PITTSBURGH – Riding off of a 5-0 shutout victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Sunday, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team will travel to Kent State for a Wednesday night matchup with the Golden Flashes.
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. in Kent, Ohio as the Panthers take to the field for their first mid-week game of the season.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Live stats provided by www.KentStateSports.com
- An audio stream of the game will be available here
LEADING OFF
- Pitt (7-6-0, 1-2-0 ACC) will travel to Kent, Ohio for a mid-week meeting with Kent State (10-3-0, 0-0-0 MAC)
- The Panthers enter the contest fresh off of a 5-0 shutout win over No. 6 North Carolina in the series finale of ACC opening weekend in Chapel Hill
- The Golden Flashes are winners of their last 10, earning series sweeps over Radford and Charlotte in addition to wins over George Washington, Ball State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- The outing will be the home debut for the Golden Flashes
SCOUTING KENT STATE
- The Golden Flashes sit atop the Mid-American Conference with a mark of 10-3-0, riding a 10-game win streak since opening the season with a trio of losses to Virginia, Old Dominion and North Carolina State
- Earning the start in all 13 contests, utility man Zarley Zalewski paces the Golden Flashes at the plate with a .400 average, including 20 hits, 14 runs, four doubles, two home runs and 10 runs batted in
- Starter Connor Wollersheim has yet to claim a decision in his two appearances and has pitched to an ERA of 4.26, allowing five hits and three runs over 6.1 innings of work
SERIES WITH KENT STATE
- Kent State holds the all-time series advantage over Pitt with a record of 37-25-0 in a series dating back to 1951
- The Golden Flashes claimed the 1-0 victory in Pittsburgh in the only meeting of the season and earned a 4-1 win on their home field in 2014
- Pitt’s last win over the Golden Flashes came on May 14, 2013 when it earned a 6-5 decision at Charles L. Cost Field
STREAKING
- Pitt saw its individual hit streaks diminished in the series at No. 6 North Carolina as senior catcher Manny Pazos now paces the Panthers with a three-game streak
- Ron Sherman earned the Panthers’ longest streak of the season, recording a hit in 15-straight contests, dating back to the 2015 season
- Shortstop Charles LeBlanc has reached base safely in 20 consecutive outings, while Alex Kowalczyk has touched base in 19 straight, with both streaks dating back to the 2015 season
- Three additional Panthers boasted double-digit reached-base streaks this season, as Nick Yarnall boasts a 12-game streak, Ron Sherman saw a 15-game streak snapped earlier this year and Aaron Schnurbusch snapped an 11-game mark
PANTHERS ATOP THE RANKINGS
- As a team, the Panthers lead the ACC in five categories, pacing the conference in triples per game, triples, home runs per game, home runs and slugging percentage
- Pitt posts an average of .62 triples per outing to rank ninth in the nation and boast a total of eight three-base hits on the year to rank 13th in the NCAA
- With an average of 1.69 homers per game, Pitt ranks third in the nation, totaling 22 on the year to rank fourth amongst NCAA teams
- Pitt is third in the country in slugging percentage, earning a combined mark of .535 in 13 outings
THREE BASES NO WALKS
- Individually, the Panthers top the ACC in three categories, leading the field in triples per game, triples and walks allowed per nine innings
- Ron Sherman ranks sixth in the nation in triples per game, averaging 0.25 in his 12 outings while also ranking eighth in triples with three on the year
- Garrett Wrambel, who earned his first win of the season against North Carolina, leads the nation in walks allowed per nine innings, having yet to surrender a free base
UP NEXT
- Pitt will make its home debut this weekend, welcoming No. 11 Florida State to Charles L. Cost Field for a three-game series
- The series will mark the first three games of a seven-game home stand as the Panthers spent the first 13 games of the year on the road
ACC AMONGST THE TOP
- Six ACC schools find themselves in the top 25 of each of the four major polls, with seven schools making an appearance in three
- In the D1Baseball.com weekly poll, Louisville leads the pack at No. 5, followed by North Carolina in sixth, Miami at No. 10, Florida State at No. 11, North Carolina State in 13th, Virginia at No. 18 and Clemson in 19th
- Louisville again tops the list in the NCBWA poll at No. 4, followed by Miami in sixth, Florida State in eighth, North Carolina at No. 10, Virginia in 12th, North Carolina State at No. 18 and Clemson in 25th
- Earning the No. 2 spot in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, Louisville paces the group, followed by Miami at No. 6, Virginia in seventh, Florida State in 14th, North Carolina State at No. 19 and North Carolina in a tie for 20th
- Perfect Game puts Louisville at No. 4, followed by North Carolina in eighth, Miami at No. 9, Florida State in 11th, Virginia in 13th, North Carolina State at No. 14 and Clemson at No. 21
YARNALL EARNS WEEKLY AWARDS
- Utility man Nick Yarnall collected a pair of weekly awards following the Grambling State Series, as the Landsville, Pa., native was named the Co-ACC Player of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week
- Yarnall dominated in the three-game stand, batting to a .571 average, going 8-of-14 with five home runs and eight runs batted in
- The junior led the Panthers in average, hits, home runs, runs batted in, total basses, slugging percentage and on-base percentage on the weekend
- Yarnall went yard twice in one inning in two contests, sending two balls over the fence in the fifth inning of the second game and going deep twice in the seventh inning of the series finale.
GOING THE DISTANCE
- It was a long weekend of baseball for Pitt at the Historic Dodgertown Classic as three of the four outings approached or surpassed the four-hour mark
- The Panthers competed in a 4:07 nine-inning contest against Niagara, an 11-8 loss against Ohio State in 13 innings checked in at 4:54, while the final game of the tournament lasted 3:56
ZEUCH GARNERS TOP ACC PROSPECT HONORS
- Junior starting pitcher T.J. Zeuch was named to D1 Baseball’s Top Prospects List for the 2016 draft, checking in at No. 7 on the list as the fourth-highest ranked pitcher
- Zeuch also earned the honor from Baseball America, checking in at No. 8 as the fifth-highest ranked pitcher
- He earned a 5-6 record in 2015, posting a 3.87 ERA in 14 starts with 90 strikeouts and just 25 walks, while posting a respectable 1.36 WHIP
RETURNING TALENT
- Pitt returns a majority of its starters, as seven fielders with 30 or more starts and two pitchers with 10 or more starts will return for the 2016 campaign
- T.J. Zeuch leads the way on the mound with a record of 5-6 in 14 starts, recording 90 strikeouts in 88.1 innings pitched
- At the dish, Charles LeBlanc collected a .291 average in his freshman year, leading the Panthers with 57 hits, including 12 doubles, three triples and three home runs in addition to a .429 slugging percentage and 30 runs batted in
NCAA CHAMPS TO VISIT COST
- Pitt will welcome reigning national champion Virginia to Charles L. Cost Field for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 30 before concluding the three-game series on Sunday, May 1
- Virginia dropped the first game of the 2015 College World Series to Vanderbilt 3-1 before storming back to capture the next two wins to secure the first National Championship in program history
- The Panthers have managed to win a game versus Virginia in each of the past two seasons, taking the first win in Cary, N.C., last season
- Pitt is 2-4-0 against the Cavaliers since joining the ACC
VISITORS PAY THE COST
- The Panthers are 77-42-0 (.647) all-time in games played at Charles L. Cost Field
- The team has accrued an impressive 42-26-0 (.618) mark in conference play at the Cost and recorded 22 games in which they have scored 10 or more runs, compared to five for the visitors
- Pitt will play 24 home contests in 2016 with the home debut slated for Friday, March 18 against Florida State