Pitt
West Virginia
Pitt Heads to No. 12 West Virginia For Second Backyard Brawl of the Season
5/2/2023 3:32:00 PM | Baseball
Wednesday's pitching matchup will be RHP Erubiel Candelaria (2-1, 5.80 ERA) for Pitt and RHP Carson Estridge (2-0, 2.87 ERA) from West Virginia.
The Panthers sent the PAC-12 packing as they swept Cal over the weekend, outscoring them 29-14. Pitt had back-to-back starters have single-game career highs in strikeouts, Logan Evans struck out 10 batters on Saturday and Kyle Mosley struck out seven batters on Sunday.
Many Panthers found success at the plate this weekend as well. Jack Anderson led the way with two three-hit games, he finished with 4 RBI, 3 doubles, and 1 BB. Noah Martinez, CJ Funk, Kyle Hess, and Jayden Melendez all had four-hit weekends. Funk and Melendez each had a three-hit game of their own in the series finale. Funk reached base in all five plate appearances on Sunday, going 3-3 with 3 RBI and 2 walks. Melendez went 3-5 with 2 RBI Sunday afternoon, he kick started his tremendous weekend at the dish by hitting a grand slam in Friday's series opener.
Sky Duff is making sure no one will touch his career walks record that he set in early April. With consecutive three-walk games in the first two games against Cal, and finishing with seven total on the weekend, he now has 163 career walks. That is 14 more walks than any other Panther in Pitt Baseball history.
TERRIFIC TRANSFER
A transfer from Central Connecticut State, Noah Martinez has made a massive impact for the Panthers this season. Martinez is leading the team in hits (48) and RBIs (42) and is sole second in on base percentage (.457), batting average (.314), and home runs (9). He has the most single-season walks (42) by a first year Panther in Pitt Baseball history.
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 .333 batting average, ranks third in slugging percentage (.575) and fourth in hits (40). His four triples lead the team, and put him in a tie for first in all of the ACC.
THEY GET ON BASE
Three Panthers have double-digit reached base streaks going. CJ Funk leads the group with 38 games in a row, he's failed to reach base in one game this season. Sky Duff has reached base in each of the last 25 games while Noah Martinez has a 16 game on base streak of his own.
A PAIR OF JACKS
Jack Anderson has his name in the top five of several statistical categories for the Panthers this season. He leads the team in on base percentage (.449), is second on the team in hits (44), is fourth in RBI (30) , and ranks sixth in both home runs (5) and batting average (.299). Anderson had a 37 game on base streak prior to the series finale against Wake Forest.
Jack Sokol has struck out at least five batters in six of his starts this season and has fanned at least nine in three of those games, including a season-high 10 in seven innings against Mount St. Mary's earlier this month. Sokol's 58 strikeouts this season are a team high and ranks him thirteenth in the ACC. He ranks ninth in the ACC in strikeouts looking with 19.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Mountaineers have been on a roll as of late, winning eight straight games and 10 of their last 11. They are currently the No. 12 team in the country.
Second baseman JJ Wetherholt has been on a tear at the plate this year, his .463 batting average is good for the third-best in the entire country. His partner up the middle, shortstop Tevin Tucker, has been swinging it well too, hitting .370 and leading the team in walks (30) and triples (3).
On the mound, they will be starting Carson Estridge. He made the start in their win against Pitt at PNC Park two weeks ago, he threw 2.1 innings, gave up five hits and four runs, however six of his seven outs recorded were strikeouts. Carlson Reed will likely see action out of the bullpen, he has a 1.00 ERA throughout 18 appearances in 27.0 innings.
