University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics
Baseball Fall Focus: Another Big Win Against Youngstown State
10/8/2019 5:00:00 PM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team had another successful fall home victory last Saturday, defeating Youngstown State 17-2. Panthers' head coach Mike Bell was once again really proud of the effort and energy that his team brought onto the diamond.
Free Bases for the Panthers
A big reason why the Panthers have scored 30 runs in their two fall games has been their ability to draw walks. After collecting 11 walks against Akron in the first game, Pitt registered 14 against Youngstown State. With big scoring innings early on against the Penguins, the Panthers had at least two walks in all but one inning where they scored, including five in the fifth that resulted in five runs being scored.
The Panthers only had six games last spring with double-digit walk totals, with 15 being the season-high in the season-opener against Villanova.
"One thing I thought that we did a good job of was taking what their pitchers gave us," said Bell. "That's always our offensive approach, whether we're trying to build an inning or be aggressive with guys in scoring position. Coach Megahee has done a great job of really infusing an offensive system that takes advantage of pitchers' mistakes and wears down the pitching staff. When a pitcher's making quality pitches, we have to continue to own the strike zone, foul off pitches and drive the baseball when given the opportunity. Baserunners come in different ways; whether its walks, hits or hit by pitches. Add in timely hitting, regardless of how many outs, you have the opportunity to create big innings through baserunners."
Popa Doing It All
Nico Popa played a huge part in knocking in his teammates who were able to get on base with all of the walks and other hits. He loaded the bases with a single, hit a three-run homer in his next at-bat and then brought home two more runners with a triple to left center all by the third inning. He finished just a double shy of the cycle as well as notching a walk.
Popa is looking to expand on a breakout junior season where he was the Panthers' top hitter. He earned ABCA/Rawlings All-Region honors last spring after batting a team-high .353 to go along with 15 doubles, five triples, eight home runs and 39 RBI.
"It was kind of a neat thing for Nico," said Bell. "As someone who has worked extremely hard in the past year, he's turned his game into an offensive weapon, as well as a defensive weapon with his speed in the outfield. But on a scout day in front of 30 major league teams, he seized the opportunity to have some quality at-bats, drive the baseball and use all fields. Just a great job by him of taking advantage of that opportunity with all the scouts in attendance."
First Innings for the Veteran Arms
After the newcomers and young arms saw most of the action on the mound in the fall opener, Pitt's veterans made their fall debuts. Mitch Meyers, Chris Cappas, Chris Gomez, David Moore and Billy Corcoran each threw scoreless innings in their first action, and redshirt-senior Grant Powell once again retired the side in his second appearance.
Myers started and struck out two. Cappas followed with three strikeouts, and Gomez and Powell each had two. Moore (five pitches) and Corcoran (nine) retired the side on single-digit pitch counts.
"We mapped it out as an opportunity for all our draft eligible guys to throw first, as well as some of our returning sophomores that we know are going to be relied on heavily," said Bell. "I thought they did a great job of attacking the zone, and then when they did have advantage counts, they expanded the zone to get the swing and miss; whether it was an elevated fastball, breaking ball, or the mix of three pitches. I really liked the tempo our guys set. I thought Meyers was outstanding from the get-go, attacking the zone, but also, he really stepped his game up from a day-to-day with what he has done in the fall. It was really nice to see him go out and attack. I thought Cappas and the rest of the guys did the same. Ultimately, it goes back to strike one and commanding two and three pitches from strikes from up and down the lineup. For the most part they did a good job of that."
Up Next: Blue-Gold Series
Pitt concludes the fall season with its annual Blue-Gold Series, a three-game intrasquad meeting on Oct. 9-11 with first pitch set for approximately noon for each day.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Free Bases for the Panthers
A big reason why the Panthers have scored 30 runs in their two fall games has been their ability to draw walks. After collecting 11 walks against Akron in the first game, Pitt registered 14 against Youngstown State. With big scoring innings early on against the Penguins, the Panthers had at least two walks in all but one inning where they scored, including five in the fifth that resulted in five runs being scored.
The Panthers only had six games last spring with double-digit walk totals, with 15 being the season-high in the season-opener against Villanova.
"One thing I thought that we did a good job of was taking what their pitchers gave us," said Bell. "That's always our offensive approach, whether we're trying to build an inning or be aggressive with guys in scoring position. Coach Megahee has done a great job of really infusing an offensive system that takes advantage of pitchers' mistakes and wears down the pitching staff. When a pitcher's making quality pitches, we have to continue to own the strike zone, foul off pitches and drive the baseball when given the opportunity. Baserunners come in different ways; whether its walks, hits or hit by pitches. Add in timely hitting, regardless of how many outs, you have the opportunity to create big innings through baserunners."
Popa Doing It All
Nico Popa played a huge part in knocking in his teammates who were able to get on base with all of the walks and other hits. He loaded the bases with a single, hit a three-run homer in his next at-bat and then brought home two more runners with a triple to left center all by the third inning. He finished just a double shy of the cycle as well as notching a walk.
Popa is looking to expand on a breakout junior season where he was the Panthers' top hitter. He earned ABCA/Rawlings All-Region honors last spring after batting a team-high .353 to go along with 15 doubles, five triples, eight home runs and 39 RBI.
"It was kind of a neat thing for Nico," said Bell. "As someone who has worked extremely hard in the past year, he's turned his game into an offensive weapon, as well as a defensive weapon with his speed in the outfield. But on a scout day in front of 30 major league teams, he seized the opportunity to have some quality at-bats, drive the baseball and use all fields. Just a great job by him of taking advantage of that opportunity with all the scouts in attendance."
First Innings for the Veteran Arms
After the newcomers and young arms saw most of the action on the mound in the fall opener, Pitt's veterans made their fall debuts. Mitch Meyers, Chris Cappas, Chris Gomez, David Moore and Billy Corcoran each threw scoreless innings in their first action, and redshirt-senior Grant Powell once again retired the side in his second appearance.
Myers started and struck out two. Cappas followed with three strikeouts, and Gomez and Powell each had two. Moore (five pitches) and Corcoran (nine) retired the side on single-digit pitch counts.
"We mapped it out as an opportunity for all our draft eligible guys to throw first, as well as some of our returning sophomores that we know are going to be relied on heavily," said Bell. "I thought they did a great job of attacking the zone, and then when they did have advantage counts, they expanded the zone to get the swing and miss; whether it was an elevated fastball, breaking ball, or the mix of three pitches. I really liked the tempo our guys set. I thought Meyers was outstanding from the get-go, attacking the zone, but also, he really stepped his game up from a day-to-day with what he has done in the fall. It was really nice to see him go out and attack. I thought Cappas and the rest of the guys did the same. Ultimately, it goes back to strike one and commanding two and three pitches from strikes from up and down the lineup. For the most part they did a good job of that."
Up Next: Blue-Gold Series
Pitt concludes the fall season with its annual Blue-Gold Series, a three-game intrasquad meeting on Oct. 9-11 with first pitch set for approximately noon for each day.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
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