Pitt
South Florida
Panthers Ready for Midweek Matchup at South Florida
3/6/2023 2:46:00 PM | Baseball
TOP OF THE ORDER
1. PANTHERS TAKE ON SOUTH FLORIDA IN MIDWEEK MATCHUP
The Pitt baseball team (7-5, 0-0 ACC) continues its spring break trip with a visit to South Florida (3-9, 0-0 AAC) for a midweek game on Tuesday (March 7) at the USF Baseball Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.
2. PITT SPLITS FOUR GAMES IN DELAND
The third weekend of the 2023 season saw Pitt finish with a split of four games in DeLand, Fla., as it began its spring break trip. The Panthers split a pair of games against both Mount St. Mary's (L, 7-4; W, 10-2) and host Stetson (L, 6-5; W, 9-2).
Noah Martinez led Pitt's bats, slashing a team-best .471/.882/.526 and leading the squad in runs (6), hits (8) and total bases (15) while tying for the team lead in home runs (2) and tying for second in RBI (4). AJ Nessler continued the strong start to his rookie campaign, driving in a team-high five runs. In just his third game as a Panther, Justin Acal hit a pair of homers in the win over Mount St. Mary's.
Pitt's pitching staff saw several strong performances, led by right-hander Jack Sokol, who tallied 10 strikeouts in the 10-2 win over Mount St. Mary's. Erubiel Candelario worked five innings and permitted just one earned run on two hits and four walks while striking out one in the 9-2 victory over Stetson. Brady Devereux worked 3.1 scoreless innings of relief while Dylan Simmons fanned five in two appearances and 3.1 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. Nash Bryan struck out four over two appearances and 3.2 innings, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning in the win over Stetson. Jonathan Bautista made two appearances and fanned three in 2.2 frames. Matthew Fernandez struck out seven in four innings of relief in the loss to Mount St. Mary's. He struck out four batters in the sixth inning.
3. WALK THIS WAY
Pitt ranks fifth in the country with 91 walks on the season. CJ Funk is fourth in the country with 17 free passes while Noah Martinez is seventh with 16. Dom Popa has drawn 13 walks, ranking him 21st in the nation.
IMPACT TRANSFER
A transfer from Central Connecticut State, Noah Martinez has made an impact through 12 games with the Panthers this season.
Martinez is slugging a team-best .738 with a team-best .500 on base percentage while ranking third with a .333 batting average. His five home runs, 21 RBI and 31 total bases lead the team. Martinez is riding a team-high seven-game hitting streak into Tuesday's game against South Florida and is tied with Jack Anderson for the longest reached base streak on the team with 12. His six multi-RBI games are tied for the team lead.
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 batting average (.341) and RBI (16), is tied for second with Sky Duff with 15 hits and ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.545). He also leads the team with a pair of triples. His six multi-RBI games are tied for the team lead.
DOUBLE DIGIT RUNS = VICTORY
In six of its seven wins this season, Pitt has scored double-digit runs. The Panthers fell just short of making it seven-for-seven in the 9-2 win over Stetson.
DOUBLE YOUR FUN
The Panthers rank 28th in the country in doubles (28). Sky Duff and Tommy Tavarez are currently tied for 18th in the country in doubles with six apiece.
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
Pitt is 4-18 all-time against South Florida, a former conference opponent of the Panthers in the Big East. The team last met on March 10, 2020 - a 12-8 victory for the Bulls. Pitt has dropped its last seven meetings against South Florida, with the last win coming on April 13, 2012 - a 2-1 triumph.
Billy Mohl is in year six as head coach at South Florida. He led the Bulls to their first NCAA Super Regionals appearance in program history in 2021.
South Florida is off to a 3-9 start to the 2023 season and enters Tuesday's game having lost six in a row, including falling to Northeastern in a three-game sweep last weekend by losses of 15-3 (7 innings), 13-8 and 8-7.
Bobby Boser leads South Florida with a .386 batting average while Daniel Cantu has collected a team-high 18 hits, including three runs to tie with Boser and Jackson Mayo for the team lead. Eric Snow sports a team-best .630 slugging percentage and is tied with Mayo for the team lead with 11 RBI.
Redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher Nolan Hudi is scheduled to start on the mound for the Bulls on Tuesday. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and eight strikeouts over three starts and 9.1 innings of work.
UP NEXT
Pitt opens ACC play with a three-game set at Florida State this weekend (March 10-12) in Tallahassee, Fla.
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