Friday, February 22
Orlando, Fla.
1 PM
Pitt
vs
Coastal Carolina
Pitt Heads to Orlando for UCF Knights Classic
2/21/2019 2:26:00 PM | Softball
Panthers to Face Coastal Carolina, Penn State and UCF
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh softball team will head to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the UCF Knights Classic beginning Friday, Feb. 22.
THE SCHEDULE
HOW TO FOLLOW
TOURNAMENT TICKETS
LAST TIME OUT
2018 SEASON IN REVIEW
FACING A STRONG SCHEDULE
A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP
INTRODUCING THE STAFF
RUNNING IT BACK
NEW IN TOWN
FRESH FACES
GRAY GOT GAME
SOLAK SENDING 'EM IN
HOT START FOR HORRELL
LOOK OUT FOR LEVESQUE
PAVLICK PUTTING UP NUMBERS
THE SERIES – COASTAL CAROLINA
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
THE SERIES – PENN STATE
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
THE SERIES – UCF
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
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THE SCHEDULE
- Pitt will open up the tournament on Friday with two contests, facing Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m. before clashing with host-school UCF at 6 p.m.
- On Saturday, the Panthers will play a rematch against Coastal Carolina at 12:30 p.m. and UCF at 5:30 p.m.
- Pitt will close out the tournament on Sunday, facing in-state rival Penn State at 9:30 a.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats will be available for all games.
- Video will be available for games against UCF on a subscription-based service.
- Fans can also follow @Pitt_SB on Twitter for live in-game updates.
TOURNAMENT TICKETS
- Fans planning on attending the tournament can purchase tickets online or on-site.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Panthers fell to Nebraska, 16-2 (5), Sunday, Feb. 17 in their last contest of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Raleigh, N.C.
- Pitt dropped each of its four contests on the weekend, falling to 1-8 on the season.
2018 SEASON IN REVIEW
- The Panthers finished the 2018 season with a 33-18-1 overall record, including a 16-6 mark in conference play.
- Pitt won seven of its eight ACC series on the year, with both its 16 conference wins and seven series wins marking a program high since the team joined the league in 2014.
- The Panthers' strong play in conference led to their first ACC Coastal Division Championship in program history.
- Pitt earned the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, taking down Virginia Tech and North Carolina before falling to eventual National Champion Florida State in the championship game by a score of 5-4.
FACING A STRONG SCHEDULE
- The Panthers face a tough schedule in the 2019 season, one that features two teams that finished in the top 25 of the NFCA Coaches Poll last year, including No. 6 Oregon, who advanced to the College World Series in last year's NCAA Tournament.
- Pitt also faces a total of nine NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.
- The Panthers' schedule currently features 10 teams that are either ranked or receiving votes in the ESPN / USA Softball Preseason Poll, while nine opponents also fit that criteria in the USA Today / NFCA Preseason Poll.
A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP
- Head coach Jodi Hermanek is in her first season at the helm of the Pitt softball program.
- Hermanek joined the Panthers after spending the previous 10 years at Ohio University, where she led the Bobcats to two NCAA Tournament appearances, two MAC Tournament Championships and one MAC Regular Season Championship.
- In 14 seasons as a head coach at both Ohio and Southern Utah, Hermanek compiled a 397-376-1 (.514) record while advancing to the NCAA Tournament four times.
INTRODUCING THE STAFF
- Joining Hermanek on the coaching staff are assistant coaches Jillian Van Wagnen and Brock Van Faussien, as well as volunteer assistant Maddy Grimm.
- Van Wagnen spent four years as a player under Hermanek at Ohio before joining the Bobcats' coaching staff in 2014.
- Van Faussien has spent time in both baseball and softball, and most recently worked with a University of Georgia team that advanced all the way to the 2018 NCAA Women's College World Series.
- Grimm spent a year as an assistant coach at Ashland University following a standout career at Kent State, where she still holds multiple program records.
RUNNING IT BACK
- The Panthers return 15 players from a season ago in seniors Sarah Dawson, Marissa DeMatteo, Gabrielle Fredericks, Olivia Gray, Taylor Myers, Taylor Rahach, Alexis Solak and Nava Susi, juniors Alexee Haynes, Kaitlyn Kruger and Connor McGaffic, redshirt sophomore Brittany Knight and sophomores Morgan Batesole, Brie Horrell and Hunter Levesque.
- Among the returnees are multiple key contributors to last year's success. Kruger earned NFCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team recognition a season ago, while Gray received First Team All-ACC honors, Levesque was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and Dawson earned ACC All-Tournament Team accolades.
NEW IN TOWN
- Pitt added two transfers to the 2019 roster in junior Walker Barbee and sophomore Chandler Walter.
- Barbee joined the Panthers after spending the past two years at Elon University.
- Walter came to Pitt following a one-year stint at the University of Utah.
FRESH FACES
- The Panthers also welcomed four freshmen to the team in Hannah Bach, Abby Edwards, Katlyn Pavlick and Sarah Seamans.
- The ACC released its annual Preseason Coaches Poll Tuesday, Jan. 29, with the Panthers projected to finish fourth in the conference.
- Florida State, who is coming off a College World Series Championship, was picked first in the poll after receiving 121 total points and 11 first place votes. Notre Dame, who made an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, placed second with 102 points. North Carolina came in third with 95 points, followed by Pitt with 88 points.
GRAY GOT GAME
- The conference also released its first-ever Preseason All-ACC Team, with senior Olivia Gray being selected as one of its 15 members.
