Panthers Set to Visit Penn State

Wednesday, April 10

University Park, PA

6:30 PM

Pitt

Penn State

Panthers Set to Visit Penn State

4/9/2019 9:35:00 PM | Baseball

Pitt Prepares for Road Mid-Week Contest

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team travels to rival Penn State Wednesday evening, as the Panthers conclude the home-and-home series with the Nittany Lions.

Pitt and Penn State are set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Medlar Field in State College, Pa.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game can be seen live on BTN Plus.
Live stats will be available here.
Fans can follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.

LEADING OFF

Pitt (8-22, 2-13 ACC) returns to action traveling to State College, Pa. for a mid-week matchup against in-state rival Penn State. Last weekend, the Panthers faced Duke in a three-game series in Durham N.C., where the Panthers fell in three tightly contested contests.
Senior Connor Perry continues to dominate offensively, hitting at a .303 clip, leading the team with eight homers. He sits at second on the squad with 33 hits and 14 RBI, adding five doubles and one triple. Sophomore Ron Washington Jr. (.301) is also hitting above the .300 mark and leads the team with 34 hits, 15 RBI and 13 doubles.
The Panthers will go with sophomore Chris Cappas on the mound, as the left-hander makes his fifth start of the season. Cappas enters the game with a record of 0-3 and a 8.10 ERA, having let up 15 runs (nine earned) off 18 hits and seven walks, striking out eight.

SCOUTING PENN STATE

Penn State (16-11, 1-7 Big 10) will welcome the Panthers after hosting Youngstown State Tuesday evening. The Nittany Lions have struggled of late, dropping five out of their last seven games.
Senior Jordan Bowersox is leading the offensive charge for the Nittany Lions, and is the only Penn State player hitting above .300. Bowersox, hitting .317, currently has four doubles, 32 hits and nine RBI with a .436 slugging percentage.
Penn State's pitcher has yet to be announced.

SERIES WITH PENN STATE

Penn State holds a 69-32-1 record over the Panthers all-time in a series dating back to the 1939 season. Penn State owns a 9-6 advantage all-time over the Panthers in State College, Pa.
The Nittany Lions captured the first game of the 2019 series, earning a 7-3 victory at Charles L. Cost Field. Pitt has won three of the last four meetings over Penn State.

WHO'S STREAKING

Sophomore Bryce O'Farrell brings in a four-game hit streak, the longest active streak by a Panther hitter. Ron Washington Jr. sits at three, followed by Nico Popa, Andres Antonini, Sky Duff and David Yanni at two.
Washington Jr.'s 28-game reached base streak paces the group. Duff sits at nine, while O'Farrell has reached safely in eight and Popa sits at seven.

PERRY PACING PANTHERS

Outfielder Connor Perry is having a season to remember, putting up impressive offensive numbers in his senior season.
Perry leads the Panther offense with a .303 average, tallying five doubles, one triple and eight homers with 14 RBI. He owns a .587 slugging percentage and a .433 on base mark, going 5-6 on the base paths.
Six of this team-leading eight homers have come in conference action, ranking third in the league.

RON REMAINS HOT

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 13 doubles in 30 games this season, in a tie for fifth in the ACC and 23rd in the nation.
On the season, he's hitting at a .301 clip, tallying 15 extra base hits with 15 RBI and a .469 slugging percentage.
He paces the Panther offense in league play, hitting for a .339 average with a .475 slugging mark and a .418 on base percentage. His average in ACC play ranks 20th in the conference.

POPA'S POP

After missing a majority of the 2018 campaign due to injury, junior Nico Popa has returned to the lineup with a purpose for the 2019 squad. Popa is hitting at a .281 mark, ranking fourth on the team, tallying 14 RBI to rank second on the offense.
He leads the ACC with three triples, boasting a .386 slugging mark and a .381 on base percentage.
Popa has swiped six bases on the season, drawing 12 walks and seven hit by pitches, adding six doubles.

CORCORAN COMMANDING

Freshman Billy Corcoran has had an impressive start to his collegiate baseball career, putting up strong numbers as he looks for a spot in the weekend rotation.
Corcoran ranks seventh in the ACC with a 2.02 ERA, leading all Pitt pitchers. On the season, he's struck out 29 over 35.2 innings of work, holding opponents to a .214 average, which ranks sixth in the conference.
In league play the hard-throwing righty hasn't shied away, ranking third in the league with a 1.44 ERA in ACC action. He's collected 25.0 innings of work in the conference, letting up just four runs off 19 hits and 10 walks, fanning 18 and holding opponents to a .209 average.

SMITH NAMED TO STOPPER WATCHLIST

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).

MALVERN CONNECTION

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.

BRING IN BELL

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.

SUMMER CATCH

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.

ALL SIGNS POINT WEST

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.

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