Pitt Heads to Nashville for Music City College Classic

Friday, February 25

Nashville, Tenn.

12 PM

Pitt

Bradley

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

Pitt Heads to Nashville for Music City College Classic

2/24/2022 8:53:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes Live Stream (Lipscomb Games)Live Stats (Game One)Live Stats (Game Two)Live Stats (Game Three)Live Stats (Game Four)

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball continues its 2022 season at the Music City College Classic with two games each against Bradley and host Lipscomb Friday-Sunday. The Panthers play the Braves first Friday and Saturday at 12 p.m. ET and the Bisons Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The two games against Lipscomb will be streamed through Youtube.
Fans can also follow along with live stats and updates through Twitter. Follow @Pitt_BASE for the latest news and updates about the team.

STARTING PITCHERS

FRIDAY: RHP Matt Gilbertson (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 2.00 WHIP) | RHP Grant Jausel (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.60 WHIP)
SATURDAY (Game One): RHP Billy Corcoran (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) | RHP Jacob Kisting (2-1, 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)
SATURDAY (Game Two): RHP Logan Evans (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP) | LHP Logan Van Treeck (0-0, 8.10 ERA, 2.10 WHIP)
SUNDAY: LHP Ben Dragani (0-1, 10.80 ERA, 2.70 WHIP) | RHP Ike Buxton (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP)

LAST TIME OUT-SPLIT WITH CANISIUS

Pitt split its season-opening series against Canisius in the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. with a doubleheader sweep (12-2, seven innings, and 4-0) Saturday and 11-3 and 15-7 losses in the opener and finale.
Logan Evans and Hayden Summers combined for a four-hit shutout , with Evans going seven innings in his first start as a Panther (four hits and one walk allowed with four strikeouts) while Summers earned the save in his Panthers' debut, striking out four batters with no walks and one hit given up.
Billy Corcoran started the first game and went six innings with six hits, two runs and two walks to pick up the win.
Sky Duff drew a nation-best nine walks along with six runs, three RBI and three hits in the series.
In his Panthers' debut, Tatem Levins had four hits, including a double and homer, five RBI and five walks.
Also making his Panthers' debut, Jack Anderson went 3-5 with a homer, five RBI, five walks and four runs in three games played.

A LOOK BACK AT HISTORIC 2021 SEASON

Last year, Pitt to its most successful season in the ACC.
The Panthers set program records for their highest ranking in the polls, No. 14 by Baseball America, consecutive weeks in the polls (nine), RPI (50), and strength of schedule (30). In ACC play, Pitt set program-bests in ACC series wins (six) and ACC victories (16).
Pitt went 18-12 against teams that made the NCAA Regionals, tied for the second-best record in the nation. The Panthers won 17 times against Quad-one schools.
They're just the second team to sweep Florida State and Miami in the same season.
Pitt narrowly missed out on its first at-large bid to NCAA Regionals, as they were the second team left out (behind Baylor) by the selection committee.
With Bell serving as the pitching coach since last season, Mitch Myers became the highest drafted Panther since 2018.
The junior right-hander was selected in the 12th round of the MLB draft with the No. 368 pick by the Oakland Athletics.
Myers was one of a program-best four Panthers selected to the All-ACC Third Team: Sky Duff, Nico Popa, and David Yanni. Duff earned a selected to the ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region Second Team.
The third baseman had a breakout campaign in his third year in Pittsburgh and enters 2022 with 21-game reached base and 13-game hitting streaks.
A member of the 2019 second-team, Popa is the first Panther to earn All-ACC honors twice. The all-time leader in program history in games played, starts and walks, Yanni had his best season as a Panthers in 2021.

REPLACING YANNI AND POPA

Pitt has to replace arguably the two-most important Panthers of the ACC era of the program, David Yanni and Nico Popa.
The pair combined for 11 years starting, with Popa manning right field for five seasons and Yanni spending his first five years at shortstop and last season at second base.
Both earned All-ACC Third-Team selections last year with Popa becoming the first Panther to earn All-ACC honors twice (second-team in 2019).
The duo etched their name all over the record book.
Yanni played the most games (226) and started the most (215).
Popa is third in games played and starts (193).
In career offensive categories, Yanni is the all-time leader in walks (148), third in doubles (50) and at-bats (774), fourth in RBIs (146), tied for fifth in hit by pitches (25), sixth in total bases (338), seventh in homers (28) and runs (144), tied for 10th in triples (eight) and 16th in hits (187).
Popa is tied for second in hit by pitches (28), tied for fifth in triples (10), eighth in at-bats (726), tied for ninth in total bases (316), 12th in stolen bases (45), 12th in hits (208) and homers (19), 16th in runs (134) and 20th in walks (66).