- Gray is coming off a 2018 season in which she garnered All-ACC First Team recognition following a campaign that saw her record a .311 batting average to go along with 50 hits, 29 runs, 25 RBIs, eight doubles and four home runs.
- Gray finished the 2018 season with 173 assists, which ranks third in single-season program history. She also collected 10 assists in a matchup with UCF Feb. 12, 2017, which is the top single-game mark in program history.
- In Pitt's season-opening tournament at the Cougar Classic, Gray finished the weekend with a .333 batting average while ranking first on the team in doubles (four) and tying for the team-lead in hits (six). She also added four runs and three RBIs in the team's five contests.
SOLAK SENDING 'EM IN
- Senior Alexis Solak is currently tied for the team-lead in RBIs with five on the season.
- Solak collected all five of her RBIs in Pitt's season-opening weekend at the Cougar Classic. She recorded an RBI in four of five games, including a season-high two RBIs against Central Michigan.
HOT START FOR HORRELL
- After only appearing in two contests for the Panthers during her freshman campaign in 2018, sophomore Brie Horrell has appeared in eight games while making five starts on the season.
- Horrell closed out Pitt's season-opening weekend at the Cougar Classic with a team-best .571 batting average, collecting her first career home run while adding four hits, three RBIs, two runs and two walks.
- She currently leads the team in batting average (.455) while tying for the top spot in both RBIs (five) and home runs (two).
LOOK OUT FOR LEVESQUE
- Coming off a 2018 season in which she garnered ACC All-Freshman Team recognition, sophomore Hunter Levesque had a strong start to Pitt's season at the plate.
- Levesque ranked third on the team with a .357 batting average at the conclusion of the Panthers season-opening weekend at the Cougar Classic, adding five hits, three RBIs, two runs and two walks.
PAVLICK PUTTING UP NUMBERS
- Freshman Katlyn Pavlick has had an impressive start to her Panther career offensively.
- Pavlick hit a leadoff long ball in her first career at-bat for Pitt, going on the close out the Panthers season-opening weekend at the Cougar Classic ranked first on the team in runs (five) and home runs (two), tied for first in hits (six) and second in both batting average (.429) and walks (three).
THE SERIES – COASTAL CAROLINA
- The Panthers and Chanticleers have met seven times in program history, with Pitt holding a 6-1 all-time series edge over Coastal Carolina.
- The teams' most recent meeting came Feb. 24, 2018, where the Panthers earned a 4-3 victory over the Chanticleers.
- Pitt has won its past four contests against Coastal Carolina.
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
- Coastal Carolina is currently 9-1 on the season, most recently earning a 9-1 win against Presbyterian Feb. 16.
- The Chanticleers finished the 2018 season with a 26-28 overall record, including a 9-17 mark in Sun Belt play.
- Offensively, Coastal Carolina's roster currently sports three batters hitting over .350 to start the season. Sophomore Taylor Wiegert leads the squad with a .370 batting average to go along with a team-high 10 hits and three doubles. Sophomore Courtney Dean is hitting .357 through 10 games, adding 11 runs, 11 RBIs and 10 hits.
- In the circle, two Chanticleer players currently own a sub-1.00 ERA. Senior Ashley Guillette sits at 0.71 through four appearances, while sophomore Kaitlin Beasley-Polko owns a 0.99 ERA to go along with a 5-1 record.
THE SERIES – PENN STATE
- The Panthers and Nittany Lions have played each other 22 times in program history, with Penn State holding a 15-7 all-time edge over Pitt.
- The teams' most recent meeting came March 29, 2017, where the Panthers captured a 7-1 victory.
SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
- Penn State owns a 3-6 record after its first two weeks of games, most recently recording a 1-3 loss to Duke.
- The Nittany Lions closed out the 2018 slate with a 9-41 overall record while going 5-18 against Big Ten competition.
- Senior Tori Dubois leads the team at the plate with a .407 batting average to go along with 11 hits, including three doubles.
- Senior Madison Shaffer and freshman Bailey Parshall currently own the best ERA's on the team. Shaffer holds a 2.10 ERA in one appearance while Parshall sits at a 2.60 ERA with a record of 2-4. Parshall has struck out 39 batters in 29.2 innings of work.
THE SERIES – UCF
- The Panthers and Knights have met just four times in program history and are currently tied in their all-time series with two wins apiece.
- The teams' most recent meetings took place at the UCF Knights Invitational in the 2017 season, where the Panthers took both games.
- Pitt and UCF's second meeting in the invitational was tied 2-2 after the seventh inning before the Panthers outscored the Knights 4-1 in the eighth to earn the win.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
- Central Florida went 34-22 overall in 2018 while recording a 12-9 mark in AAC play.
- The Knights' offense is led by redshirt junior Tamesha Glover and junior Jazmine Esparza. Glover owns an impressive .476 batting average to go along with 10 hits and two doubles. Esparza is currently hitting .308 on the year and has recorded four doubles and nine RBIs in eight games.
- In the circle, Central Florida returns one of their top pitchers from last season, with junior Alea White back on the squad for 2019. White is now joined by freshman Breanna Vasquez who currently owns a 1.56 ERA in 18.0 innings pitched through three games. Both pitchers have racked up 18 strikeouts apiece so far this season.
- Following the UCF Knights Classic, Pitt will head to Oxford, Miss., to compete in the Ole Miss Classic where they will face Nicholls State and host-school Ole Miss from March 1-3.
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