Panthers Make Inaugural Visit to Clemson

March 31, 2016

Pitt Game Notes | Clemson Game Notes

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team takes the road for a tough stretch, heading to Clemson, S.C., for a three-game stand with the 14th-ranked Clemson Tigers.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday with 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Live stats provided by ClemsonTigers.com
A live video and/or audio stream of the game will be available here

LEADING OFF

Pitt (12-9-0, 4-5-0 ACC) hits the road after a two-week homestand, traveling to Clemson, S.C., for a three-game series with No. 14 Clemson (19-6-0, 5-4-0 ACC)
The Panthers enter the game after an offensive downpour in a 13-5 victory over regional foe Kent State on Wednesday
Pitt has rattled off three straight victories, including a pair of ACC wins in a series victory over Boston College last weekend
The Tigers captured a pair of mid-week victories with a 9-7 decision over Furman on Tuesday and a 10-8 win over Western Carolina on Wednesday

SCOUTING CLEMSON

The Tigers had a tough go of it in their previous ACC battle, as they were sept by No. 2 Miami on the road last weekend to fall to 5-4-0 in ACC play
Clemson currently checks in in the top 25 in each of the four major national polls, as No. 14 in the D1Baseball.com poll, 24th according to the NCBWA, 22nd in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and 25th according to PerfectGame.com
True freshman Seth Beer has been dominant on a national scene, ranking in the top 25 in seven categories and leading the NCAA in slugging percentage with a mark of .936, in addition, Beer posts a .423 average, with 33 hits, 11 home runs and 30 RBI
On the bump, Clate Schmidt has posted a 3.56 ERA in six starts, surrendering 29 hits and 14 walks with 12 earned runs and 30 strikeouts over 30.1 innings pitched, while Saturday starter Charlie Burns has earned a 4.01 ERA with 29 hits, 15 earned runs, 11 walks and 36 strikeouts over 33.2 innings pitched

SERIES WITH CLEMSON

Clemson owns a 2-1 all-time advantage as the two programs met for the first time in a three-game series in 2014
The then 20th-rankedClemson captured a 3-2 11-inning victory in the opening game and a 3-0 win in game two
Pitt captured a 13-4 decision in the series finale to snap an eight-game skid
This will be the first trip to Clemson for Pitt in program history

STREAKING

A trio of Panther batters have hit in back-to-back outings as Nick Yarnall, Alex Kowalczyk and P.J. DeMeo bring two game streaks into the weekend
Yarnall and Charles Leblanc have both reached the 10-game mark this season as Ron Sherman has posted a nine-game streak
Aaron Schnurbusch leads the way for Pitt with an 11-game reached-base streak, while DeMeo has touched safely in nine consecutive outings
Yarnall paces the Panthers with a 13 game stretch on the season, while both David Yanni and Leblanc have reached the 10-game mark

SANDEFUR COPS ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK RECOGNITION

Following a record setting performance in the second game of the series with Boston College, senior Aaron Sandefur was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week
Sandefur retired a career-high 12 Eagle batters, the most ever by a Pitt pitcher at Charles L. Cost Field
Just as impressive, Sandefur shutout the Eagles, tossing a complete game without surrendering a walk and allowing just five hits

BYE BYE BYE

The Panthers’ offense was dominant in a 13-5 win over Kent State on Wednesday, March 30 as Pitt had a pair of players with two home runs and three players with three or more home runs
Both Alex Kowalczyk and Ron Sherman went yard twice in the outing, as Kowalczyk recorded his sixth and seventh homers of the season and Sherman marked his fourth and fifth bombs of the year
In addition to Kowalczyk’s five RBIs and Sherman’s three, shortstop Charles Leblanc posted three of his own with a two-RBI double in the second inning and a single in the sixth

UP NEXT

The Panthers will then travel to Penn State for a mid-week meeting with the Nittany Lions before returning to Pittsburgh for a three-game stand with ACC foe Georgia Tech

Panthers Make Inaugural Visit to Clemson

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