Panthers Travel to Chapel Hill for ACC Opener

PITTSBURGH - The 8-1 Pitt Panthers will travel to Chapel Hill, NC to battle against the No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels in their first ACC series of the year.

The Panthers are fresh off a tournament win in Las Vegas this past weekend where they scored 38 runs in just 16 innings, tying the program record for most runs ever in consecutive games. Pitt scored 38 combined runs in back-to-back games in both 1984 and 1985.

Minus the COVID-shortened season of 2020, this is Pitt's best start to a season since 2002 when the Panthers started 10-0-1.

Jayden Melendez was named the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic MVP for his performance last weekend. In Sunday's win over Cal, Melendez hit two home runs and drove in three runs.

Pitt's bullpen will be fresh entering their first ACC matchup of the 2024 season. They only had to use a total of four pitchers throughout the entire weekend in Las Vegas, three of which were their usual weekend starters. Prominent arms like Matt Fernandez, Phil Fox and Erubiel Candelario have been rested for over a week.

The Panthers have compiled 97 conference wins since joining the ACC. They are just three wins shy of 100 ACC wins.

North Carolina is 11-2 to start the season and is coming off a win at No. 22 Campbell on Tuesday where they scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead. Pitt is 11-16 lifetime against North Carolina and just 2-10 in Chapel Hill. They are 6-6 in their last 12 meetings with two wins against the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.

OFF THE BENCH

• Turner Grau came off the bench in Pitt's Friday win over Oklahoma and went 3-4 with 3 RBIs. Grau pinch-hit for an injured Justin Fogel in the third inning and immediately lined an RBI single up the middle.

• He finished the weekend 5-8 with 5 RBI, 2 runs scored and made another spectacular play in the outfield.

jacK soKol

• Right-hander Jack Sokol improved to 2-0 and had his best start of the season against Cal on Sunday.

• Sokol threw six innings and allowed only one run on three hits while striking out a season-high eight batters.

POPA SHOWING SOME POP

• Senior OF Dom Popa is off to the best start of his career, hitting .342 with 12 runs scored and a .447 slugging percentage. He is tied for the team lead in doubles (4) and is tied for second on the team in hits (13).

• He's recorded four 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 is hitting .300 with six hits since then.

BRING YOUR GREEN HAT, LET'S GO

• Three Panthers currently have a hitting streak of at least five games

• Dom Popa leads the team, hitting safely in the last eight games. Turner Grau has recorded a hit in each of the last seven games while Jake Kendro has a five-game hit streak of his own.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday, March 8

Pitt vs. No. 16 North Carolina at 4 PM on ACCNX

Saturday, March 9

Pitt vs. No. 16 North Carolina at 2 PM on ACCNX

Sunday, March 10

Pitt vs. No. 16 North Carolina at 1 PM on ACCNX