Friday, April 13
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6 PM
Pitt
vs
Georgia Tech
Pitt Prepares For ACC Clash with Georgia Tech
4/12/2018 4:24:00 PM | Baseball
Panthers, Yellow Jackets Set for Three at Charles L. Cost Field
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team returns to Charles L. Cost Field for a three-game ACC series with Coastal Division rival Georgia Tech this weekend.
The Panthers and Yellow Jackets will get the weekend underway at 6 p.m. Friday with game two set for 3 p.m. Saturday and the finale scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The Panthers and Yellow Jackets will get the weekend underway at 6 p.m. Friday with game two set for 3 p.m. Saturday and the finale scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats will be available for all three games here.
- The series will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
- Fans can also follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.
- Friday – Social Media Night
- The first 200 fans receive a ROCmoji mini baseball helmet
- Contests on Twitter and Instagram with chances to win various prizes
- Sunday – Little League Sunday, Military & First Responders Appreciation
- Postgame autographs and kids can run the bases
- Tickets to all three game can be purchased here or by calling 1-800-643-PITT (7488).
- Pitt (17-13, 6-9) will host Georgia Tech in an ACC Coastal Division battle in a three game series, at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh. The Panthers enter this series after dropping their last two games against Kent State and West Virginia in two mid-week games following their second-straight ACC series win, taking two-of-three from Boston College last weekend.
- Redshirt senior Frank Maldonado leads the offense, hitting .298 on the season. He's tallied 24 RBI on the year, second only to David Yanni (25) and owns a .385 slug mark and a .388 on base percentage. Liam Sabino leads the team with eight homers, tallying 23 RBI and a team-best .598 slug percentage.
- Over the last six games, freshman Ron Washington Jr. is hitting at a .400 clip with a .520 slugging percentage. In those last six, Washington Jr. has recorded one double and one triple with four RBI and is in the midst of a six-game hit streak.
- Redshirt senior Matt Pidich will get the start on the mound for the Panthers on Saturday. He enters the weekend with a 3.28 ERA and a record of 4-1, allowing 17 runs off 48 hits and 11 walks, whiffing 50 batters. Redshirt junior Blair Calvo will get the call Sunday, bringing in a 4.33 ERA and a record of 1-2. He has surrendered 13 runs on 29 hits and 15 walks, striking out 30. Friday's starter is TBD.
- Georgia Tech (20-14, 8-7) heads to Pittsburgh after having its three-game win streak snapped by Georgia State 5-2 Wednesday. The Yellow Jackets are fresh off a stunning series victory over preseason favorite Florida State, including a 16-3 victory in the Sunday finale.
- Five Yellow Jackets are hitting at the .300 mark or above this season, led by Chase Murray (.397). Junior Joey Bart is second on the team average with a .359 adding seven doubles and a team-leading 11 homers. Sophomore Kyle McCann (.337), senior Wade Bailey (.326) and redshirt sophomore Tristin English (.323) have all been significant factors as well.
- Xzavion Curry gets the start on the mound for the Yellow Jackets in the opener, bringing in a record of 6-1 and a 3.00 ERA. Curry has struck out 54 batters this season, walking just 13. Connor Thomas will earn the call on Saturday, owning a 4-3 record and a 3.71 ERA in 48.0 innings of work. Thomas leads Georgia Tech in strikeouts, as he has retired 55 via the K, walking just five in 51.0 innings. Sunday's finale starter is slated to be Tristin English who owns a 2-0 record and a 3.00 ERA in 27.0 innings. English has struck out 23, walking just two all year.
- Georgia Tech holds a 6-5 all-time advantage over Pitt in the series dating back to the 2014 season when the Panthers joined the ACC.
- Last year the Yellow Jackets swept the Panthers in Atlanta. In the last series in Pittsburgh, each team grabbed one win as the two teams played in a two-game rain-shortened series. Pitt is 4-1 versus the Yellow Jackets in Pittsburgh.
- Ron Washington Jr. brings in the team's longest hit streak, sitting at six games. Liam Sabino sits at two, while four other Panthers are bringing in one-game marks.
- Washington Jr.'s six-game reached base streak also paces the group, followed by Cole MacLaren (4) and Sabino (2).
- The Panthers have been a solid defensive force this season, boasting the fourth best fielding percentage in the ACC. Pitt owns a .976 mark, tallying 27 errors, second fewest amongst the 14 ACC schools, adding 798 putouts and 296 assists in 1,121 chances.
- In conference play, the Panthers have put up the top defensive numbers in the ACC, owning a .982 percentage. In ACC action, Pitt has committed just nine errors, a league-best, while tallying 399 putouts and 160 assists in 569 opportunities.
- Frank Maldonado has made his at bats count this season, quickly tallying his way to 24 RBI on the season, the second best mark on the squad. Over the last 16 games, Maldonado is hitting at a .373 clip, having increased his average by .098 points in that stretch. He's tallied six doubles and one homer and owns a .525 slugging percentage and a .529 mark with runners in scoring position over the last 16.
- With a spectacular performance against Virginia in which he amassed nine RBI after hitting at a .556 clip, Maldonado now leads the team with a .298, totaling six doubles and one homer with a .385 slugging percentage and a .388 on base mark.
- Maldonado owns a .424 (14-33) mark with runners in scoring position, boasting a .857 (12-14) percentage with a runner on third and less than two outs, both of which pace the starting group.
- Maldonado also owns four game winning RBI to lead the team.
- 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 five saves on the year.
- Chentouf ranks fourth in the league in saves and is on pace to best his single season record of six set as a freshman in 2016. Chentouf is Pitt's all-time saves leader, having accumulated 13 in his three year stint.
- Opponents struggle against the righty, who owns a team-low 1.88 ERA with just five earned runs off 17 hits and 11 walks in 24.0 innings, whiffing 28 and holding batters to just a .202 average.
- The Friday night long ball has become a commonality for sophomore outfielder Nico Popa as he has jacked a homer in each of the last two Friday night ACC games, sending a three-run shot over the wall in left in the 9th inning against Duke and collecting a solo shot into left in the 8th inning against Virginia.
- 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 17 times so far this season, on pace for 30 dingers, which would match their 2017 total. Liam Sabino has seen his number stuck to the helmet a team-best eight times, while David Yanni is at three, Nico Popa and Nick Banman sit at two and Ron Washington Jr. and Frank Maldonado at one.
- Redshirt junior Liam Sabino has knocked eight home runs on the season to pace the Panther offense. Sabino's mark ranks 5th in the ACC, as the leader is Brett Kinneman (13) of NC State. Sabino is on pace for just over 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 nine homers in his career, bringing one from his former team.
- Sophomore Alex Amos made the highly coveted SportsCenter Top 10 in Pitt's second week of ACC action, as a diving play at the plate earned the second baseman the sixth spot on the countdown.
- Amos dove headfirst over the head of the UNC catcher, tagging home on what appeared to be an out at the plate and joined Pitt softball shortstop Oliva Gray, who also made the list that same night, checking in at No. 10.
- The Panthers will take part in a pair of mid-week games, hosting rival West Virginia at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 17 before traveling to Kent State for a 4 p.m. matchup the following day.
- Pitt will resume ACC play at national powerhouse Miami the following weekend, traveling to Coral Gables April 20-22 in another Coastal Division showdown.
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