Friday, March 22
Charlottesville, VA
4 PM
Pitt
at
Virginia
Pitt Hits the Road for ACC Series at Virginia
3/21/2019 5:34:00 PM | Baseball
Panthers Resume ACC Action in Charlottesville
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team hits the road for three, traveling to Charlottesville, Va., for an ACC matchup against Virginia.
Pitt and the Cavaliers will get things started Friday at 4 p.m. before returning to action Saturday at 1 p.m. and closing things out Sunday at 1 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Pitt and the Cavaliers will get things started Friday at 4 p.m. before returning to action Saturday at 1 p.m. and closing things out Sunday at 1 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- All three games can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
- Live stats will be available here.
- Fans can follow @Pitt_BASE on Twitter and Instagram.
- Pitt (7-12, 1-5 ACC) returns to ACC play, traveling to Virginia for a three-game slate with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va. The Panthers enter the game after a mid-week loss to Kent State, falling 6-4 to the Golden Flashes at Charles L. Cost Field. The weekend will mark the first road tilt for the Panthers in nearly two weeks as Pitt has been at home for six straight.
- Outfielder/designated hitter Ron Washington Jr. continues to shine for the Panther offense, leading the way in his sophomore campaign. The 2018 All-ACC honoree is hitting for a .318 average, boasting a .474 mark in ACC action. On the year he's tallied nine doubles and one homer, owning a .500 slugging percentage and a .458 on base mark with eight RBI. Senior Connor Perry (.313) and junior Nico Popa (.304) also sit above the .300 mark on a Panther offense that is hitting .246 as a squad. Redshirt junior David Yanni leads the way with 12 RBI, followed by Popa (10) and Sky Duff (10).
- The Panthers will hand the ball to junior Christian Camacho in Friday's opener, as the transfer makes his seventh start of the season. In 19.2 innings, Camacho has let up 12 runs (nine earned) off 20 hits and eight walks, fanning 24. In two appearances against Virginia Tech, he held the Hokies off the board and has surrendered just one earned run in conference action. Dan Hammer will get his third Saturday ACC start in as many weeks, making his sixth start of the year. The junior brings in a mark of 2-2 and is fresh off of a 1.0 inning relief performance against Kent State in which he struck out one. Sunday's starter has yet to be announced.
- Virginia (10-10, 2-4 ACC) worked its way back to the .500 mark with a 6-3 victory over Connecticut Wednesday afternoon in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers return to ACC action after back-to-back series defeats at the hands of Duke and Georgia Tech, as Virginia would take the opening game of each series before dropping the final two.
- The Cavaliers rank fifth in the league with a .287 team average, led by a trio of hitters hitting above the .300 mark. Brendan Rivoli leads the way with a .359 average, ranking ninth in the league. He leads the squad with 16 RBI, tallying six doubles and three homers with a .551 slugging percentage and a .429 on base mark. Tanner Morris has also tallied 16 RBI, hitting at a .321 clip with nine doubles and three homers, owning a .543 slugging mark and a .411 on base percentage. Zack Gelof rounds out the Cavaliers' top hitting core, boasting a .309 average.
- A trio of right-handers will take the mound for the Cavaliers on the weekend as junior Noah Murdock will get the call Friday afternoon. Murdock owns a mark of 0-1 with a 4.55 ERA, having allowed 16 runs (14 earned) off 28 hits and 12 walks, striking out 26 in 27.2 innings. Sophomore Griff McGarry will get the start Saturday, bringing in a record of 2-3 on the season. In 25.2 innings of work, he's allowed 12 runs off 25 hits and 24 walks, striking out 28 with a 4.21 ERA. Freshman Mike Vasil will take the mound Sunday, bringing in a record of 1-3 with a 5.32 ERA. In 23.2 innings, the rookie has surrendered 15 runs (14 earned) off 27 hits and eight walks, fanning 14 and allowing opponents a .293 average.
- Virginia leads the all-time series with a record of 16-5 dating back to the 1940 season.
- Pitt has won back-to-back games over the Cavaliers, taking its first ever series over Virginia in the 2018 campaign, winning two-of-three at Charles L. Cost Field.
- The Panthers are 0-4 in games played at Virginia and trail the ACC series with the Cavaliers, 4-11.
- A slow offensive output against Kent State stalled most Panther hit streaks, as Kyle Hess, who hasn't seen game action since the opening game of the NC State series, leads the way with a two-game streak. Both Cole MacLaren and Gregory Ryan Jr. started new marks against Kent State.
- A 17-game reached base streak by Ron Washington Jr. is the longest active and longest of the season by a Panther batter. Freshman Andres Antonini follows with a nine-game mark, and is joined by MacLaren (5) and Hess (5) to lead the Panther offense.
- The Panthers are 8-7 all-time in games played on March 22.
