Tuesday, March 12
Pittsburgh, Pa.
3 PM
Pitt
vs
Penn State
Panthers Set for Midweek Tilts with Penn State, Youngstown State
3/11/2019 8:40:00 PM | Baseball
Pitt Opens 2019 Home Season
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team will open the home portion of its 2019 season this week, kicking off a six-game homestand at Charles L. Cost Field.
Pitt plays host to rival Penn State Tuesday at 3 p.m. before welcoming Youngstown State Wednesday at 3 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Pitt plays host to rival Penn State Tuesday at 3 p.m. before welcoming Youngstown State Wednesday at 3 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Both games can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN and the Watch ESPN app.
- Live stats will be available here.
- Fans can follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.
- Pitt (6-7, 0-3 ACC) opens the home portion of the 2019 season, kicking off a six-game homestand with midweek tilts against Penn State and Youngstown State. The Panthers enter the contests after a tough series at No. 20 NC State.
- Senior outfielder Connor Perry paces the Panthers' offense, hitting .364 on the season, tallying four doubles, one triple and two home runs. He's posted a team-leading .636 slugging percentage and a .481 on base mark, drawing 10 walks and swiping two bases. Sophomore Ron Washington Jr. brings an 11-game hit streak into the action, hitting at a .333 clip on the season with nine doubles and one homer. He leads the ACC in doubles and ranks third in the nation.
- Pitt will throw junior Christian Camacho against Penn State, as the transfer is set to make his fifth start of the season. Camacho owns a 4.61 ERA, having let up nine runs (seven earned) off 14 hits and seven walks, striking out 16. He's tossed 13.2 innings in his first season with the Panthers. Wednesday's starter versus Youngstown State has yet to be announced.
- Penn State (9-3, 0-0 BIG 10) enters the week after taking two-of-three in a weekend series at UCF in Orlando, Fla. After a three-run win in game one, the Nittany Lions dropped game two by a two-run margin before storming back to capture the series victory with an 11-5 decision. This will be the second ACC opponent for the Nittany Lions this season, as they took one-of-three from Duke in Bradenton, Fla., two weeks prior.
- The Nittany Lions are hitting .238 as a team, led by two batter at or above the .300 mark. Senior outfielder Jordan Bowersox paces the group, recording a .378 average with 17 hits and five RBI in 12 starts. He's collected one double and two homers, and is 3-4 in stolen base attempts. Sophomore Parker Hendershot owns a .300 average, while junior Gavin Homer leads the team with a .615 slugging percentage.
- Penn State will call on redshirt sophomore Cole Bartels on Tuesday, making his first start of the season. The righty owns a 18.00 ERA in two appearances, having let up two earned runs in 1.0 inning, surrendering one hit and one walk, fanning two.
- The Panthers trail Penn State 69-32-1 all-time in a series dating back to the 1939 season.
- Pitt has won three straight over the Nittany Lions dating back to 2017 and has outscored its rival 15-5 in that stretch.
- The series is tied at 3-3 all-time in games played at Charles L. Cost Field, with Pitt owning a 6-5 advantage in Pittsburgh.
- Youngstown State (0-13, 0-0 Horizon) has gotten off to a rough start in the 2019 campaign, having yet to secure a win in its first 13 attempts. The Penguins will battle regional foe Kent State Tuesday before venturing to Pittsburgh Wednesday.
- The Penguins enter their midweek tilts hitting just .166 as a team with the team leader, Trevor Wiersma, hitting at a .227 clip. Youngstown State has tallied just 28 runs on the season, as opponents have outscored the Penguins by a mark of 126-28.
- Youngstown State's starter for Wednesday's afternoon contest has yet to be announced.
- The Panthers own a 35-7-1 all-time record over the Penguins in a series dating back to the 1986 season.
- Pitt has won six straight and 19 of the last 20 over the Penguins.
- The Panthers own a mark of 9-0 all-time at Cost Field and an advantage of 19-3-1 in games played in Pittsburgh.
