University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Hosts No. 2 Wake Forest in Home ACC Matchup
4/20/2023 6:36:00 PM | Baseball
The Pitt Panthers (16-19, 7-9 ACC) will host the No. 2 nationally ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons (32-5, 14-3 ACC) in a weekend ACC series at Charles L. Cost Field.
Saturday's matchup at 4 p.m. is set to be broadcasted on the ACC Network, Pitt's first ACC Network game of the season. Both Friday's (6p.m.) and Sunday's (1p.m.) games will be broadcasted live on ACC Network Extra, Jason Earle, PJ DeMeo, and Pitt Baseball alumni Nico Popa will be on the call.
LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK
The Panthers are recently coming off of a 9-4 loss to West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl at PNC Park this past week. While they did not come out victorious, a number of Panthers showed out in the Big League ballpark. Seven players in total recorded a hit at PNC Park, while three of them had multiple hit games.
Sky Duff went 3-5, notching his third three-hit game of the season and 12th multiple hit game of the year, he is currently riding a five-game hit streak. CJ Funk was 2-5 on the night with two doubles, reaching base safely for the 32nd consecutive game. Noah Martinez would also go 2-5 with a double, knocking in one run and scoring two more. Kyle Hess went 1-4 with a run scored, extending his team-long hit streak to 14 games. He would go on to make an unbelievable diving catch in the left-center field gap during the fourth inning of the ballgame as well.
Pitt looks to shake the midweek loss and continue to build off their series win last weekend against the No. 7 team in the country, Virginia.
BELL CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
With his next win, head coach Mike Bell will have won his 100th game as Pitt's skipper and the 100th of his career.
SETTING RECORDS AND CHASING MORE
Sky Duff worked a walk in the eighth inning of their series finale win over Notre Dame, the 149th of his Pitt tenure, setting the program's new career record. His career total now stands at 155.
With 52 career doubles, Duff is also two shy of breaking Pitt's career record of 53 owned by John Shultz (2008-11). This season, Duff is tied for the team lead in hits (40) and leads the squad with 13 doubles.
HESS HASN'T MISSED A BEAT
After missing the first 12 games of the year with an injury, Kyle Hess has made an impact since his return to the lineup. Hess sports a team-best .351 batting average, ranks second in slugging percentage (.588) and fourth in on base percentage (.429). His three triples are tied with AJ Nessler for the team lead. Hess enters this weekend's series against Wake Forest riding a current team long 14-game hitting streak.
THEY GET ON BASE
Four Panthers have four double-digit reached base streaks going. Jack Anderson leads the pack with 35 straight games while CJ Funk is close behind at 32 in a row. Sky Duff has reached base in each of the last 22 games while Kyle Hess has achieved the feat in 17 straight games.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
The Demon Deacons are currently off to their best start in ACC play in program history, losing only three conference games all year, while also holding a 21-1 record at home. They come into Oakland, PA this weekend fresh off of a non-conference win against Liberty, and a series win last weekend against No. 10 Louisville.
Wake Forest is led offensively by Brock Wilken, who is hitting .316 with 51 RBIs and an ACC leading 17 home runs. Tommy Hawke has been a key contributor as well, hitting .385 with 15 doubles, and knocking in 21 runs. The Demon Deacons have five players with 30 or more RBIs on the season
They have perhaps the best pitching staff in the country, combining for a team ERA of 2.43, the lowest in all of Division 1. They are led by Rhett Lowder, who in 56 IP is 7-0, has struck out 67 hitters, and has a 1.61 ERA. Out of the bullpen they will likely go to Seth Keener, who in 13 appearances has a 0.77 ERA and 47 strikeouts. And if they have the lead in the ninth inning, they will lean on Camden Minacci to get the job done, he has 10 saves in 16 innings of work.
The projected pitching matchup are as follows:
Friday - RHPJack Sokol vs LHP Sean Sullivan
Saturday - RHP Logan Evans vs RHP Rhett Lowder
Sunday - RHP Kyle Mosley vs LHP Josh Hartle
