Panthers Head to Spartanburg for Five Games

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt softball team continues its stretch of five straight weeks on the road as it next heads to Spartanburg, S.C., to participate in the Wings ETC Classic on the campus of USC Upstate Friday, Feb. 25 to Sunday, Feb. 27.

LEADING OFF

The Panthers stay on the road and play five games in three days in the Wings ETC Classic on the campus of USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., Friday through Sunday.
Pitt has a .975 FLD%, ranking fifth in the conference and is one of six teams in the league with 3+ double-plays.
Pitt forced 16 walks last weekend and rank 6th in the ACC with 30 base on balls.

AROUND THE DIAMOND

Pitt recently concluded the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas, this past weekend and went 3-1 against its competition.
The Panthers defeated Missouri State 4-1 in eight innings followed by a 6-4 victory over Stephen F. Austin. Pitt fell to Texas A&M 10-0 in five innings before rebounding for a 3-2 victory over Kansas.
Dani Drogemuller controlled the circle, going 2-0 with one save, striking out 18 batters in 17.0 innings pitched and allowing only three earned runs. She now has a 1.18 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 29.2 innings thrown.
Freshmen stepped up in Texas, as both Kylie Griggs and Tuta Ramirez homered and combined for 7 hits, 5 RBI and a .371 BA AVG.
Fielding has improved this season, as its six errors are tied for third fewest in the ACC and the .975 FLD% ranks fifth.

SCOUTING REPORT

The Panthers face Tennessee Tech and Cleveland State twice while playing host school USC Upstate once in the Wings ETC Classic.
Tennessee Tech comes into weekend 7-3 overall with a 5-3 neutral showing. The Golden Eagles are 10th in the nation in shutouts (4) and 33rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.92). Haeli Bryson is sixth in the NCAA with 16 RBIs as she is hitting .345 with 10 hits, 2 HRs and owns a .621 SLG%.
Cleveland State is 4-5 with a 2-4 neutral record. The Vikings are first in the Horizon league in scoring with 5.33 runs per game. They also rank first in the league in doubles (15) and second in batting average (.275). Melissa Holzoppel is hitting .485 with 16 hits, 4 doubles, 8 runs and has a .500 on-base percentage.
Host school USC Upstate comes in with a perfect 9-0 record, all wins of which have come at home. The Spartans are 10th in the nation in batting average (.355) and seventh in ERA (1.05). They rank third in the country with five shutouts so far this season. Peyton Darnell is batting .417 with 10 hits, 4 homers, 13 RBI and has a .958 slugging percentage. Hannah Hogue has led them in the circle, compiling a 5-0 record with 38 K's in 25.0 innings pitched. She has recorded a 1.68 ERA and has walked only three batters thus far.

DROGEMULLER CONTROLING THE CIRCLE

Redshirt freshman Dani Drogemuller has controlled the circle through the first nine games of play, totaling a 3-2 record with one save in six appearances, all while striking out 29 batters in 29.2 innings pitched and compiling a 1.18 ERA.
She has thrown three complete games, including an eight-inning performance vs. Kansas, becoming the 10th pitcher in Pitt history to throw more than 8.0 innings in one game.
Drogemuller has faced 106 batters and has kept opposing batting averages to a .189 on the year.

FRESHMAN STEPPING UP

Freshman have stepped up in a big way for the Panthers so far this season.
Haylie Brunson, Amanda "Tuta" Ramirez and Kylie Griggs have combined for a .277 batting average with 17 hits, 7 extra base hits, 8 RBI and a .489 slugging percentage.
Ana Hernandez has started four of five games played at second base, registering a 1.000 fielding percentage with eight putouts and four assists, while Kendall Brown came into relief vs. Akron and threw 1.1 innings of hitless ball.

BRUNSON MAKING NOISE EARLY

Freshman Haylie Brunson had a fantastic first opening weekend of softball in the Northern Lights Tournament in Leesburg, Fla.
The Mount Pleasant, Pa., product hit a team-best .471 with 8 hits, 3 doubles, 3 RBI, 3 runs, 11 total bases and registered a .647 slugging percentage and .471 on-base percentage in Leesburg. Her efforts earned her a spot on the Northern Lights All-Tournament Team.
Brunson has four doubles on the season and a 0,44 doubles per game mark, ranking seventh in the conference in that category.
She is the team leader in batting average (.333), hits (10), doubles (4) and total bases (14).

UP NEXT

The Panthers open ACC play against National Runner-up Florida State Mar. 4-6.
Pitt defeated the No. 6/9 Seminoles 6-5 at home last year (May 7) for the highest ranked victory in program history.
All games will be streamed on the ACCNX.