Pitt To Play Final Road Series of Season at No. 8 Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball goes on the road for the final time in the regular season with a weekend series at No. 8 Notre Dame: Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The first game will be streamed on ACCNX, and the final two contests will be broadcasted on ACC Network.
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 (8-2, 2.61 ERA, 1.08 WHIP) | LHP John Bertrand (6-1, 2.35 ERA, 1.07 WHIP)
SATURDAY: RHP Logan Evans (3-6, 7.44 ERA, 1.63 WHIP) | RHP Austin Temple (3-1, 3.68 ERA, 1.07 WHIP)
SUNDAY: RHP Billy Corcoran (7-3, 2.92 ERA, 0.99 WHIP) | TBA

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. 61 (.5503) with a strength of schedule at 44 (.5445).
With its strong slate of opponents, Pitt is 9-11 against quadrant one teams (squads ranked 1-50) and 1-0 against quadrant two teams (squads ranked 50-100).
- Two wins against No. 12 Louisville, No. 15 Virginia and No. 25 Clemson.
- One win versus No. 8 Miami, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 37 West Virginia and No. 60 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 six games left against quad one squads (No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 29 Georgia Tech).

ACC TOURNAMENT

With two league weekend series remaining in the regular season, the Panthers are in a solid position to make the ACC Tournament (May 24-29, Truist Field in Charlotte) for the second-straight season for the first time.
Pitt (12-11) is tied for seventh in the ACC overall standings with NC State.
Only Miami (17-7) and Louisville (15-8-1) have clinched a spot in the championship as the top-14 teams make it.
The standings remain tight as Pitt can move ahead as high as No. 3 in the league or fall as far as No. 11 in one weekend of play.
The magic number for the Panthers to clinch a spot in Charlotte is three.
Pitt can earn the spot potentially this weekend with Duke (9-15) or Clemson (9-14) getting swept, one win by the Panthers and at least two losses by either team, two victories from Pitt and at least one loss by the Tigers or Blue Devils or a sweep at Notre Dame from Pitt.

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

The story of the Pitt offense so far this season has been its home run hitting ability.
With 68 in 46 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 31st in homes per game (1.48) and 35th in homers.
Additionally, Pitt is 33rd in on-base percentage (.399) and 57th in slugging percentage (.472).
Tatem Levins and Ron Washington, Jr. have been the leaders of that power-hitting squad, each blasting 13 to place 83rd in the nation.
Per game, Ron Washington, Jr. (.34) is 37th and Levins (.28) is 99th.
All nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least two with Washington, Jr. and Levins hitting 13, Brock Franks registering nine, Bryce Hulett hitting seven and Jack Anderson with six.
CJ Funk hit his first collegiate homer at Virginia Tech (Saturday, March 19) and has hit three in his last 14 games (two against No. 5 Louisville, April 2 and 3, and at Boston College, April 9).
Filling in the infield due to multiple injuries, freshman Tommy Tavarez has hit four in his last 17 games (at Youngstown State, April 6, at Boston College, April 8, at Kent State, April 12 and against No. 5 Virginia, April 15).

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 leads the team in extra-base hits (22) and is second in RBI (34), slugging percentage (.638) and OPS (1.033) along with four stolen bases.
In the nation he ranks 37th in homers per game (.34).
In 138 at-bats, he has already established a season-best 13 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 third in total bases (355), tied for third in homers (33) and doubles (46), seventh in RBI (136), ninth in at-bats (719), 10th in games started (185), 12th in games played (190), 13th in hits (206) and tied for 15th in walks (83).

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 .298 batting average and .434 on-base percentage along with .925 OPS, .491 slugging percentage, 48 hits, 16 for extra-base, and 35 walks to just 26 strikeouts.
His power has seen an uptick with seven homers, eight doubles and a triple in 161 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 6.2 at-bats, compared to last year's 55 in 157, average of one every 2.85 at-bats).

SLUGGING TATEM

For the season, Tatem Levins has been an effective power hitter, ranking 83rd 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 team-leading 43 RBI, 1.019 OPS and 19 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.
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.

