Pitt Hosts North Carolina A&T for ACC Bye Weekend

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball takes a break from ACC play and hosts North Carolina A&T for a three-game weekend series: Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The Panthers look for their fourth-straight series victory at Charles L. Cost Field (then-No. 20 Clemson (8-0 and 10-7) March 25, then-No. 5 Louisville (8-7 and 6-3) April 2-3 and then-No. 5 Virginia (9-4 and 4-1) April 15-17).

GAME PROMOTIONS

Sunday, Little Leaguers get $1 admission, as well as a concessions deal.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Each 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, 2.94 ERA, 1.21 WHIP) | TBA
SATURDAY: TBA | TBA
SUNDAY: RHP Billy Corcoran (6-2, 3.05 ERA, 0.95 WHIP) | TBA

SENIOR DAY

Pitt will have a pregame ceremony Saturday to honor its seven seniors: Jordan Anderson, Matt Gilbertson, Bryce Hulett, Dylan Lester, Baron Stuart, Ron Washington, Jr. and Jeffrey Wehler.
The group is a good representation of the makeup of the program that head coach Mike Bell has built in his four years.
Wehler (Youngstown State) and Stuart (USF) came to Pitt after four-year careers at their previse respective institutions.
Anderson (Chipola College), Gilbertson (College of Southern Nevada), Hulett (State College of Florida) and Lester (San Jacinto College-North) are three-year members and came to Pitt from junior colleges.
Washington, Jr. has been a starter at Pitt all five years in the outfield and as a designated hitter.

RPI TALK

With the Panthers' improved play and strong wins in April, they find themselves in the top portion of the RPI rankings.
Pitt currently stands at No. 35 (.5731) with a strength of schedule at 25 (.5621).
With its strong slate of opponents, Pitt is 9-10 against quadrant one teams (squads ranked 1-50) and 1-0 against quadrant two teams (squads ranked 50-100).
- Two wins against No. 15 Virginia, No. 31 Clemson and No. 39 Louisville.
- One win versus No. 9 Miami, No. 19 Virginia Tech, No. 38 West Virginia and No. 69 Campbell.
The ACC is the second-highest rated league in the country.
Pitt has a strong slate of opponents to solidify its RPI and postseason aspirations with seven games left against quad one squads (No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 25 Georgia Tech and No. 38 West Virginia) and a quad two opponent (No. 92 Duke).

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

The story of the Pitt offense so far this season has been its home run hitting ability.
With 61 in 38 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 23rd in homers and 22nd per game (1.61).
Additionally, Pitt is 38th in slugging percentage (.486) and 43rd in on-base percentage (.395).
Tatem Levins has been the leader of that power-hitting squad, blasting 13 to place 34th in the nation.
Per game, Ron Washington, Jr. (.33) is 45th and Levins (.34) is 41st.
All nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least two with Washington, Jr. hitting ten, Brock Franks registering eight, 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 twelve 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 is second on the team in extra-base hits (16), third on the team in slugging percentage (.641) and OPS (1.048) and has 26 RBI, a .291 batting average and four stolen bases.
In the nation he ranks 45th in homers per game (.33).
In 103 at-bats, he has already established a season-best ten 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).
He continues to etch his name in the record book, ranking in program history seventh in homers (30), eighth in RBI (128), tied for eighth in total bases (333), tied for ninth in doubles (43), 12th in at-bats (684), 13th in games started (177), 14th in games played (182), 16th in hits (196) and 17th in walks (79).

SLUGGING TATEM

For the season, Levins has been an effective power hitter, ranking 34th in the nation with 13 homers that included a five-game home run streak (Lipscomb, Feb. 27-at High Point, March 9) and a pair of two-homer performances in the 9-4 win at No. 4 Miami (April 24) and the 21-5 win over Bucknell (March 15).
Overall this season, he has boasted a 1.072 OPS, a team-leading 39 RBI and 18 extra-base hits.
In the five-game stretch with a homer he registered a .545 batting average (12-22), 12 hits, 12 RBI, 28 total bases, a 1.273 slugging percentage and .545 on-base percentage.
Tatem Levins was named ACC Player of the Week March 7 for in his performance at the All-American Classic.
Levins homered in all three games and posted nine RBI and a 1.231 slugging percentage.
He opened the tournament in Fayetteville, N.C. with a 2-4 performance at the plate with a solo homer and double against Army.
He had a two-run homer in the 6-5 comeback win over Ohio State.
In the 11-5 victory over Campbell, he saved his best performance for last with a grand slam and two other hits, six RBI and two runs.
He was also named one of Collegiate Baseball's Players of the Week.

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 2.94 ERA along with a 1.21 WHIP, 6-2 record, 60 strikeouts to 10 walks and a .273 opposing batting average.
This season he ranks in the ACC first in strikeouts looking (25), second in innings pitched (64.1), tied for third in wins (6), tied for fourth in least walks allowed (10), seventh in ERA (2.94) and eighth in strikeouts (60).
In the nation, he's 24th in games starts (10), 26th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.40), 29th in wins and 37th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.90).
Gilbertson has gone at least seven innings in his last five appearances.
In his six ACC starts, Gilbertson has 40 strikeouts to just two walks in 43 innings pitched.
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.
The win-streak became five against No. 5 Virginia when he went eight innings with eight strikeouts, no walks and four runs.
In 27 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 152 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.

COMEBACK SEASON FOR CORCORAN

Limited to just four appearances in 2021, Billy Corcoran has bounced back with a tremendous 2021 spring.
This season he ranks in the ACC first in least walks allowed (6), first in innings per game (6.56), tied for third in wins (6), sixth in innings pitched (59.0) and 10th in ERA (3.05).
In the nation, he's seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (0.92), 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.50), 23rd in WHIP (0.95), 29th in victories (6) and 36th in complete games (1).
Corcoran is the reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week, earning the honors with a win at No. 4 Miami last Sunday in which he had eight strikeouts, one walk and one run in seven innings.
He has gone at least six innings in all nine appearances.
He's notched wins in four-straight starts (then-No. 5 Louisville, at Boston College and then-No. 5 Virginia).
In that span, he recorded a 1.55 ERA, 26 strikeouts and just two walks in 29.0 innings pitched.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA A&T

Stands in last place in the 11-team Big South Conference at 1-14, the first season in the league after coming from the MEAC, and is 12-27 overall.
Have lost eight-straight with the last win coming April 12 at North Carolina (7-6).
Redshirt-junior infielder Anthony Hennings leads the team in batting average (.869), OPS (.869), hits (55) and doubles (11).
Redshirt-junior infielder Cort Maynard has belted a team-best eight homers, accounting for nearly a third of the team's home runs (25).

ALL-TIME SERIES

Pitt has won all three matchups.
The Panthers have outscored the Aggies 22-2 in the three contests. Two of the Panthers' victories were shutouts (March 7, 1995 and March 8, 2011).
This will be the first meeting between the teams since March 9, 2011 and their first ever meeting at Cost Field.

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Pitt Hosts North Carolina A&T for ACC Bye Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Jordan Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Dylan Lester

Tatem Levins

Baron Stuart

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

Jeffrey Wehler

Pitt Hosts North Carolina A&T for ACC Bye Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Jordan Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Dylan Lester

Tatem Levins

Baron Stuart

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

Jeffrey Wehler

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