Pitt Softball Hosts Louisville This Weekend

Pitt Panthers (8-22, 0-9 ACC)
vs. Louisville Cardinals (20-13, 1-5 ACC)
March 29 & 31, 2024
Vartabedian Field | Pittsburgh, Pa.

QUICK HITS: Pitt wraps up their two-week home stretch with a three-game series against Louisville this weekend. The Panthers will play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. and will play a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Pitt hosts the Cardinals in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2021, where the Panthers took one of four games.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Junior catcher KK Esparza leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 10 caught stealings. Esparza has caught 10 runners on 25 stolen base attempts.
Esparza leads the team and ranks 17th in conference batting average among ACC players, batting .438 (7-for-16) with two home runs in nine conference games.
Kat Rodriguez leads the Panthers in batting average (.345), runs scored (15), hits (30), and on-base percentage (.408).
Rodriguez leads the Panthers with a .433 (13-for-30) batting average in the last 10 games and has struck out twice in her last 46 at-bats.
Kylie Griggs missed two games against Florida State after being hit by a pitch in her foot in the series opener. Griggs returned to the Panthers' lineup against Miami (OH) and went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and reached base in her first three plate appearances.
Griggs is batting .389 (7-for-18) with a 1.167 slugging percentage in her last eight games. She has recorded a hit in seven of the last nine games, including hitting a home run in four of those contests. Griggs became the 20th Panther to hit a grand slam when she launched a home run to left field in the top of the sixth inning, making it a one-run game against No. 12 Virginia Tech.
The Panthers' bats came alive in the final game against No. 18 Florida State as Pitt hit four home runs with KK Esparza (2-for-3) and Ana Hernandez (2-for-3) leading the Pitt offense.

APPROACHING THE 700 WIN MARK: Director of Athletics Heather Lyke announced NFCA Hall of Famer Jenny Allard as the fourth head coach in Pitt softball history in June 2023. Coach Allard is four wins shy of reaching the 700-career victory milestone and is currently ranks 42 among active Division I softball coaches in career wins.