Tuesday, April 17
Pittsburgh, Pa.
6 PM
Pitt
vs
West Virginia
Pitt Prepares for Mid-Week Tilts with West Virginia, Kent State
4/16/2018 4:46:00 PM | Baseball
Pat Narduzzi to Throw Out First Pitch Tuesday
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team will take on West Virginia and Kent State in a pair of mid-week contests for the second straight week, hosting the Mountaineers Tuesday before traveling to the Golden Flashes Wednesday.
Pitt and West Virginia are set for a 6 p.m. first pitch Tuesday at Charles L. Cost Field, as Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi will be on hand to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. The Panthers will travel to Kent, Ohio the following day, taking on the Golden Flashes at 4 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Pitt and West Virginia are set for a 6 p.m. first pitch Tuesday at Charles L. Cost Field, as Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi will be on hand to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. The Panthers will travel to Kent, Ohio the following day, taking on the Golden Flashes at 4 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats will be available for both games.
- Tuesday's matchup with West Virginia 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.
- Tuesday's game will serve as the Panthers Unite outing for the baseball team, as all of Pitt's student athletes are encouraged to attend the outing.
- Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi will throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
- Tickets to Tuesday's can be purchased here or by calling 1-800-643-PITT (7488).
- Pitt (19-14, 8-10 ACC) returns to action Tuesday at Charles L. Cost Field, facing West Virginia in the second of two Backyard Brawls before traveling to Kent State to face the Golden Flashes Wednesday.
- The Panthers come in to the pair of mid-weeks off of a huge series win against ACC Coastal Division rival Georgia Tech. Pitt dropped a 7-3 ninth inning heartbreaker on Friday, before fighting back to take a dramatic 4-3, 14-inning victory on Saturday and a 6-5 win on Sunday. Pitt has now won three consecutive ACC series for the first time since joining the league in 2014.
- Frank Maldonado continues to power the Panther offense, hitting .316 on the season with 36 hits and 27 RBI, tallying a .421 slugging percentage and a .402 on base mark. Liam Sabino remains a persistent threat to opponents, leading the team with 37 hits, nine homers and a .583 slugging percentage.
- Redshirt sophomore Derek West (1-3) will get the start on the mound for the Panthers against West Virginia. West holds a 5.32 ERA, having pitched 23.2 innings while giving up 21 hits, walking 13 and striking out 23. Wednesday's starter is TBD.
- West Virginia (16-17, 2-7 Big 12) enters the game having dropped a home series with Big 12 foe Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers dropped game one 7-4, and were able to grab a win in game two by a score of 10-7 before falling to the Cowboys in the rubber match 6-4.
- Junior Darius Hill has been an offensive force for the Mountaineers this season, hitting at a .296 clip while leading the team in runs (21) and hits (42). Kyle Gray has also been impactful, boasting a .609 slugging percentage with 20 runs, 37 hits and 16 RBI. Gray is tied for the team-lead in home runs with six.
- Isaiah Kearns is once again expected to start for the Mountaineers against the Panthers, bringing in a record of 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA. Kearns has tossed 17.2 innings, making four starts in six appearances. He's allowed just five runs off 17 hits and 13 walks, fanning 19. He earned the win over the Panthers in last week's meeting.
- West Virginia holds an all-time advantage of 83-73-0 over the Panthers in a series dating back to the 1939 season.
- Pitt traveled to West Virginia last week, falling to the Mountaineers 12-1 in Morgantown, W.Va., as Pitt tallied just four hits with its lone run coming off a Liam Sabino solo homer in the 6th.
- The Golden Flashes swept MAC rival Northern Illinois this past weekend, with three resounding victories. Kent State has been hot lately, having won six in a row and 10 of its last 11 games. The Golden Flashes are set to travel to Bowling Green to face the Falcons on Tuesday before meeting the Panthers at Olga A. Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium in Kent, Ohio.
- Mason Mamarella and Nick Kanavas, both redshirt seniors, have led the offensive charge for Kent State. Mamarella leads the team with 35 runs and a .363 batting average, and holds a .486 on base percentage. Kanavas, who is hitting .351, good for second on the team, has a team leading 47 hits.
- Southpaw Jared Skolnicki will start for the Golden Flashes on the bump. He brings in a 2-1 record with a 5.40 ERA, having tossed 26.2 innings. He's allowed 16 off 36 hits and seven walks, fanning 27.
- Kent State holds a 39-27 record over Pitt all-time in a series dating back to the 1951 season.
- The Golden Flashes traveled to Pittsburgh last Tuesday to face Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field, grabbing a 4-1 victory.
- Ron Washington Jr. brings in the team's longest hit streak, sitting at nine, while Liam Sabino comes in at five. David Yanni and Frank Maldonado both bring in three-game marks.
- Washington Jr. also holds the team's longest reached base streak with nine, followed by Cole MacLaren with seven and Liam Sabino at five.
- 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 29 errors, second fewest amongst the 14 ACC schools, adding 894 putouts and 336 assists in 1,257 chances.
- In conference play, the Panthers have put up the top defensive numbers in the ACC, owning a .983 percentage. In ACC action, Pitt has committed just 12 errors, a league-best, while tallying 495 putouts and 198 assists in 705 opportunities.
- Frank Maldonado has made his at bats count this season, quickly tallying his way to a team-best 27 RBI. Over the last 19 games, Maldonado is hitting at a .391 clip, having increased his average by .116 points in that stretch. He's tallied six doubles and two homers and owns a .565 slugging percentage over the last 19.
- 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 .316 average, totaling six doubles and two homers with a .421 slugging percentage and a .402 on base mark.
- Maldonado owns a .441 (15-34) 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 five 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 six saves on the year.
- Chentouf ranks fourth in the league in saves and has already tied his single season record of six saves set as a freshman in 2016. Chentouf is Pitt's all-time saves leader, having accumulated 14 in his three year stint.
- Opponents struggle against the righty, who has allowed just nine earned runs off 21 hits and 13 walks in 26.1 innings, whiffing 30 and holding batters to just a .226 average.
- 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 20 times so far this season, on pace for 32 dingers, two more than their 2017 total. Liam Sabino has seen his number stuck to the helmet a team-best nine times, while David Yanni is at three, Frank Maldonado, Ron Washington Jr., Nico Popa and Nick Banman sit at two.
- Redshirt junior Liam Sabino has knocked nine home runs on the season to pace the Panther offense. Sabino's mark ranks 6th 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 10 homers in his career, bringing one from his former team.
- Pitt will resume ACC play at national powerhouse Miami this weekend, traveling to Coral Gables April 20-22 in another Coastal Division showdown.
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