- Sophomore Ron Washington Jr. enters the homestand riding an 11-game hit streak, the longest by a Panther this season. Nico Popa saw his 10-game mark come to an end in the weekend finale against No. 20 NC State. Freshman Sky Duff owns a six-game streak.
- Washington Jr.'s 11-game reached base streak paces the team, while Connor Perry sits at eight and both Duff and Kyle Hess at five.
- Pitt owns a record of 10-6 all-time in games played on March 12.
- Pitt owns a record of 10-6 all-time in games played on March 13.
- There's been no slump for sophomore Ron Washington Jr. as the outfielder/designated hitter has continued to shine in the Panther offense.
- Washington Jr. has tallied nine doubles in 13 games this season, leading the ACC and ranking third in the nation.
- On the season, he's hitting at a .333 clip, tallying 10 extra base hits with eight RBI and a .583 slugging percentage.
- Senior Connor Perry has earned a role in the starting lineup and is pacing the Panther offense in a majority of offensive categories.
- The outfielder is hitting a team-best .364, ranking 12th in the ACC. He owns a team-leading .636 slugging percentage and .481 on base mark. The lefty bat has collected four doubles, one triple and two homers, drawing 10 walks and is a perfect two-of-two in stolen base attempts.
- Perry has also been solid defensively, having yet to commit an error and adding 27 putouts as the anchor in center field.
- Sophomore reliever Chase Smith was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watchlist, an award annually given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.
- The Georgia native made 22 appearances as a true freshman, third most on the team. He held opponents to just a .191 average, competing to a record of 1-1 with one save and a 3.16 ERA.
- Smith is one of five ACC pitchers to garner the recognition and marks the second straight season in which a Pitt reliever has earned the preseason distinction (Yasin Chentouf).
- Freshman pitchers Billy Corcoran and Brady Devereux are no strangers to one another, as the duo comes to Pitt after stellar careers at Malvern Prep in Malvern, Pa.
- The pair won three state championships at Malvern, collecting the state title in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
- Both nationally touted recruits and highly sought after Pennsylvania player, both ranked in the top five amongst right handed pitchers and in the top 20 in the state of Pennsylvania by Perfect Game.
- Mike Bell is in his first season as head coach at Pitt after a seven-year stint as the associate head coach for ACC powerhouse Florida State. He brings 14 years of Division I coaching experience to the program and has coached 47 MLB draft picks, including 2006's No. 1 overall pick Luke Hochevar.
- In 2012, he was named the Perfect Game Assistant Coach of the Year and before the 2017 season, was named the No. 13 recruiter in the country by D1Baseball.com. In the last 13 years, Bell has also helped lead three teams to four College World Series appearances - Tennessee (2005), Oklahoma (2010), and Florida State (2012 & 2017). In his time at Florida State, the program won three ACC titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018 and his pitchers have recorded 500 or more strikeouts.
- Junior pitcher Dan Hammer had a summer to remember in the prestigious Cape Cod League, earning national recognition in his second stint with the Chatham Anglers. The hard-throwing righty was the East Division's starting pitcher in the 2018 Cape Cod League All-Star game and put up impressive numbers splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation.
- The Panthers' righty was one of the best in the nation's top collegiate summer league, posting a 2-0 record and a 2.16 ERA in 25.0 innings for the Anglers, striking out 20 in the process.
- The Chatham Anglers are no stranger to Pitt pitchers, having hosted 2016 First Round Draft pick T.J. Zeuch, as well as 2017 19th round pick Isaac Mattson and 2018 Sixth Round pick RJ Freure.
- Redshirt junior pitcher Derek West had a solid season in the Cape Cod League, pitching with the league champion Wareham Gatemen. After joining the Gatemen in July, West made four appearances, including two starts, competing to a 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings. He allowed just two runs off eight hits and six walks, striking out 15 and holding opponents to a .143 average.
- Pitt welcomes its first ACC opponent to Cost Field, hosting Virginia Tech in a three-game slate March 15-17.
- The Panthers' homestand concludes Wednesday, March 20 against Kent State.
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