Pitt
Penn State
Panthers Set for Road Matchup at Penn State
3/27/2023 5:01:00 PM | Baseball
TOP OF THE ORDER
1. PANTHERS SET TO VISIT IN-STATE RIVAL PENN STATE
The Pitt baseball team (11-10, 3-4 ACC) takes to the road to square off against in-state rival Penn State (12-8, 0-3 Big Ten) on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The contest will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus (subscription required).
The Panthers will be playing their second midweek road game of the 2023 season (March 7 at South Florida; L, 2-1) and enter Tuesday's contest having won four of their last six games.
2. SERIES VICTORY OVER VIRGINIA TECH
Pitt took two of three games from Virginia Tech over the weekend at Charles Cost Field to earn its first ACC series win of the 2023 season. The Panthers won the series opener, 5-4, then bounced back from a 20-12 defeat in game two with another 5-4 victory in the series finale. Pitt took a series from the Hokies for the first time since sweeping Virginia Tech at home in 2017.
Both victories were of the comeback variety as the Panthers rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the seventh inning on Friday, then came back from down 4-0 on Sunday. Pitt's seventh-inning rally on Friday saw Jack Anderson deliver a game tying single and Justin Acal draw a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run. Sunday's comeback was started by a home run by Johnny Long III in the fifth. CJ Funk tied the game in the eighth with his team leading eighth home run of the season, then Sky Duff drove in what proved to be game winner with an RBI double.
The Panthers finished the weekend with six home runs. Noah Martinez hit .417 in three games, matching Duff for the team lead with five hits. Duff finished the weekend with a double, his first home run of the season and three RBI. Acal hit .333 with a pair of homers on Saturday - his second two-home run game of the year - and drove in five runs on the weekend.
Nash Bryan was strong out of the bullpen, making a pair of appearances without allowing a run, a hit or a walk in 2.2 innings. He earned the win on Friday and picked up the save Sunday. He is now 4-2 on the year with a pair of saves. Jonathan Bautista gave Pitt 3.1 innings out of the 'pen on Sunday, striking out four. Dylan Simmons fanned five in three innings in his lone appearance on the mound on the weekend in Friday's win.
3. MULTIPLYING HOMERS
Pitt has hit multiple home runs in 10 games this year, including five of the last six games.
A total of eight Panthers have hit multiple home runs on the season so far, with CJ Funk (8) and Noah Martinez (6) leading the way.
THEY GET ON BASE
Three Panthers have double-digit reached base streaks going. Noah Martinez and Jack Anderson lead the pack with 21 straight games while CJ Funk is close behind at 18 in a row.
WALK THIS WAY
Pitt ranks 16th in the country with 142 walks on the season. Noah Martinez is 13th in the nation with 25 walks while CJ Funk is 22nd in the country with 23 free passes.
IMPACT TRANSFER
A transfer from Central Connecticut State, Noah Martinez has made an impact through 21 games with the Panthers this season.
Martinez is leading the team in batting average (.351), slugging percentage (.662), on base percentage (.505), hits (26) and RBI while ranking second in home runs (6).
OFF TO A GOOD START
Freshman AJ Nessler is off to a solid start to his collegiate career. Nessler ranks second on the team in RBI (22) and is fourth in hits (21) and batting average (.280) and fifth in slugging percentage (.440). He also leads the team with a pair of triples. His eight multi-RBI games lead the team.
UP NEXT
Pitt heads to Durham, N.C., this weekend to continue ACC play with a three-game set at Duke.
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