No. 11 Seed Pitt To Face No. 10 NC State in ACC Tournament Semifinals

CHARLOTTE – No. 11 seed Pitt baseball faces No. 10 NC State Saturday at 5 p.m. in the ACC Tournament Semifinals in Charlotte, N.C. at Truist Field. Reaching the semifinals in 2018, the Panthers look to make their first ACC Finals appearance.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The semifinals (1 and 5 p.m.) will be broadcasted Saturday on the ACC Network with the Championship Sunday at noon on ESPN2.
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

RHP Logan Evans (4-7, 6.93 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) | LHP Canaan Silver (7-1, 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

WALK-OFF WIN AGAINST NO. 2 LOUISVILLE

Bryce Hulett hit a walk-off, RBI-single to centerfield with two outs in the ninth inning to send Pitt to the ACC Tournament Semifinals as the Pool B winners with a 6-5 win over No. 2 Louisville Wednesday afternoon.
The Panthers scored three unanswered runs with a run in each of the last three innings to secure the victory.
Jeffrey Wehler hit two homers, a two-run homer to left field in the third inning and a solo shot to right field in the sixth inning, his first multi-homer game of his five-year collegiate career and the fourth by a Panther this season (Tatem Levins against Bucknell, March 15, and at Miami, April 24, and Franks at High Point, March 9).
Levins hit a solo homer in the seventh.
Brock Franks hit a sac fly in the eighth inning to tie it up.
Baron Stuart picked up the win in relief by registering the last six outs with no runs and walks and one hit allowed.
Pitt improved to 5-2 in the ACC Tournament and advance to the semifinals for the second time (2018 as the 12-seed after upsetting No. 8 Georgia Tech 2-1 and No. 1 North Carolina 5-4).
Pitt earned its third win over Louisville this season, who came into the week ranked No. 6 in several of the major polls.

OPENING WIN AGAINST NO. 7 GEORGIA TECH

Pitt opened the ACC Tournament with a 12-6 win against No. 7 seed Georgia Tech.
The Panthers scored 10 unanswered runs with an eight-run sixth inning and two insurance runs in the ninth.
Matt Gilbertson started and picked up his ninth win, going five innings with four earned runs, nine hits, no walks and one strikeout.
Jonathan Bautista threw four scoreless innings of relief for his first collegiate save, allowing just two hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
Ron Washington, Jr. had a game-high four RBI with a two-run homer, RBI-single and sac fly while Jeffrey Wehler had three RBI-singles.
Tatem Levins reached base a game-high four times with three singles and a walk.
The Panthers improved to 2-0 against the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Tournament.

ACC TOURNAMENT

The ACC tournament format features four pools (A, B, C and D) with three teams each as the winners of each one advance to the semifinals Saturday with championship Sunday.
Due to the league's tiebreaker of the higher seed advancing, Pitt had to win both of its games in Pool B to advance in the tournament.
Three games (11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.) are played Tuesday-Friday, so the Panthers had a two-day break until the semifinals.
No. 4 Notre Dame (Pool B) has clinched a spot in the first semifinal game while Thursday night's matchup between No. 8 North Carolina and No. 1 Virginia Tech (Pool A) determines the other representative.

RPI TALK

With the Panthers' improved play and strong wins in April, they find themselves in the upper portion of the RPI rankings.
Pitt currently stands at No. 65 (.5487) with a strength of schedule at 28 (.5557).
With its strong slate of opponents, Pitt is 12-16 against quadrant one teams (squads ranked 1-50) and 3-1 against quadrant two teams (squads ranked 50-100).
- Three wins against No. 10 Louisville.
- Two wins against No. 21 Virginia, No. 33 Clemson and No. 96 Duke.
- One win versus No. 4 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Miami, No. 17 Notre Dame, No. 27 Georgia Tech, No. 40 West Virginia and No. 57 Campbell.
The ACC is the second-highest rated league in the country.

ALL-ACC HONORS

Pitt starting pitchers Matt Gilbertson (second-team) and Billy Corcoran (third-team) were named All-ACC selections, the league announced Monday.
They are the first tandem of Panther pitchers to earn All-ACC (first-third team) honors in the same season and the eighth and ninth overall selections under head coach Mike Bell to earn the distinction in his three full seasons guiding the program (no season awards given in 2020 due to COVID).
The honors were the first for both in their Panthers' careers.