THE DUFFMAN

Sky Duff had a breakout campaign in 2021, 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 for most of the season, Duff has an active 60-game reached base streak started last year and currently ranks 18th in the nation in walks per game (.92).
This season he is tied for first on the team in walks (35) and has a .446 on-base percentage, 41 hits and 18 RBI.
He recorded a nation-best nine walks and three hits also on opening weekend.
Known for his ability to draw walks in his entire career, he ranks third in program history with 118.
Former teammate David Yanni (148, 2016-21) and John Schultz (142, 2008-11) could be passed by Duff this or next season.
He also ranks in program history 15th in doubles (37) and 18th in hits (163).
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.
He also hit two homers each of the last two years after recording his first career homer the previous season.

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 2.61 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 8-2 record, 78 strikeouts to 11 walks and a .248 opposing batting average.
This season he ranks in the ACC first in strikeouts looking (30), third in ERA (2.40), fourth in innings pitched (71.1), tied for fourth in walks allowed (11), tied for sixth in earned runs allowed (19), seventh in wins (7) and runs allowed (22) and eighth in batters struck out (70).
In the nation, he's ninth in wins, 15th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.25), 17th in game starts (12), 22nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.00), 50th in complete games (1), 66th in ERA, 79th in strikeouts (78) and 81st in WHIP (1.08).
In his eight ACC starts, Gilbertson has 47 strikeouts to just five walks in 63.2 innings pitched.
Starting against No. 20 Clemson (March 25), Gilbertson recorded 47.1 consecutive innings without a walk that ended against Duke (May 7).
He's recorded seven wins in his last eight appearances with the one a no decision on eight innings and just one run at then-No. 4 Miami on April 22.
The appearance was the eighth quality start of the season, and he's gone at least seven innings in the last seven games.
Gilbertson ranks in program history tied for ninth in career wins (16), 15th in strikeouts (170), 16th in games started (29) and innings pitched (188.1) and 18th in ERA (3.25).
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.
He threw an eight-inning complete game, two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and no walks in the win against North Carolina A&T.
In an ACC victory over Duke, he went seven innings with six strikeouts to just one walk and two runs.
In 29 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 170 strikeouts to just 37 walks and gone at least five innings in all but two games.

COMEBACK SEASON FOR CORCORAN

Limited to just four appearances in 2021, Billy Corcoran has bounced back tremendously this spring.
This season he ranks in the ACC first in least walks allowed (7), fifth in innings pitched (71.0) and eighth in ERA (2.92) and wins (7).
In the nation, he's seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (0.89), 13th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.57), 28th in victories, 33rd in WHIP (0.99), 50th in complete games (1) and 98th in ERA.
Corcoran was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week on April 25, earning the honors with a win at No. 4 Miami on April 24 in which he had eight strikeouts, one walk and one run in seven innings.
He has gone at least six innings in all 11 appearances this season and allowed just three walks in his last seven starts with a combined 47 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched.
He notched wins in four-straight starts (then-No. 5 Louisville, at Boston College, then-No. 5 Virginia and at then-No. 5 Miami).
In that span, he recorded a 1.55 ERA, 26 strikeouts and just two walks in 29.0 innings pitched.
In program history, he ranks tied for 14th in games started (30) and 20th in innings pitched (174.2).

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME

Stands in fourth place (13-8) overall in the ACC and second in the Atlantic Division and are 29-10 overall.
Ranked as high as No. 8 by Baseball America and are in the top-20 in all five major polls.
Rank in the nation seventh in least hits allowed per innings (7.32), eighth in fielding percentage (.982), ninth in strikeouts per inning (10.9), 11th in WHIP (1.25), 14th in win-loss percentage (.744), 18th in ERA (3.84), 19th in scoring (8.5 runs per game) and 25th in batting average (.301).
Graduate student pitcher John Bertrand leads the ACC in ERA (2.35) and is seventh in strikeouts (71).
Graduate student outfielder Ryan Cole has been the top hitter with team-bests of .969 OPS and 18 stolen bases.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Notre Dame has the advantage 49-24.
The Panthers' last series win against the Irish came on the road in the 2016 season when they defeated Notre Dame in the first two games of the series 4-2 (May 6, 2016) and 8-5 (May 7, 2016).

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Pitt To Play Final Road Series of Season at No. 8 Notre Dame

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Sky Duff

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

David Yanni

Pitt To Play Final Road Series of Season at No. 8 Notre Dame

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Billy Corcoran

Sky Duff

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

David Yanni

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