Pitt
Mount St. Mary's (Md.)
Panthers Return to Florida to Take On Mount St. Mary's, Stetson in DeLand
3/2/2023 12:53:00 PM | Baseball
TOP OF THE ORDER
1. PANTHERS BEGIN FLORIDA SPRING BREAK TRIP
The Pitt baseball team (5-3, 0-0 ACC) returns to Florida this weekend for its spring break trip, opening up a stretch of eight-straight games in the Sunshine State by taking on Mount St. Mary's and host Stetson in DeLand, Fla.
The Panthers will play the Mountaineers on Friday (March 3) and Saturday (March 3), with both games scheduled for 1 p.m. starts. Pitt will then take on the Hatters on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The Saturday game between the Panthers and the Hatters will be streamed on ESPN+.
2. OPENING UP THE HOME SCHEDULE WITH A 'W'
The Panthers rallied late with a five-run eighth inning to beat Bucknell, 11-8, on Tuesday in the 2023 home opener at Charles Cost Field. The Panthers ran their winning streak to three in a row with the victory.
CJ Funk led Pitt at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort that included a grand slam in the third inning. He homered for the third time this season to tie him with Noah Martinez for the team lead. His grand slam marked Pitt's third in the last five games and second game in a row with one. In his first game and start as a Panther, Justin Acal collected a pair of hits. Dylan Simmons struck out four over 1.1 frames of relief. Quin Konuszewski was credited with the pitching victory. Nash Bryan came on to close things out in the top of the ninth and got a strikeout swinging and a strikeout looking to end the game. He earned his first save as a Panther. Holden Phelps made his first start on the mound as a Panther and struck out four in four innings of work.
3. DOUBLE DIGIT RUNS = VICTORY
In its five wins this season, Pitt has scored double-digit runs in all five contests. Pitt's 78 runs marks the program's most through its first eight games since scoring 92 in its first eight games in 2016.
WALK THIS WAY
Pitt ranks fifth in the country with 66 walks on the season. Noah Martinez leads the way, drawing 14 walks to rank 2nd in the nation while Sky Duff and CJ Funk are tied for 22nd in the country with 10 apiece.
DOUBLE YOUR FUN
The Panthers rank 14th in the country in doubles (23) and 10th in doubles per game (2.88). Tommy Tavarez currently ranks sixth in the nation with six doubles on the year.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Pitt is 7-1 all-time against Mount St. Mary's and is taking on the Mountaineers for the first time since an 8-0 victory on March 9, 2004.
The Mount is led by second-year head coach Frank Leoni.
Mount St. Mary's is off to a 5-3 start to the year but dropped three straight to last weekend in Winston-Salem, N.C., dropping games to Wake Forest (18-2, 15-1) and Binghamton (27-2).
Tyler Long leads The Mount at the plate with a .433 batting average and 13 hits. Cooper Adams is the top arm for the Mountaineers, sporting a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and seven strikeouts over two starts and 9.1 innings. Jett Slepak has registered two saves so far.
SCOUTING STETSON
Pitt is 0-4 all-time against Stetson. The teams last met on March 13, 1994 - a 9-5 victory for the Hatters.
Steve Trimper is in his seventh season as head coach of the Hatters.
The Hatters have started the season 5-3, most recently earning a pair of midweek wins over Siena by scores of 8-1 and 10-3.
UP NEXT
Pitt visits South Florida for a midweek game next Tuesday (March 7). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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