PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh baseball team will hit the road for a mid-week game as they travel to Youngstown, Ohio for a Wednesday night contest with the Youngstown State Penguins.
(Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)
First pitch in the Panthers’ third consecutive mid-week road trip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Eastwood Field.
HOW TO FOLLOW
· Live stats will be available via YSUsports.com
LEADING OFF
· Pitt (17-14-0, 8-9-0 ACC) is coming off of a series victory at Virginia Tech as they took two-of- three from the Hokies on the road
· Pitt closed out the series with a pair of victories and has now captured a win in four of its last five outings
· Youngstown State (7-21-0, 2-9-0 Horizon League) concluded its series with Western Kentucky on Sunday winning the final game, 3-1
· The Penguins have only recorded back-to-back wins once so far this season, when they achieved the feat against Missouri
· Youngstown State travels to West Virginia Tuesday before welcoming Pitt Wednesday
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE
· Andrew Kendrick, Billy Salem and Lorenzo Arcuri are the lone Penguins with double-digit RBIs on the season
· Kendrick possesses the highest average of the bunch, hitting .279 with three home runs, the only Penguin to have more than one round tripper
· Junior Kevin Yarabinec has been solid coming out of the bullpen for Youngstown State with an ERA of 2.81 and a 4-1 record in 14 appearances
SERIES WITH YOUNSTOWN STATE
· The Panthers hold a 31-7-1 all-time series advantage over the Penguins dating back to the 1980 season
· In last season’s meetings, Pitt took both contests by scores of 8-4 and 12-1
· Skipper Joe Jordano’s .857 winning percentage against Youngstown State (24-4) is the highest success rate against any team he has faced more than 20 times.
STREAKING
· Outfielder Frank Maldonado rides a six-game hit-streak into the Wednesday contest, his longest of the season while Charles Leblanc has recorded a hit in five straight
· Nick Yarnall and Leblanc have each posted 10-game marks on the season, while Ron Sherman recorded a nine-game streak
· Yarnall, Leblanc and Maldonado all enter the outing with six-game reached base streaks to pace the Panther offense
· Yarnall and Aaron Schnurbusch have each boasted 13-game on-base streaks this season
UP NEXT
· The Panthers will return to Charles L. Cost Field for a three-game series with Miami (Ohio) April 22-24
· Conference play will resume on April 30 as Pitt welcomes reigning national champion Virginia to the Cost for a doubleheader
PITT RANKS IN TOP 40 IN RPI
· The Panthers check in at No. 40 in the latest RPI rankings, having completed one of the toughest schedules to open the season
· Pitt has knocked off four nationally-ranked opponents with wins over UNC, Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech
· The four wins over nationally-ranked foes are the most since Pitt claimed six in 2014, competing in its first season as a member of the ACC
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 ninth in the NCAA and second in the ACC with an average of .429 through 30 games, recording 32 RBIs
· In addition, Leblanc has posted a team-high 17 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 GARNERS PERFECT GAME ALL-AMERICA HONORS
· The honors continue to roll in for shortstop Charles Leblanc, as he was named a Perfect Game All-American last week
· Leblanc checked in on the second team, joining the cast of nine ACC players to make the cut
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
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
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
SOFTBALL AT KENT STATE
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh softball team will hit the road to take on Kent State in a midweek doubleheader thisWednesday, April 20. First pitch from the Diamond at Dix in Kent, Ohio is scheduled for 3 p.m.
MULTIMEDIA
· Live stats and live audio will be available for both games and can be found at PittsburghPanthers.com or by clicking the links at the top of the page.
SERIES HISTORY
· Pitt trails 14-8 in all-time meetings with Kent State and heads to Ohio for the match-up for the first time since 2011.
· The Panthers have won eight of the last 12 meetings between the two teams.
· Last season, Pitt defeated the Golden Flashes 1-0 at Vartabedian Field in Pittsburgh.
LAST TIME OUT
· The Panthers earned an ACC series win over Georgia Tech, winning games one and three 4-3 and 9-4 respectively and falling in game two 9-8.
· In game one, senior Maggie Sevilla hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the tenth inning to lift Pitt to the 4-3 victory.
· Sophomore Kayla Harris tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts in Pitt’s extra-inning game one win, topping her 10 strikeout performance against California in the 2015 NCAA Regional Tournament.
IN THE RECORD BOOK
· With just a few weeks left in her senior season, Sevilla will look to reach the top of the career record book in several offensive categories. Currently, she sits at second all-time in runs scored (141), home runs (32) and RBIs (123), and is third in hits (204). To catch the leader in each of these categories, she will need to score four runs, hit two homers, drive in four runs, and tally 14 hits.
· Sophomore slugger Giorgiana Zeremenko needs just one homer to break the program’s single season home run record. With 15 round-trippers already this season, she currently sits in a three-way tie for first place in that category.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
· Zeremenko continues to be an offensive threat at the plate for the Panthers. She leads Pitt in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.422), home runs (15), RBIs (50), total bases (97), slugging percentage (.951) and on base percentage (.520).
· She ranks first in the ACC in slugging percentage (.951) and second in both home runs (15) and RBIs (50).
OUTSTANDING OFFENSE
· In the past 13 games, redshirt senior Shelby Pickett has posted a team-leading 22 hits in 48 at-bats to hit .458 overall. In that time, she’s recorded an on base percentage of .500 and a slugging percentage of .792. The senior struck out just four times in 48 at-bats and has walked five times.
IN THE RANKINGS
· Pitt currently ranks sixth in the nation in slugging percentage (.645), seventh in home runs per game (1.49), twelfth in on base percentage (.433), fifteenth in batting average (.332) and runs per game (6.77), and nineteenth in doubles per game (1.65).
· Individually Zeremenko ranks fifth in the nation in slugging percentage, 10th in RBIs, 11th in home runs per game and is tied for 13th in total home runs.
SCOUTING KENT STATE
· Kent State enters Wednesday with a 25-15 overall record and an 8-6 record in the MAC. The Golden Flashes are coming off a road series against Miami (OH) in which they dropped two of three.
· Offensively, junior Maddy Grimm brings power to the Kent State lineup, leading the team in home runs (13) and RBIs (29) while posting a .310 average.
· On the mound, junior Ronnie Ladines boasts a 14-5 record, pitching a team-high 130 innings and maintaining a 3.02 ERA.
LOOKING FORWARD
· Pitt will have a week off before returning home to Vartabedian Field to host the defending ACC champion Florida State Seminoles for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, April 30.
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