RETURNING EXPERIENCE

While replacing two all-time performers in Popa and Yanni, the Panthers' batting lineup features names that every ACC program is familiar with.
Pitt brings back six starting position players from 2021, with only one who's started just one year (shortstop Brock Franks.
Ron Washington, Jr. is the most tenured of the bunch as a starter for four straight years.
Washington, Jr. was an All-ACC All-Freshman selection in 2019 as a freshman at third base and has since been at right field and the designated hitter if not playing in the outfield.
He is the Panthers' top returning power hitter with 59 extra-base hits, 20 homers and 102 RBI's coming into the season.
Members of Bell's first recruiting class, Sky Duff occupies the hot corner for the second-straight season after starting at second base for 2019 and 2020, and Kyle Hess has occupied either right or left field since 2019.
Coming in for the 2020 season, centerfielder Jordan Anderson and first baseman Bryce Hulett have started from first game played.

THE DUFFMAN

Sky Duff had a breakout campaign in his third year in Pittsburgh and earned spots on the All-ACC Third-Team and ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region Second Team.
Serving as the leadoff batter, Duff still has an active 25-game reached base streak after recording a nation-best nine walks and three hits on opening weekend.
In the nation he ranked last year 14th in doubles per game (.43), 47th in doubles (18), 67th in hits per game (1.43), 83rd in batting average (.366) and 91st in on-base percentage (.461).
He was in the ACC fifth in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage and doubles.
The junior showed an improvement with his power, racking up a team-high 18 doubles.
Known for his ability to draw walks, Duff has 92 in his career.
He also hit two homers last year after recording his first career homer the previous season.

GILL ON THE HILL

Matt Gilbertson was the Panthers' "Saturday" pitcher all of last season and starts as the No. 1 pitcher this year.
With starts in the second game-two of each weekend series in 2021, Gilbertson posted a 6-4 record with a 1.29 WHIP, 4.45 ERA, 72 strikeouts to 20 walks and a .269 opposing batting average.
In the ACC, he ranked tied seventh in innings pitched (85.0) and ninth in wins (six), both team-highs.
Gilbertson earned the first win of the season with just one earned run, four hits and no walks with three strikeouts against Indiana State on Feb. 20.
His next start was arguably his best of the season, six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, two walks and five hits in a 7-2 win at No. 9 Florida State.
He went a career-high eight innings that included 16-straight retired batters with five strikeouts, two runs, five hits and no walks in a 6-2 series-clinching win at Virginia.
He went seven innings again with four strikeouts, one run, one hit and nine hits allowed in what ended up a 3-1 win over No. 12 Notre Dame.
He picked up his fourth win against No. 15 Miami, going seven innings with four runs, six hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
He threw all but one inning in the home win over Boston College with three strikeouts, eight hits and three walks.
He arguably saved his best for last when he threw a complete game against No. 3 seed NC State with 10 strikeouts and 22 outs in the last 22 batters faced.
In 18 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 101 strikeouts to just 26 walks and gone at least five innings in all but two starts.

NEW BULLPEN

Pitt has to replace several workhorses from last year's bullpen.
Jordan McCrum graduated after serving as the closer last year.
Named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List, McCrum registered six saves and had 35 strikeouts in 30 innings.
Chase Smith had served as a key arm in four years in Pittsburgh and departed as the program's all-time leader in appearances (89) and tied for fourth in saves (eight) and tied for 19th in ERA (3.33).
Chris Gomez played for the last five seasons and graduated after ranking second in career appearances (72) while contributing a 2.27 ERA and 2-0 record in 2021.
Only a combined 42 appearances and 48 innings pitched return from Dylan Lester (15 appearances and 21.1 innings), CJ McKennitt (13 and 14.1), David Ferguson (nine and nine) and Dominic Verrastro (five and three).
13 pitchers joined the program with many that can start and come out of the bullpen.
Logan Evans, Ben Dragani, Baron Stuart and Ryan Miller are three experienced veteran Division I transfers that
Named the 85th-best transfer by Baseball America, Miller was arguably the most decorated pitcher from the MEAC in the last decade.
Last season was named the MEAC Pitcher of the Year, HBCU Nines Large School Division National Pitcher of the Year, First Team All-MEAC, an All-American by Collegiate Baseball (Second Team) and NCBWA (Third Team), to the ABCA Second Team All-Region and a NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist.
He set an NCCU modern era record with 10 wins (10-0), tossed consecutive complete game shutouts against Norfolk State on Feb. 27 and March 6, had a streak of 23 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run in his first four starts of the year and led the MEAC with a 2.21 ERA, which is the third-lowest in the modern era at NCCU and 10^th-best in a single season in MEAC history.
Picked the 2019 MEAC Rookie of the Year and a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and Third Team All-MEAC.
Dragani was named the 44th-best transfer by Baseball America.
In three years at Michigan, he recorded a 3.34 ERA, 9-5 record and 73 strikeouts in 28 appearances, 14 starts and 105 innings pitched and in 2018 was named to the Collegiate Baseball News Freshman All-America, Perfect Game Freshman All-America Second Team, D1Baseball Freshman All-America Second Team selection, All-Big Ten Third Team and All-Big Ten Freshman Team.
Evans was a two-year reliever for Penn State and went 2-1 in three appearances, totaling a 4.50 ERA and 11 strikeouts in eight innings in 2020.
Stuart was a key arm for the last four years at USF, recorded a career 5.78 ERA, 116 strikeouts and 10-8 record in 43 appearances, 26 starts and 137 innings pitched.
He helped the Bulls last year win the American Athletic Conference Tournament and Gainesville NCAA Regional Championships to advance to the Austin NCAA Super Regionals.
Hayden Summers come from junior colleges while Brendon Bair, Jonathan Bautista, Harrison Coble, Kyle Demi, Will Droll, Tyler Kennedy and Quin Konuszewski.
In Perfect Game's preseason freshman rankings, three were selected in the top-500: Kennedy (184), Bautista (308) and Bair (490).

