Friday, February 23
Spartanburg, S.C.
12 PM
Pitt
vs
Presbyterian
Panthers Prepare for Wofford-USC Upstate Tournament
2/22/2018 3:55:00 PM | Baseball
Pitt to Face Presbyterian, USC Upstate, Seton Hall
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team is gearing up for week two of the 2018 season and is set to face off with Presbyterian, USC Upstate and Seton Hall in the Wofford-USC Upstate Tournament.
Pitt will open the tournament Friday at noon, dueling with Presbyterian before taking on host USC Upstate Saturday at 4 p.m. The tournament will come to an end Sunday at noon as Pitt meets former Big East rival Seton Hall.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Pitt will open the tournament Friday at noon, dueling with Presbyterian before taking on host USC Upstate Saturday at 4 p.m. The tournament will come to an end Sunday at noon as Pitt meets former Big East rival Seton Hall.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats…
- Game one vs. Presbyterian – SIDEARM Sports
- Game two vs. USC Upstate – SIDEARM Sports
- Game three vs. Seton Hall – SIDEARM Sports
- Fans can also follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.
- Pitt (3-1, 0-0 ACC) heads to Spartanburg, S.C., for a three-game stand, taking on Presbyterian (Friday), USC Upstate (Saturday) and Seton Hall (Sunday) at the Wofford-USC Upstate Tournament. Friday and Sunday's game will both take place at Wofford with Saturday's set for USC Upstate.
- The Panthers enter the weekend after a successful trip to the Sunshine State Series at Osceola County Ballpark in Kissimmee, Fla. Pitt captured a pair of wins over Oakland and a lopsided victory over Toledo in the tournament as 15 different players made their Pitt debut on opening weekend.
- Redshirt junior Liam Sabino paced the Pitt offense on the weekend, hitting .412 with a double and a homer, drawing three walks and brining in five. Redshirt sophomore David Yanni led the team with seven RBI, while redshirt senior Frank Maldonado brought home four.
- In the rotation, redshirt senior Matt Pidich is set to go Friday, followed by sophomore Dan Hammer and redshirt junior Blair Calvo. Pidich was stellar in his Opening Day start over Oakland, allowing just one run off three hits, walking two and fanning a career-best seven. Hammer got in a bit of trouble in his debut versus Saint Louis, allowing five runs off seven hits. As a bright spot, he didn't walk a man and struck out seven. Calvo returned to the hill after Tommy John surgery, going 3.0 innings without allowing a run, giving up just one hit and two walks, whiffing five in the finale against Oakland.
- The Blue Hose opened the 2018 season with a four game homestand against La Salle University, splitting the series 2-2, capturing the opening day victory before splitting a Saturday doubleheader and falling in the series finale. Presbyterian would drop back-to-back mid-week meetings with perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt to fall to 2-4 on the year.
- Senior outfielder Nick Wise is proving to be an offensive threat again, leading the team in batting average (.435), slugging percentage (.696) and hits (10), including four doubles and one triple in the series against La Salle.
- Continuing his success from the previous year, sophomore Eric Miles returned to the mound to clinch Presbyterian's first win of the season. He is expected to get the start over the Panthers after going 6.1 innings, allowing three runs, one earned, off four hits, fanning three.
- USC Upstate opened the season with games against Dayton, Kentucky, Fordham and Winthrop, coming away with a record of 2-2-1 with wins over Dayton and Winthrop, falling in a doubleheader to Kentucky and competing to a 4-4, 10-inning draw with Fordham.
- Freshman Kyle Gensler has made an immediate impact on the Spartans' offense with six hits, and is tied with fellow freshman Jeff Taylor for the team lead in batting average (.333).
- Kevin Hickey returned to the rotation for his final season, pitching 5.0 innings against Kentucky. His five strikeouts and 0.00 ERA are tied for the team lead and he is expected to make the start for the Spartans against Pitt.
- The Pirates faced No. 23 NC State in their first series of the season, falling in two close games before coming out on top in final game to avoid the sweep.
- The trio of Sebastiano Santorelli, Mike Alescio and Matt Toke have powered the Pirates' offense so far this season. Santorelli, a junior infielder, has a boastful .455 batting average and .818 slugging percentage.
- Shane McCarthy, Andrew Politi and Rick DeVito all started in Seton Hall's opening weekend, as DeVito earned the call in Sunday's game, throwing just 2.1 innings, surrendering four runs off four hits and three walks with one strikeout.
- The Panthers remain undefeated against the Blue Hose (3-0) in a series dating back to the 1992 season.
- This will be the first time Pitt and Presbyterian have met since the 2014 season, as Pitt captured a 10-9 11-inning victory on the road.
- The last time the two programs met at a neutral site, Pitt earned a 10-4 victory over the Blue Hose on March 9, 1992
- In three games, Pitt has scored double figures in all three outings, outscoring Presbyterian by a mark of 32-16.
- Pitt spilt the series 1-1 with USC Upstate last season, and holds a 3-1 all-time advantage in a series dating back to the 2014 season.
- Last season, Pitt captured a 3-1 victory in the first of a doubleheader in Spartanburg, S.C., before falling 9-5 in game two.
- All four games between the two teams have been played in Spartanburg, where Pitt is outscoring the Spartans 23-16.
- The Panthers sole meeting with the Pirates this season will be the 93rd all-time between the two programs in a series dating back to Big East play, beginning in 1985.
- Seton Hall owns a 65-27 all-time advantage over the Panthers, but Pitt has won seven of the last 10 contests.
- Pitt has not faced Seton Hall since the Big East Tournament in 2013 when a walk-off, two-out double off the bat of Ron Sucre gave the Panthers a 7-6 victory.
- Sophomore Alex Amos brings in a 10-game hit streak, dating back to the 2017 season, the longest of any Panther batter. Redshirt senior Caleb Parry sits at five, followed by David Yanni at three.
- Amos' 21-game reached base streak also paces the Panthers, while Yanni sits at 10 and Frank Maldonado at eight.
- Pitt returns to Osceola County Stadium next weekend for the second Sunshine State Series, taking on Massachusetts, Butler and St. Peter's March 2-6.
- The Panthers kick off ACC play the following weekend, taking on the Hokies of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., March 9-11.
Players Mentioned
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