University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
Kent State
Pitt Hosts Kent State in Midweek Matchup
3/18/2024 5:52:00 PM | Baseball
PITTSBURGH - The Panthers will host the Golden Flashes of Kent State this Tuesday, March 19th at 3 PM at Charles L. Cost Field. This will be the 73rd meeting all-time between these two programs. Kent State holds the overall series lead 43-29.
Pitt won the series opener against Boston College but would lose the next two and the series at home last weekend. The Panthers tied their season-high for hits with 18 in their 12-5 win on Friday night. C.J. Funk, Justin Fogel and Ryan Zuckerman each had three-hit games. Dom Popa went 2-4 with an RBI, Turner Grau went 2-5 with a double and three RBI, Luke Cantwell also went 2-5 with a double and Jayden Melendez launched his fourth bomb of the year. Pitt blasted four home runs in Saturday's high-scoring 16-10 loss. Tyler Bischke recorded the fourth four-hit game of his career while Justin Fogel had three hits for the second consecutive game. Fogel, Melendez, Funk and Bischke all went deep as Pitt was a grand slam away from the home run cycle. The Panthers fell 7-3 in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon. C.J. Funk recorded his second three-hit game of the series, Ryan Zuckerman drove in two runs for the second straight game on his RBI single. Tyler Bischke collected another multiple-hit game, going 2-3 with a double and run scored.
Senior OF Dom Popa is off to the best start of his career, hitting .352 with 21 runs scored and a .465 slugging percentage. He is tied for the team lead in doubles (8), is second in hits (25) and runs scored (21) and third on on-base percentage (.459).
Tyler Bischke hit .571 with 12 hits, four doubles, six RBI, one home run, 19 total bases, fi ve runs scored and a .905 slugging percentage in Pitt's fi ve games last week. Bischke now leads the Panthers in batting average (.361), hits (26), total bases (37) and is tied for the team lead in doubles with eight.
Two Panthers have 10+ game hitting streaks. Dom Popa is currently riding a 16-game hitting streak while Tyler Bischke has a 12-game streak going. Luke Cantwell has a 13-game on-base streak of his own.
DOM DOING DAMAGE
• Senior OF Dom Popa is off to the best start of his career, hitting .352 with 21 runs scored and a .465 slugging percentage. He is tied for the team lead in doubles (8), is second in hits (25) and runs scored (21) and third on on-base percentage (.459).
• He's recorded eight multiple-hit games so far this season, including a three-hit game against Maine on Opening Weekend.
• Popa has recently taken over as Pitt's leadoff man and flourishing in his new role.
HAVE A WEEK, BISCH
• Tyler Bischke hit .571 with 12 hits, four doubles, six RBI, one home run, 19 total bases, five runs scored and a .905 slugging percentage in Pitt's five games last week.
• Bischke went 4-5 with a three-run home run in Saturday's game against Boston College.
• The senior went 3-3 with a double and three RBI in Pitt's seven-inning win over Akron last Tuesday.
PART-Y ON FIFTH AVE
• Left-hander Ryan Partridge has been lights out in relief over his last four outings. He's allowed just one run on three hits over those 5.2 IP.
• Partridge threw 3.1 innings of shutout, one-hit, baseball and earned the win in Pitt's Friday night win over Boston College last week.
