University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Travel to Coastal Carolina to Open 2014
2/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 13, 2014
Pitt (0-0, 0-0 ACC) at Coastal Carolina (0-0, 0-0 Big South)
Feb. 14, 2014 • Francis Marion University • Florence, S.C.
Feb. 15-16, 2014 • Pelicans Ballpark • Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Fri: 1 p.m. | Sat: 4 p.m. | Sun: 12 p.m.
Live Stats: www.pittsburghpanthers.com
Live Audio: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/coastal.portal
Twitter/Media Relations: @PittBaseballUD
Twitter/Coaching Staff: @PITTBASEBALL
Notes: Pitt
Series: Coastal Carolina leads, 4-3
Last Meeting: March 2, 2012 in Conway, S.C. | Pitt 3, Coastal Carolina 1
PROBABLE PITCHING
Friday: RHP Matt Wotherspoon (SR/Mountain Top, Pa.) (9-3, 3.70 ERA) vs. LHP Ben Smith (5-4, 2.23 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Rhys Aldenhoven (SR/Victoria, Australia) (8-1, 2.76 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Herb (6-1, 4.15 ERA)
Sunday: TBD vs. LHP Dalton Moats
SERIES INFORMATION
SWEET CAROLINA: Friday afternoon’s contest marks the first three-game set and eighth overall meeting between Pitt and Coastal Carolina since the series commenced in 2005. The Panthers are 3-4 all-time against the Chanticleers, winning the most recent affair, 3-1, on March 2, 2012 when head coach Joe Jordano surpassed Bobby Lewis (1955-90) to become the program’s winningest coach in program history. Only four of Pitt’s 14 returning players have faced Coastal Carolina in their careers—J.R. Leonardi (SR/Pittsburgh, Pa.), Casey Roche (SR/Downingtown, Pa.), Boo Vazquez (JR/Youngstown, Ohio) and Stephen Vranka (SR/Monroeville, Pa.). Pitching coach Jerry Oakes who joined the Panthers’ staff in 2013, was a part of four regular season and conference tournament titles with the Chanticleers from 2009-12 as an assistant coach.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Pitt officially joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) on July 1, 2013 after spending 29 baseball seasons in the Big East. The Panthers are 55-99 (.357 winning percentage) all-time against current members of the ACC and 37-52 (.419 winning percentage) overall under Jordano. The ACC has seen a total of nine programs make regional appearances since 2009, including eight with at least two appearances and six with at least five. The conference has also had the second-most regional appearances (37) and second-most appearances in the College World Series (9) in the past five seasons, with two programs advancing to the collegiate game’s biggest stage in 2013 (North Carolina, a No. 1 national seed, and North Carolina State). Six ACC programs were ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top-25 Coaches’ Poll—No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Virginia, No. 9 North Carolina State, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 16 Clemson and No. 17 Miami (FL).
FORTIFIED AT FORTY-TWO: Pitt set a program record in wins on May 12, 2013 when it defeated Villanova, 10-2, for its 40th victory of the season (also Jordano’s 750th career win) in the Panthers’ final Big East game at Charles L. Cost Field. Pitt finished at 42-17 on the year with an 18-6 conference record, edging the Panthers’ 1995 39-win season and tying their program best in conference wins (originally set in 2010). Last season marked the sixth time in history that Pitt has won 35 or more games (fifth time under Jordano). The Panthers, who swept a program-record eight three-game series in 2013, also posted their best winning percentage (.712) since 1981 (.758, 25-8) to rank 17th in NCAA Division-I baseball. Pitt has held itself at or above .500 in five consecutive seasons (2009-13), two shy of the program record of seven straight seasons (1967-73). The Panthers were one of 35 teams to win more than 40 games last season, placing themselves in the top 11.8 percent at the NCAA Division-I level.
STATISTICAL STANDING: Pitt’s offense ranked seventh nationally in scoring (7.5) and runs (444), 12th in on-base percentage (.403), 16th in slugging percentage (.448) and 20th in home runs (49) last season. In the conference, the Panthers were first in batting average (.302), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, RBI (394), home runs (by a 20-home run margin over Louisville), total bases (926) and walks (292). Pitt was second in hits (625) and doubles (108), tied for third in triples (23) and fifth in stolen bases (72) as well. The Panthers also placed in the Big East’s top five in ERA (3.59)—the program’s best mark since 1981 (3.20)—strikeouts (349) and batting average against (.258). Defensively, Pitt converted 61 double plays on the season to lead the conference and to tie for 10th nationally.
PITT IN THE POLLS: The Panthers were ranked in all five major collegiate baseball polls for the first time in program history in 2013, earning its highest-ever ranking, No. 16, from the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, a No. 21 ranking by Baseball America and a No. 23 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’, NCBWA and Perfect Game top-25 polls. Pitt’s seven weeks in the polls more than doubled its prior-best mark of three weeks set in 2010 and it also held ground in the top-20 for three straight weeks from April 29-May 13. The Panthers finished with a 15-10 record vs. teams ranked or receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Top-40 Poll, including a three-game series sweep over No. 16 Notre Dame on April 12-14 and a 12-inning, 7-6 victory against No. 19 Seton Hall in the Big East Tournament on May 24.
ALL-AMERICAN HONORS FOR ROCHE: Roche was named a 204 Preseason First-Team All-American by the NCBWA in December after delivering a team-leading .339 batting average and conference-leading 65 RBI a season ago. Roche, who hit a career best nine home runs in 2013, was also named a Third-Team All-American by the NCBWA following his extraordinary junior campaign. The slugging senior outfielder owns a .335 batting average, a .417 on-base percentage and a .492 slugging percentage in 151 career games and he is currently sixth on the program’s all-time list in RBI (129) and 13th in hits (185).
