University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Friday, February 28
Chapel Hill, NC
5 p.m.
Pitt
at
North Carolina
Photo by: Jason Mills
Pitt Opens ACC Play at North Carolina Friday
2/27/2020 12:10:00 PM | Softball
PITTSBURGH – The Pitt softball team begins ACC competition in a three-game series against North Carolina at Anderson Stadium beginning Friday evening at 6 p.m. on the ACCNX.
LEADING OFF
THE SCHEDULE
GOOD KNIGHT
POWERFUL PAVLICK
A NEW HOPE
ON THE HUNT
KRUGER CATCHING FIRE
MORGAN IN THE CLUTCH
THE SERIES – NORTH CAROLINA
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
UP NEXT
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LEADING OFF
- The Panthers begin ACC competition Friday, Feb. 28 in a three-game series against North Carolina. The series will be broadcasted on the ACCNX with Matt Kruse and Chris Hooks calling the games.
THE SCHEDULE
- Pitt begins the series Friday night under the lights at 6 p.m. First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m., with Sunday's series finale starting at 12 p.m.
GOOD KNIGHT
- Redshirt Junior Brittany Knight has proved to be one of the league's top pitchers through the first three weeks of competition.
- Through 34.1 innings pitched, Knight has totaled 32 strikeouts, four complete games, a 3.06 ERA and a 4-2 record.
- Despite missing action last week in the Pirate Invite, the Windham, Ohio, native ranks 12th in the ACC in strikeouts, T-5th in complete games and 8th in batters struck out looking (11).
- At the ACC/B1G Challenge, Knight broke her career single-game strikeout record with nine Ks vs. Michigan State. Knight followed that performance up with nine strikeouts vs. Maryland, throwing 18 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of action.
- Knight opened the season against CSU Bakersfield, where she a complete game with six strikeouts and allowed just one earned run. She followed that performance up with a complete game showing vs. San Diego, giving up just one earned and striking out three.
POWERFUL PAVLICK
- Sophomore Katlyn Pavlick has showed her muscle through the first three weeks of the season. The South Park, Pa., native leads the team in batting average (.324), OPS (.983), RBIs (7) and hits (11).
- Pavlick went 5-for-12 with five RBIs, one double, a home run and four runs in four games at the ACC/ B1G Challenge against Michigan State and Maryland.
- During the opening season Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament at UCLA, Pavlick homered, tripled, scored four runs and collected five hits.
A NEW HOPE
- Freshman Hope Alley has made her presence known early this season, collecting seven hits, three RBIs and boasting a .970 fielding percentage.
- The Pleasanton, Calif., native is tied for first on the team in assists with 15. Alley has started every game at shortstop for the Panthers, and has only one error in 33 chances.
- Alley registered the first RBI of her career Feb. 15 against Maryland, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk in the Panthers' 8-5 victory.
ON THE HUNT
- Junior Hunter Levesque has picked up where she left off in 2019, batting .313 with a .919 OPS, 10 hits and eight runs to her credit. Levesque hit .322 last season with a 1.034 OPS, 11 home runs and 31 RBIs on her way to All-ACC Second Team and NFCA All- Region Second Team honors.
- The Troy, N.Y., product has two doubles, a home run, 15 total bases and leads the team with a .450 on base percentage.
- Levesque enjoyed a productive weekend at the ACC/ B1G Challenge in Clemson, going 5-for-11 with three runs, one double and five walks.
- Levesque made a diving grab to her right to end the third inning against San Diego in the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, ultimately earning a spot on the NCAA Softball Top Five Plays list at number five.
- Levesque hit a home run and scored two runs against Cal Poly on Feb. 7.
KRUGER CATCHING FIRE
- Senior Kaitlyn Kruger is swinging a hot bat as of late, hitting .353 with a .529 slugging percentage and three doubles.
- Most recently in the Pirate Invite, the Calabasas, Calif., native hit .375 with a double and three hits.
- At the ACC/B1G Challenge, Kruger hit two doubles and produced two RBIs while slugging .417.
- Kruger leads the team in doubles (3), is second in RBIs (5) and slugging percentage (.516) and is tied for first in runs with eight.
MORGAN IN THE CLUTCH
- Junior Morgan Batesole came up big for the Panthers Feb. 14 vs. Michigan State, delivering a walk-off single to defeat the Spartans 3-2.
- Tied with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Walnut Creek, Calif., native hit a single up the middle, scoring Hope Alley to give Pitt the victory. The Panthers were down 2-1 with two outs a no one on in the bottom of the seventh before the rally was capped off by Batesole.
- She recorded four hits, three RBIs, one triple and turned a double play in the ACC/B1G Challenge.
- Batesole has a team-best three double plays turned for the Panther defense.
THE SERIES – NORTH CAROLINA
- The Panthers and Tar Heels meet for the 19th time in program history Friday and conclude with the 21st meeting Sunday.
- North Carolina leads the series 11-7.
- Pitt has won two of the last three meetings, including the last game between the two on March 31, 2019 by a score of 14-5.
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
- The Tar Heels enter the weekend 6-10 overall and are currently on a five game losing streak.
- The Tar Heels are led by Campbell Hutchinson and Lexi Godwin offensively. Hutchinson ranks 18th in the ACC in batting average (.375) and has nine hits, two doubles and four RBIs in 24 at bats. Godwin, who has registered a team-high 46 at-bats for UNC, is hitting .283 with a team-high 13 hits, four doubles (T-1st on team) and five RBIs.
- Hannah George leads the Tar Heels inside the circle, throwing a team-high 54.0 innings. George is 5-4 and holds a 3.11 ERA with 37 strikeouts entering the weekend. Brittany Pickett, who has not pitched since Feb. 15, has 24 strikeouts in 24.2 innings and has a 3.12 ERA on the season.
- North Carolina is a menace on the base paths, stealing a conference best 40 bases and currently ranks 28th in the country in stolen bases per game (1.93).
UP NEXT
- Pitt hits the road for its spring break trip, starting with Clemson in a three-game conference series Friday, March 6.
- After the conclusion of the series against the Tigers on Sunday, March 8, Pitt heads to Furman (March 10) and Charlotte (March 11) for back-to-back single game contests, before ending the weekend at the Camel Stampede in Campbell, N.C.
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