PITTSBURGH – Returning to Charles L. Cost Field for the second consecutive weekend, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team welcomes Boston College for a trio of games Thursday-Saturday.
First pitch Thursday is slated for 3 p.m. with Friday and Saturday’s contests scheduled for 1 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW
* Live stats provided by PittsburghPanthers.com
* Thursday | Friday | Saturday
* A live video stream of the game will be available here
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
* The weekend will mark the first Saturday for a Cause as the Panthers welcome the Colleges Against Cancer to Charles L. Cost Field
LEADING OFF
* The Panthers (9-8-0, 2-4-0 ACC) return to Charles L. Cost Field for the second consecutive weekend, hosting Boston College (12-6-0, 2-4-0 ACC) in a three-game stand
* Pitt is coming off a 5-2 victory over Florida State Sunday afternoon as the Panthers claimed one game of the three-game series with the nation’s eleventh-ranked team
* Boston College was slated to play a single game at Northeastern Tuesday, but that outing was cancelled due to inclement weather
* The Eagles were swept by No. 19 Clemson last weekend, dropping three outings to the Tigers by scores of 6-2, 6-1 and 3-2
SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE
* The Eagles have competed to a mark of 2-4 in the ACC, grabbing a pair of wins over North Carolina State in the ACC opener, but getting swept by Clemson last weekend
* Overall, Boston College has been impressive, earning a record of 12-6-0, including seven straight victories to open the season
* Joe Cronin leads the way at the plate for the Eagles, posting an average of .358 in 18 games, recording 24 hits, including five doubles, two triples and two home runs, adding 13 runs, 19 runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .582
* On the hill, starter Jacob Stevens has been stellar, opening the year with a 2-0 mark and tossing an ERA of 0.31 in 29.0 innings pitched, the righty has only surrendered one earned run, allowing two unearned, walking 10 and striking out 31
SERIES WITH BOSTON COLLEGE
* The Panthers hold a 24-23 all-time advantage over the Eagles, in a series dating back to the 1990 season
* Pitt earned a series victory in 2014 with a 5-4 win in game two and a 16-11 victory in game three from Boston
* Prior to the 2014 season, the teams had not met since 2006
STREAKING
* Alex Kowalczyk is leading the way for the Panthers with a four-game hit streak, followed by David Yanni’s three-game mark
* Yanni is currently riding a nine-game reach base streak, while P.J. DeMeo checks in with eight games, despite only making one start on the season
* Nick Yarnall and Charles Leblanc are tied for the longest hit streaks of the season, each successfully posting a hit in 10-straight contests
* Yarnall has earned the longest reach-base streak of the year, successfully touching the bag in 12 consecutive outings
THE ACE IS BACK
* Pittsburgh ace T.J. Zeuch made his season debut Sunday against No. 11 Florida State, 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
UP NEXT
* The Panthers will complete their seven-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Kent State for in a mid-week battle
* Continuing ACC play, the Panthers will travel to nationally-ranked Clemson next weekend, preparing for a three-game stand with the Tigers
ACC AMONGST THE TOP
* Seven ACC schools are ranked in the top 25 in the four major polls, as eight programs join the top 25 in two lists
* D1Abaseball.com ranks North Carolina at No. 4, followed by Miami in seventh, Louisville in ninth, Florida State at No. 11, Clemson in 12th, NC State at No. 13 and Virginia at No. 16
* The NCBWA has Miami leading the way for the ACC in fourth, followed by UNC at No. 7, Louisville at No. 8, Florida State in 10th, Virginia in 11th, NC State at No. 16, Clemson at No. 17 and Georgia Tech in 25th
* The USA Today Coaches’ Poll also has the Hurricanes atop the ACC, checking in at No. 5, followed by UNC at No. 7, Louisville at No. 8, Florida State in 11th, Virginia at No. 12, NC State at No. 15, Clemson in 17th and Georgia Tech at No. 21
* According to Perfect Game, UNC is the nation’s fifth-ranked team, followed by Miami at No. 6, Louisville in eighth, Florida State at No. 11, Virginia at No. 12, NC State in 14th and Clemson in 18th
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 78-44-0 (.639) all-time in games played at Charles L. Cost Field
* The team has accrued an impressive 43-28-0 (.606) mark in conference play at the Cost and recorded 22 games in which they have scored 10 or more runs, compared to seven for the visitors
* Pitt will play 24 home contests in 2016
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