Pitt Hosts West Virginia for First Matchup of the Backyard Brawl

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball resumes home play with the Backyard Brawl Wednesday, squaring off against rival West Virginia at 5 p.m. The game was added Tuesday, as there will now be three games of the rivalry in 2022: Tuesday, April 19 at 6 p.m. at PNC Park and Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Morgantown, W, Va.

GAME PROMOTIONS

Admission will be free for everyone.
"Script P" stickers are going to be given out.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game will be streamed on ACCNX.
Fans can follow along with live stats and updates through Twitter. Follow @Pitt_BASE for the latest news and updates about the team.

STARTING PITCHERS

TBA | TBA

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

The story of the Pitt offense so far this season has been its home run hitting ability.
With 39 in 22 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 14th in homers and 11th per game (1.77).
Tatem Levins has been the leader of that power-hitting squad, blasting eight to place 37TH in the nation.
Ron Washington, Jr. also ranks in the top-100 in the nation in homers per game (.35) at 52nd.
All nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least one with Kyle Hess, Brock Franks and Washington, Jr. registering six and Jack Anderson and Bryce Hulett each having five.
CJ Funk hit his first collegiate homer at Virginia Tech (Saturday, March 19).

A TWO-GAME SWEEP OF NO. 20 CLEMSON

Pitt is coming off a sweep of No. 20 Clemson, as they took both games at home Friday 8-0 and 10-7.
The series finale was cancelled due to weather.
The Panthers recorded its first series win over the Tigers in four tries since joining the ACC for the 2014 season.
The ACC series victory was also the first of the season and the fourth against a ranked squad in the last two seasons No. 9 Florida State, No. 7 Georgia Tech and No. 15 Miami last year with both being sweeps over the Yellow Jackets and Hurricanes).
Pitchers Matt Gilbertson and Logan Evans both earned the wins with nine strikeouts each, with Gilbertson throwing seven shutout innings and Evans going five with just one run allowed.
The Panthers belted five homers, two by Washington, Jr. and one each from Anderson, Franks and Hulett.
Baron Stuart threw two scoreless innings of relief in both games, earning the save with retiring all six batters faced with five strikeouts and allowing just one hit and no walks with four strikeouts in the first game.
The Panthers finished with 28 hits and 10 walks on the day with all but two starters reaching base four times with at least three hits.
Hess had a doubleheader-high six hits with two doubles.
Washington, Jr. led both teams with four extra-base hits, two homers and two doubles.
Hulett finished a single short of the cycle in game two.
Funk drew a day-high four walks and added two hits.

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR HULETT

Bryce Hulett has enjoyed a tremendous start to the season as the Panthers' top hitter.
Known for his tremendous glove at first base since he started his career in Pittsburgh in 2020, Hulett has excelled at the plate so far this spring.
He has the team-lead for OPS (1.175), batting average (.387), hits (29 tied with Kyle Hess), slugging percentage (.680) and on-base percentage (.495) along with 11 extra-base hits and 15 walks to just eight strikeouts.
His power has seen an uptick with five homers, five doubles and a triple in 75 at-bats (eight, three and zero in 154 last season), and he's drawn more walks and cut down drastically on strikeouts (averaging one per 9.4 at-bats), which ranks 100th in the nation, compared to last year (55 in 157, average of one every 2.85 at-bats).

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

Won four-straight with a 7-3 victory at in-state rival Marshall Tuesday and a three-game home series sweep Thursday-Friday of Youngstown State (6-4, 9-3 and 13-2).
Returning 16 lettermen from last years' squad that went 25-27 and 8-16 in Big 12 play, the Mountaineers were picked second to last in the preseason conference coaches' poll.
Junior outfielder Barry Braden has been the top-hitting primary starter with a team-best 17 walks and .444 on-base percentage along with a .977 OPS and nine extra-base hits, including four homers.
A four-year Panther and 2021 University of Pittsburgh graduate, relief pitcher Chase Smith is using his last year of eligibility for the Mountaineers and has made a team-high 11 appearances with a 2.79 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and nine strikeouts to three walks.

ALL-TIME SERIES

West Virginia has the advantage 86-74.
The Mountaineers are the most faced opponent in program history.
The two teams split the series last year with Pitt winning 5-1 on April 6 in Pittsburgh and West Virginia taking the May 5 matchup in Morgantown 8-2.

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Pitt Hosts West Virginia for First Matchup of the Backyard Brawl

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Kyle Hess

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Chase Smith

Baron Stuart

Pitt Hosts West Virginia for First Matchup of the Backyard Brawl

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Kyle Hess

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Chase Smith

Baron Stuart

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