni sits at five, followed by Frank Maldonado (4), Nick Banman (4) Ron Washington Jr. (3) and Nico Popa (2).

BINO BOMBS

Redshirt junior Liam Sabino has knocked 12 home runs on the season to pace the Panther offense. Sabino's mark ranks fourth in the ACC, as the leader is Kyle McCann (14) of Georgia Tech. Sabino is on pace for nearly 14 homers this season.
Sabino's mark ranks 13th in program history for homers in a single season with Chris Sedon (22) holding the record.
On the season, Sabino has tallied two multiple homer games, smacking two against USC Upstate and Saint Peter's.
The Vanderbilt transfer has 13 homers in his career, bringing one from his former team.

UP NEXT

The Panthers return to ACC play this weekend, welcoming perennial powerhouse Louisville to Charles L. Cost Field. The Panthers and Cardinals will get thing started Friday at 6 p.m. with game two set for Saturday at 3 p.m. and the finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
Pitt closes out the regular season the following weekend, hosting nationally-ranked Clemson in a three-game series, set to get underway Thursday.

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Pitt Opens Seven-Game Homestand with Penn State

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