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

The story of the Pitt offense this season has been its home run hitting ability.
With 78 in 55 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 43rd in homers and 44th in homers per game (1.42).
Additionally, Pitt is 56th in on-base percentage (.393) and 73rd in slugging percentage (.467).
Tatem Levins has been the leader of that power-hitting squad, blasting 16 to place 69th in the nation.
Eight out of nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least two: Levins hitting 16, Ron Washington, Jr. blasting 14, Brock Franks and Bryce Hulett each registering nine, Jack Anderson hitting six, CJ Funk with five, Jeffrey Wehler with four and Sky Duff registering two.
CJ Funk hit his first collegiate homer at Virginia Tech (Saturday, March 19) and has hit four in his last 23 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 hit four in his last 16 starts (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. 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 to another level this spring, especially the power numbers.
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 (24), RBI (41), slugging percentage (.582) and total bases (99) along with four stolen bases.
In 170 at-bats, he has already established a season-best 14 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 tied for second in homers (34), third in total bases (366), fifth in at-bats (751), tied for fifth in doubles (47) and RBI (143), seventh in games started (194), eighth in games played (199), tied for 11th in walks (87) and hits (213) and 20th in runs (118).

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR HULETT

Bryce Hulett has enjoyed a tremendous 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 excelled at the plate this spring.
He recorded a .285 batting average and .404 on-base percentage along with .874 OPS, .470 slugging percentage and 57 hits, 18 for extra-base.
His power has seen an uptick with nine homers, eight doubles and a triple in 200 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 4.76 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 69th in the nation with 16 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 53 RBI, 1.062 OPS, 129 total bases and 27 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.
In program history, Levins ranks for a single-season tied for sixth in home runs, tied for seventh in hit by pitches and tied for 11th in total bases.
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 this season, Duff saw a 65-game reached base streak that started last year end last Saturday against Georgia Tech.
This season he is tied for first on the team in walks (40), currently ranking 39th in the nation in walks per game (.85), along with a .425 on-base percentage, 49 hits and 21 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 123.
Former teammate David Yanni (148, 2016-21) and John Schultz (142, 2008-11) could be passed by Duff next season.
He also ranks in program history tied for 14th in doubles (39), 18th in hits (171) and 19th in games started (151).
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 3.74 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 9-3 record, 88 strikeouts to 11 walks and a .268 opposing batting average.
At the end of the regular season, he ranked in the ACC first in innings pitched (91.1) and strikeouts looking (37), tied for first in games started (14), third in least walks allowed (11), tied for fourth in wins (8) and sixth in strikeouts (87).
In the nation, he's seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (1.03), eighth in games started, 11th in victories (9), 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.91), and 81st in strikeouts.
Gilbertson ranks in program history tied for eighth in career wins (17), 14th in strikeouts (180) and innings pitched (205.1) and 15th in games started (32).
This year, he ranks in single-season program history tied for third in games started, tied for fifth in wins, seventh in innings pitched and 10th in strikeouts.
In his 11 ACC starts, Gilbertson has 57 strikeouts to just five walks in 80.2 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 eight wins in his last 11 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 seven of his last 10 games.
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 32 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 180 strikeouts to just 37 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 tremendously this spring.
At the end of the regular season, he ranked in the ACC first in least walks allowed (8), sixth in innings pitched (85.1) and tied for sixth in wins (7).
In the nation, he's fourth in walks allowed per nine innings (.84), eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.62), 46th in games started (14) and 75th in victories.
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 12 out of 14 appearances this season and allowed just four walks in his last ten starts with a combined 56 strikeouts in 60.1 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 13th in games started (33), 17th in innings pitched (189.0) and tied for 18th in strikeouts (160).

ALL-TIME SERIES

NC State has the edge 13-1.
This will be the second consecutive year that the Panthers and the Wolfpack have faced off in the ACC Tournament, with then-ranked No. 16 and third-seeded NC State taking last year's matchup 3-2.

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No. 11 Seed Pitt To Face No. 10 NC State in ACC Tournament Semifinals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Jonathan Bautista

Billy Corcoran

Sky Duff

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Baron Stuart

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

Jeffrey Wehler

David Yanni

No. 11 Seed Pitt To Face No. 10 NC State in ACC Tournament Semifinals

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Anderson

Jonathan Bautista

Billy Corcoran

Sky Duff

Logan Evans

Brock Franks

C.J. Funk

Matt Gilbertson

Bryce Hulett

Tatem Levins

Baron Stuart

Tommy Tavarez

Ron Washington, Jr.

Jeffrey Wehler

David Yanni

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