Saturday, April 7
Brighton, Mass.
1 PM
Pitt
at
Boston College
Pitt Hits the Road for Three at Boston College
4/5/2018 5:40:00 PM | Baseball
Panthers Look to Continue ACC Hot Streak
PITTSBURGH – Riding a three-game win streak, including two straight in ACC play, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team will hit the road for three games, traveling to Brighton, Mass., for a weekend series with Boston College.
The Panthers and Eagles will kick things off Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. meeting on Saturday. The finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
The Panthers and Eagles will kick things off Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. meeting on Saturday. The finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats will be available for all three games here.
- Fans can also follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.
- Pitt (15-10, 4-8 ACC) will travel to Brighton, Mass., to face ACC rival Boston College in a three game stint at Commander Shea Field, the new home of the Eagles. The Panthers enter the weekend on a three-game win-streak, having muscled out a pair of wins over Virginia to take last weekend's ACC series, before downing Youngstown State 9-5 in a Tuesday mid-week.
- Over the last 11 games, redshirt senior Frank Maldonado has gone 20-43 (.465), including five doubles, 14 RBI, an on base percentage if .511 and a slugging percentage of .651. In the Virginia series, Maldonado hit .556 (5-9) with nine RBI, a .889 slugging percentage and a .667 on base percentage.
- Liam Sabino continues to lead the Panthers' offense, hitting .341 with a team-best nine doubles and seven homers. He ranks second in the ACC with a .670 slug percentage and owns a .461 on base mark, which ranks seventh in the league.
- Redshirt senior Matt Pidich will take the mound on Saturday for the Panthers as he enters the weekend with a 3-1 record and an ERA of 3.48. In 41.1 innings, Pidich has struck out 42 batters, walking just nine. Redshirt junior Blair Calvo will get the start Sunday, entering the matchup with record of 1-1 and a 4.07 ERA. In 24.1 innings, he's whiffed 27, walking 14. Friday's starter is TBD.
- Boston College (9-17, 4-8 ACC) enters the weekend in the midst of a six game skid, dropping a pair of mid-weeks before being swept last weekend by national powerhouse Clemson and falling in its Wednesday meeting with Harvard. The Eagles took a series from Virginia Tech (2-1) the week before and have captured wins over Virginia and nationally-ranked NC State as well.
- Three Eagles are hitting above the .300 clip, as Jake Palomanski paces the group with a .373 average, second best in the ACC. He has tallied a team-best 10 doubles and 19 RBI, adding one triple and two homers with a .536 slug percentage. Brian Dempsey (.337) and Chris Galland (.326) have also significantly aided the Eagles' offense.
- Jacob Stevens will take the mound for the Eagles on Friday, heading into this matchup with a record of 3-3 with a 3.96 ERA. He's allowed 17 runs off 36 hits and 13 walks, fanning 43. Saturday, Dan Metzdorf will get the nod, coming into the outing with a record of 0-4 with a 6.10 ERA. He has surrendered 21 runs off 43 hits and 14 walks, whiffing 29. Rapp will get the start in the finale, entering action with a record of 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA. He has allowed 19 runs off 31 hits and 18 walks, striking out a team-best 45.
- Pitt holds a 26-24 record over Boston College all-time in a series that dates back to the 1990 season. The Panthers are 4-2 over the Eagles in ACC play and have won four of the last five matchups.
- Pitt last faced Boston College in a three-game series in Pittsburgh in 2016 as the Panthers took two from the Eagles at Charles L. Cost Field.
- Alex Amos brings in Pitt's longest hit streak, dating back seven games. Frank Maldonado sits at four, while both Connor Perry and Liam Sabino have hits in two games straight.
- Sabino's nine-game reached base streak is the team's longest. Amos and Cole MacLaren sit at seven, while Maldonado sits at four.
- The Panthers have been a solid defensive force this season, boasting the third best fielding percentage in the ACC. Pitt owns a .976 mark, tallying a league-low 22 errors adding 657 putouts and 238 assists in 917 chances.
- In conference play, the Panthers have put up the top defensive numbers in the ACC, owning a .980 percentage. In ACC action, Pitt has committed just nine errors, a league-best, while tallying 309 putouts and 122 assists in 440 opportunities.
- Since joining the Pitt offense after sitting out the entirety of the 2017 season due to NCAA transfer rules, redshirt junior Liam Sabino has been a force to be reckoned with for the Panthers. Sabino is hitting at a .341 clip, leading the team with nine doubles and seven homers as well as 21 RBI, behind only David Yanni (24) and Frank Maldonado (23). Sabino owns a .670 slugging percentage, which currently ranks 44th in the nation and second in the ACC.
- Sabino is also 13-of-14 in stolen bases on the season, swiping 0.52 per game, a mark that ranks 38th in the NCAA.
- Frank Maldonado has made his at bats count this season, quickly tallying his way to 21 RBI on the season, the second best mark on the squad. Over the last 11 games, Maldonado is hitting at a .456 clip, having increased his average by .130 points in that stretch. He's tallied five doubles and owns a .651 slugging percentage and a .643 mark with runners in scoring position over the last 11.
- With a spectacular performance against Virginia in which he amassed nine RBI after hitting at a .556 clip, Maldonado now ranks second on the team with a .330 average, totaling five doubles and one homer with a .420 slugging percentage and a .394 on base mark.
- Maldonado owns a .467 (14-30) 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.
- 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 third 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 1.96 ERA with just four earned runs off 11 hits and nine walks in 18.1 innings, whiffing 22 and holding batters to just a .169 average.
- The Friday night long ball has become a commonality for sophomore outfielder Nico Popa over the past two weeks. Popa 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 15 times so far this season, on pace for 32 dingers, two more than the 2017 total. Liam Sabino has seen his number stuck to the helmet a team-best seven times, while David Yanni, Nico Popa and Nick Banman sit at two and Ron Washington Jr. and Frank Maldonado at one.
- Redshirt junior Liam Sabino has knocked seven home runs on the season to pace the Panther offense. Sabino's mark ranks sixth in the ACC, as the leader is Brett Kinneman (12) 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 eight 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.
- Pitt will compete in just its second home mid-week game on Tuesday, welcoming regional power Kent State to Charles L. Cost Field at 6 p.m. A Wednesday meeting at West Virginia will follow.
- Pitt resumes ACC play that weekend, hosting Georgia Tech in a three-game tilt at Cost Field April 13-15.
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