NEW CATCHING UNIT

Pitt features four brand new catchers for the 2022 season: junior Tatem Levins, sophomore Johnny Long, junior Jack Anderson (also a first baseman) and freshman Luke Lambert.
All four Panthers from last year have moved on: Jackson Phinney (transfer to Bryant), Riley Wash (transfer to UCF after graduating from Pitt), Ramon Padilla (graduated) and Nico Samarkos (graduated).
The Panthers' catching unit however will still be an experienced group with years spent at high-levels of collegiate baseball.
Levins is rated as the No. 19 catcher in the nation by DIBaseball.com and also the 34th-best transfer by Baseball America and No. 51 by DIBaseball.com.
A three-year starter at La Salle, tallying a .318 batting average, .524 slugging percentage and .402 on-base percentage with 17 homers, 37 doubles and 113 RBIs.
Last year Levins was selected to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Second Team and All-Atlantic 10 Second-Team last year when he batted .315 with a .416 on-base percentage and a .503 slugging percentage and led the team with 49 runs scored, homered seven times and added 14 doubles.
He also was picked as the 2019 A-10 and Philadelphia Big 5 Rookie of the Year and to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.
Long was a two-year starter at Florida Gulf Coast and named to the All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team after recording a .385 on-base percentage, .351 slugging percentage, 18 RBIs, eight extra-base hits and 24 runs with five baserunners caught stealing.
A Pittsburgh native (Mars HS), Anderson recorded a .495 slugging percentage, .429 on-base percentage and .314 batting average at State College of Florida with 59 hits, 15 doubles, 46 runs and five homers.
Before JUCO ball, he played two seasons at Northwestern with 11 starts.
Lambert is also a local player from nearby West Allegheny High School where he finished his senior season with a .484 batting average and five home runs.

THE CENTURY MARK FOR STOLEN BASES

Jeffrey Wehler comes to Pittsburgh after starting four years at Youngstown State.
Wehler was named the 54th-best transfer by Baseball America and No. 55 by DIBaseball.com after being named First-Team All-Horizon League last year and second-team in 2019 and 2018.
He finished his Youngstown State career ranked second in school history with 88 career steals and led his team in stolen bases each year.
He swiped his first bag as a Panther in the series-finale against Canisius, needing 11 more to reach 100 in his career.
Last season he had career-bests of a .332 batting average, .390 on-base percentage, .552 slugging percentage, 53 runs, 74 hits, 27 extra-base hits, eight homers, 38 RBIs and 20 walks.

SCOUTING BRADLEY

Opened the season 2-1 against Western Michigan with 11-8 and 7-2 wins and a 19-17 loss.
Receiving votes in Collegiate Baseball's preseason rankings, the Braves are coming off a third-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference at 12-10, the third-straight season with a winning conference record.
Junior first baseman Connor O'Brien has earned first-team all-conference honors in every season of his career and led the team with a .366 batting average in 2021 along with four home runs and 26 RBI.
Redshirt-freshman infielder Peter Hansen led the team at the plate last weekend, going 5-8 with six walks, four runs and three RBI.

SCOUTING LIPSCOMB

Opened the season 2-1 against Akron with 9-4 and 12-4 wins and a 6-5 loss.
Picked ninth in the Atlantic Sun Coaches' Preseason Poll after going 18-29 (8-13 ASUN) last season
Senior infielder Malik Williams was third on the team in batting average at .320 with 49 hits and 23 RBI, tied for the most doubles (nine) and also had two homers, 18 runs and eight walks for a .360 on-base percentage.
Junior utility player Chaz Bertolani notched a team-high 28 RBIs and 36 hits for a .269 batting average in 2021 along with 15 runs and 16 walks.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Lipscomb has won two of the three matchups against Pitt with wins in 2006 (4-2) and 2007 (4-0).
Last year the Panthers defeated the Bisons 9-6 at home on April 13.
This will be the first matchup against Bradley.

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