- Pitt owns a mark of 2-1 all-time in games played on March 22 against ACC opponents.
- The Panthers own a mark of 8-11 all-time in games played on March 23.
- Pitt owns a mark of 2-2 all-time in games played on March 23 against ACC opponents.
- The Panthers own a mark of 8-12-1 all-time in games played on March 24.
- Pitt owns a mark of 2-3 all-time in games played on March 24 against ACC opponents.
- There's been no slump for sophomore Ron Washington Jr. as the outfielder/designated hitter has continued to shine in the Panther offense.
- Washington Jr. has tallied nine doubles in 19 games this season, ranking third in the ACC and 22nd in the nation.
- On the season, he's hitting at a .318 clip, tallying 10 extra base hits with eight RBI and a .500 slugging percentage.
- He paces the Panther offense in league play, hitting for an outstanding .474 average with a .579 slugging mark and a .565 on base percentage. His average in ACC play ranks third in the conference, while his on base mark ranks sixth.
- After missing a majority of the 2018 campaign due to injury, junior Nico Popa has returned to the lineup with a purpose for the 2019 squad. Popa is hitting at a .304 mark, ranking third on the team, tallying 10 RBI to rank second on the offense.
- He leads the ACC with three triples, boasting a .449 slugging mark and a .395 on base percentage.
- Popa has swiped two bases on the season, drawing eight walks and three hit by pitches, adding four doubles.
- Freshman Billy Corcoran has had an impressive start to his collegiate baseball career, putting up strong numbers as he looks for a spot in the weekend rotation.
- Corcoran ranks 11th in the ACC with a 2.49 ERA, leading the Panther starting core and second best amongst all Pitt pitchers. On the season, he's struck out 20 over 21.2 innings of work, holding opponents to a .195 average.
- In league play the hard-throwing righty hasn't shied away, owning the ACC's eighth best ERA in conference action, with a mark of 1.50. He's collected 12.0 innings of work in the conference, letting up just two runs off six hits and three walks, fanning nine and holding opponents to a .150 average.
- Sophomore reliever Chase Smith was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watchlist, an award annually given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.
- The Georgia native made 22 appearances as a true freshman, third most on the team. He held opponents to just a .191 average, competing to a record of 1-1 with one save and a 3.16 ERA.
- Smith is one of five ACC pitchers to garner the recognition and marks the second straight season in which a Pitt reliever has earned the preseason distinction (Yasin Chentouf).
- Freshman pitchers Billy Corcoran and Brady Devereux are no strangers to one another, as the duo comes to Pitt after stellar careers at Malvern Prep in Malvern, Pa.
- The pair won three state championships at Malvern, collecting the state title in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
- Both nationally touted recruits and highly sought after Pennsylvania player, both ranked in the top five amongst right handed pitchers and in the top 20 in the state of Pennsylvania by Perfect Game.
- Mike Bell is in his first season as head coach at Pitt after a seven-year stint as the associate head coach for ACC powerhouse Florida State. He brings 14 years of Division I coaching experience to the program and has coached 47 MLB draft picks, including 2006's No. 1 overall pick Luke Hochevar.
- In 2012, he was named the Perfect Game Assistant Coach of the Year and before the 2017 season, was named the No. 13 recruiter in the country by D1Baseball.com. In the last 13 years, Bell has also helped lead three teams to four College World Series appearances - Tennessee (2005), Oklahoma (2010), and Florida State (2012 & 2017). In his time at Florida State, the program won three ACC titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018 and his pitchers have recorded 500 or more strikeouts.
- Junior pitcher Dan Hammer had a summer to remember in the prestigious Cape Cod League, earning national recognition in his second stint with the Chatham Anglers. The hard-throwing righty was the East Division's starting pitcher in the 2018 Cape Cod League All-Star game and put up impressive numbers splitting time between the bullpen and the starting rotation.
- The Panthers' righty was one of the best in the nation's top collegiate summer league, posting a 2-0 record and a 2.16 ERA in 25.0 innings for the Anglers, striking out 20 in the process.
- The Chatham Anglers are no stranger to Pitt pitchers, having hosted 2016 First Round Draft pick T.J. Zeuch, as well as 2017 19th round pick Isaac Mattson and 2018 Sixth Round pick RJ Freure.
- Redshirt junior pitcher Derek West had a solid season in the Cape Cod League, pitching with the league champion Wareham Gatemen. After joining the Gatemen in July, West made four appearances, including two starts, competing to a 1.10 ERA in 16.1 innings. He allowed just two runs off eight hits and six walks, striking out 15 and holding opponents to a .143 average.
- Pitt will travel to Ohio for the second of three meetings with Youngstown State Wednesday in a 5 p.m. meeting.
- The Panthers return to Cost Field for a three-game ACC series with Coastal Division rival Miami March 29-31.
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