SEAMLESS BEGINNINGS: Pitt and Coastal Carolina will compete in the all-time series’ second Opening Day match-up this weekend. The last time the two programs met in the season opener was on Feb. 16, 2007 at Watson Stadium in Conway, S.C. when the Chanticleers defeated the Panthers, 12-5. Dating back to 1998, Pitt has posted a 9-7 overall record on Opening Day, winning three of its last four games. Additionally, the Panthers have won all five of their season-opening three-game series since 2000, including three sweeps against Wichita State (Feb. 15-17, 2013), Maryland-Eastern Shore (Feb. 24-25, 2002) and Mount St. Mary’s (Feb. 26-27, 2000). Pitt has outscored its opponents by 15 runs (47-32) in their last five games on Opening Day, scoring eight or more runs on three occasions.
NON-CONFERENCE? NO PROBLEM: Since the start of the 2008 season, the Panthers have registered a 102-57 record (.642 winning percentage) against non-conference opponents, including a 22-9 showing (.710 winning percentage) in 2013. Pitt averaged 7.9 runs per game vs. non-conference teams last season and outscored their out-of-league opponents by a 244-156 margin (+88). The Panthers have won 15 or more non-conference games in each of the past five seasons and have not fallen below a .615 mark during that stretch. Furthermore, Pitt has won eight consecutive non-conference three-game sets dating back to 2005, with five series resulting in sweeps.
WELCOME BACK, WOTHERSPOON: Wotherspoon was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 20th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft but opted to return for his senior season with the Panthers. Wotherspoon, who has led Pitt in strikeouts in consecutive years, is one of two Panthers in program history to record 85 or more strikeouts in multiple seasons (Billy Muldowney, 2005 & 2006). Last season, the right-handed power pitcher went 9-3 with a 3.71 ERA. He joined former ace Ethan Mildren (2011-13) to become the first duo in Pitt baseball history to log more than 100 innings (107.0) each in the same season and was also a member of the first weekend rotation in program history to have three starting pitchers with eight or more wins in the same season. Wotherspoon is sixth on the Panthers’ all-time list in strikeouts (202) and innings pitched (248.1) and seventh in wins (18).
PANTHER PROSPECTS: Two key members of Pitt’s 2014 roster—Vazquez and Adam Dian (JR/Gibsonia, Pa.)—have been named to prospect watch-lists by nationally accredited publications. Vazquez, a 38th-round selection by the Colorado Rockies out of high school, has been named the No. 67 prospect on Baseball America’s top-100 list. The 6-foot-4, left-handed hitting junior has also been listed by Perfect Game as the No. 11 prospect in the ACC. Dian (2013: 2.33 ERA, 19 SO, 19.1 IP), a junior transfer from Temple, was recognized by Perfect Game as the ACC’s Top Newcomer in addition to being the No. 17 prospect in the conference.
THE BOYS OF WINTER: Pitt is 16-9 (.640 winning percentage) in the month of February in the last five seasons and 34-32 (.515 winning percentage) all-time under Jordano. The Panthers tied their program record for most February victories (originally set in 2010) when it went 5-1 in six games against Wichita State and Wofford. Last season, Pitt had three players with .400-plus batting averages in February—Eric Hess (JR/Erie, Pa.) (.478), Roche (.462) and Steven Shelinsky, Jr. (SR/Furlong, Pa.) (.400). Roche is a .455 career hitter with two home runs and 19 RBI in the month of February, hitting safely in 14 of 15 games played.
ROAD WARRIORS: Pitt has posted a 75-61 record (.551 winning percentage) away from home since 2010, in addition to going 17-12 (.586 winning percentage) away from Charles L. Cost Field last season. Individually, the Panthers have several integral players that thrived on the road in 2013, both at the plate and out of the bullpen. Vranka led all returning players with a .350 batting average (43-for-123), Shelinsky, Jr. batted .348 (31-for-89) with six home runs and 22 RBI and Roche tallied a .322 mark (37-for-115) with three home runs and 36 RBI. On the mound, Pitt was led by Jon Danielczyk’s (SR/Erie, Pa.) 3.00 ERA (15.0 innings) as well as Leonardi’s 3.65 ERA and 2-1 record in 24.2 innings pitched.
THREE-FOR-THREE: Roche, Vazquez and Vranka will once again anchor the Panthers’ outfield in 2014, becoming the first three players since John Schultz (2009-11) to make three consecutive Opening Day lineup appearances for Pitt in the past six seasons. The veteran trio has combined for 399 hits and a .319 batting average with 23 home runs and 226 RBI in the last two seasons, accounting for 33.8 percent of the team’s hits and 33.5 percent of the team’s RBI during that span.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Joseph Harvey (JR/Audobon, Pa.) has eight career saves and needs just three more to tie Joe Leonard (11, 2008-10) for the most in program history.
• Leonardi (64) is five appearances away from tying Alex Caravella (69, 2010-13) for first on the program’s all-time list.
• Roche is one RBI away from being the fourth-fastest player to 130 RBI in program history, currently sitting at 129 RBI in 151 games played. He is also four games started shy of 150, 15 hits shy of 200 and 21 RBI shy of 150 in his career.
• Vazquez is six hits away from having 125 in his career as well as nine games started away from having 100 in his two-plus years with the Panthers.
• Vranka is four runs away from having 150, eight at-bats away from 500 and 11 hits away from 150 in his career.
• Wotherspoon is 1.2 innings shy of 250.0 in his career. He also needs two more winning decisions to become the sixth player in program history to reach 20 victories in their career.
