Pitt Heads to Coral Gables for Weekend Series at No. 4 Miami

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball returns to ACC play with a three-game series at No. 4 Miami: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Panthers look for their third series victory over a top-five team this month, taking two games both against then-No. 5 Virginia (9-4 and 4-1) last weekend and then-No. 5 Louisville (8-7 and 6-3) April 2-3.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Eacj 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

FRIDAY: RHP Matt Gilbertson (6-2, 3.20 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) | LHP Palmquist (6-2, 3.75 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)
SATURDAY: RHP Logan Evans (3-4, 6.85 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) | RHP Ligon (4-2, 3.57 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
SUNDAY: RHP Billy Corcoran (5-2, 3.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) | RHP Rosario (1-1, 7.22 ERA, 1.81 WHIP)

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

The story of the Pitt offense so far this season has been its home run hitting ability.
With 57 in 35 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 21st in homers and 17th per game (1.63).
Additionally, Pitt is 27th in slugging percentage (.495) and 32nd in on-base percentage (.400).
Tatem Levins has been the leader of that power-hitting squad, blasting 11 to place 46th in the nation.
Per game, Ron Washington, Jr. (.33) is 47th and Levins (.31) is 59th.
All nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least two with Washington, Jr. hitting nine, Brock Franks registering seven, Bryce Hulett hitting six and Jack Anderson with five.
CJ Funk hit his first collegiate homer at Virginia Tech (Saturday, March 19) and has hit three in his last seven games (two against No. 5 Louisville, April 2 and 3, and at Boston College, April 9).
Filling in at shortstop for an injured Franks, freshman Tommy Tavarez has hit four in the last nine games (at Youngstown State, April 6, at Boston College, April 8 and at Kent State, April 12).

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR WASHINGTON, JR.

Ron Washington, Jr. has saved his best season for last in his five-year career at Pitt.
Already an established bat in the ACC his entire career as an all-freshman selection in 2018, he has taken his game, especially the power numbers, to another level this spring.
Despite missing eight games and limited to a pinch-hit appearance twice due to an injury, he has the team-lead in slugging percentage (.674), is second on the team in extra-base hits (15), is tied for the team-lead in OPS (1.101) and has 25 RBI, a .315 batting average and four stolen bases.
In the nation he ranks 47th in homers per game (.33) and 78th in slugging percentage.
In 92 at-bats, he has already established a season-best nine homers (eight last year) and four steals (two in 2021 and 2018).
Entering this year, he posted a season-best of a .480 slugging percentage last year (not counting a .492 total in the shortened 2020 season).

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR HULETT

Bryce Hulett has enjoyed a tremendous start to the season as one of the Panthers' top hitters.
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 recorded a .306 batting average and .438 on-base percentage along with .959 OPS, .521 slugging percentage, 37 hits, 13 for extra-base, and 26 walks to just 15 strikeouts.
His power has seen an uptick with six homers, six doubles and a triple in 121 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 8.1 at-bats, compared to last year's 55 in 157, average of one every 2.85 at-bats).

GILL ON THE HILL

Matt Gilbertson was the Panthers' "Saturday" pitcher all last season and is the No. 1 pitcher this year.
Gilbertson has posted a team-best 3.20 ERA along with a 1.28 WHIP, 6-2 record, 53 strikeouts to 10 walks and a .282 opposing batting average.
This season he ranks in the ACC tied for third in wins (6), second in innings pitched (56.1), tied for ninth in strikeouts (53) and fourth in strikeouts looking (21).
In the nation, he's 12th in wins, 26th in games starts (nine) and 50th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.60).
Gilbertson has gone at least seven innings in his last four appearances.
In his five ACC victories, he's allowed just two walks with 33 strikeouts.
He earned his first win this season with no earned runs allowed and four strikeouts in five innings pitched against Bradley (Feb. 25).
He recorded his first ACC victory at Virginia Tech (March 18), going six innings with two runs, six hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
He notched another ACC win against No. 20 Clemson with seven shutout innings with just five hits and no walks allowed with nine strikeouts.
He made it three-straight starts with a win by going seven innings again versus No. 5 Louisville with two runs, eight hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
It became four-straight starts with a victory and three-straight with seven innings pitched at Boston College with three runs, 10 hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
In 26 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 145 strikeouts to just 36 walks and gone at least five innings in all but two games.
With starts in the second game 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 for tied seventh in innings pitched (85.0) and ninth in wins (six), both team-highs.

SCOUTING NO. 4 MIAMI

Stands in first place in the entire ACC at 14-4 and is 29-8 overall.
Consensually ranked in the top-five in all five major polls with a No. 4 ranking by Collegiate Baseball.
Dropped its first conference series of the season last weekend at then-No. 21 Virginia Tech, which snapped a 14-game winning streak.
Sophomore closer Andrew Walters leads the nation in saves (12), and the entire Hurricanes' pitching staff combined ranks 16th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.63) and 18th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6).
Sophomore infielder CJ Kayfus (1.055 OPS) and sophomore infielder Yohandy Morales (1.026 OPS) have been the two best hitters so far, as Kayfus is batting .390 with 15 extra-base hits, 36 RBI and 27 walks while Morales has recorded 20 extra-base hits, including seven homers, 31 RBI and 28 walks.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Miami has the advantage 20-7.
The Panthers enter this series with a three-game win streak against Miami after sweeping the No. 15 Hurricanes in last year's series (April 9-11).
The two teams have split the last 12 matchups with each squad earning a sweep and a 2-1 series victory in the last four years.

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Pitt Heads to Coral Gables for Weekend Series at No. 4 Miami

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

Pitt Heads to Coral Gables for Weekend Series at No. 4 Miami

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

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