Pitt Baseball Headed to WVU Tuesday

PITTSBURGH – Fresh off a victory over No. 25 Georgia Tech, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team will head to West Virginia for a game with the Mountaineers Tuesday evening.

(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Granville, W. Va. as the Panthers look to win at West Virginia for the second consecutive season.

HOW TO FOLLOW
§ A live stream will be available via WVUSports.com
§ A live audio only stream will also be available via WVUSports.com

LEADING OFF
§ Pitt (14-13-0, 6-8-0 ACC) hits the road to take on Big 12 opponent West Virginia (17-13-0, 4-4 Big 12) at Monongalia County Ballpark in Granville, W. Va.
§ The Panthers were last in action on Sunday, defeating then No. 25 Georgia Tech 13-6 to take a 1-1 series split with the Yellow Jackets
§ West Virginia heads into Tuesday after dropping two-of-three to Furman this past weekend
§ Tuesday will be the first of two meetings between Pitt and WVU as the pair will meet again at Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh on May 17

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA
§ The Mountaineers sit in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 standings with a 4-4 conference record, good for fourth in the league
§ Freshman Darius Hill headlines the WVU offense, leading the team with a .330 average, 23 RBIs, 23 runs scored and 18 extra base hits
§ On the mound, freshman Michael Grove will make his ninth career appearance and second start as he looks to improve on his 0-2 record and 5.73 ERA

SERIES WITH WEST VIRGINIA
§ West Virginia leads Pitt all-time in a series that dates back to 1939, holding a 76-63 advantage over the Panthers
§ Last year, the two teams split the season series, each winning on their opponent’s home field

PITT RANKS IN TOP 35 IN RPI
§ The Panthers check in at No. 33 in the latest RPI rankings, having competed in one of the toughest schedules to open the season
§ Pitt has knocked off four nationally ranked opponents in the last five weeks with wins over No. 6 UNC, No. 11 Florida State, No. 14 Clemson and No. 25 Georgia Tech
§ The four wins over nationally ranked opponents are the most since Pitt claimed six in 2014, competing in its first season as a member of the ACC

STREAKING
§ Caleb Parry paces the Panthers with a six-game hit streak, the only Panther to bring a streak higher than two into the week
§ Nick Yarnall and Charles Leblanc have each earned 10-game hit streaks this season to lead the squad
§ Parry also leads the way for the Panthers with a nine-game reached-base streak, followed by Ron Sherman with eight
§ Aaron Schnurbusch and Yarnall have each posted 13-game streaks on the season, while P.J. DeMeo, Jacob Wright, David Yanni and Leblanc have copped 10-game marks.

TRUST IN CHARLES
· Shortstop Charles Leblanc has been dominant for the Panthers this season, leading one of the top offenses in the nation in just his second season of collegiate baseball
· Leblanc is fourth in the ACC with an average of .413 through 26 games, recording 32 RBIs, good for seventh in the conference
· In addition, Leblanc has posted a team-high 16 multiple hit games and eight multiple RBI performances, including a six-RBI outing against Clemson (April 2) and a five-RBI showing at Grambling State (Feb. 28)

LEBLANC NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
· After a 12-RBI performance in four games, shortstop Charles Leblanc was named the ACC Player of the Week on April 4
· Leblanc went 9-of-13 on the weekend with an outstanding nine RBIs, batting .692 in the three games against Clemson
· Leblanc’s offensive surge led the Panthers to a 15-5 victory over nationally-ranked Clemson in game two of the series as the shortstop went 4-of-5 with six RBIs
· Leblanc posted similar numbers in the mid-week win over Kent State, going 2-of-4 with two runs scored and three RBI to bring his four-game average to an impressive .647 (11-of-17) with 12 RBI in four games

UP NEXT
§ A road ACC series will follow as the Panthers are set to meet with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on April 15-17
§ The Panthers will head to Youngstown, Ohio for a single game before returning to Charles L. Cost Field for a three-game series with Miami (Ohio) April 22-24

SANDEFUR COPS ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK RECOGNITION
· Following a record setting performance in the second game of the series with Boston College, senior Aaron Sandefur was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week
· Sandefur fanned a career-high 12 Eagle batters, the most ever by a Pitt pitcher at Charles L. Cost Field
· Just as impressive, Sandefur shutout the Eagles, tossing a complete game without surrendering a walk and allowing just five hits

BYE BYE BYE
· The Panthers’ offense was dominant in a 13-5 win over Kent State on Wednesday, March 30 as Pitt had a pair of players with two home runs and three players with three or more RBIs
· Both Alex Kowalczyk and Ron Sherman went yard twice in the outing, as Kowalczyk recorded his sixth and seventh homers of the season and Sherman marked his fourth and fifth bombs of the year
· In addition to Kowalczyk’s five RBIs and Sherman’s three, shortstop Charles Leblanc posted three of his own with a two-RBI double in the second inning and a single in the sixth

THE ACE IS BACK
§ Pittsburgh ace T.J. Zeuch made his season debut against No. 11 Florida State on Sunday, March 20, taking the hill on the snowy Pittsburgh afternoon
§ Zeuch had a no-hitter going through five innings as the righty tossed 6.0 innings, giving up zero unearned runs and just one walk, while fanning eight batters
§ In his second start of the season, a Saturday matchup with Boston College, the junior went 7.0 innings, allowing one run off of six hits, while not surrendering a walk but fanning 11 batters

JORDANO EARNS 800TH CAREER VICTORY
· Panther skipper Joe Jordano earned his 800th career victory in a 18-5 win at Grambling State on Feb. 28
· Jordano is the winningest coach in Pitt history, earning 524 victories in his 19-year tenure
· The 2013 and 2014 Big East Coach of the Year, Jordano has moved to 807-569-2 in his career, with 10 years at Mercyhurst prior to joining the Panthers in 1998

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 in 2015
§ 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 and earning a 2-4-0 record against the Cavaliers since joining the ACC