PITTSBURGH – The Pitt baseball and softball teams will host non-conference games Wednesday with softball hosting St. Bonaventure and baseball Kent State.
SOFTBALL
The University of Pittsburgh softball team will welcome St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, March 30 for a doubleheader at Vartabedian Field. Game one is slated to start at 3 p.m. with game two follow.
Wednesday’s matchup will mark the final two contests in an eight-game home stand for Pitt [19-11, 3-6 ACC].
MULTIMEDIA
· Live stats will be available for all games and can be found at PittsburghPanthers.com.
SERIES HISTORY
· Pitt is 3-1 all-time against St. Bonaventure, with two of those matchups coming earlier this season.
· The Panthers defeated the Bonnies twice in its season-opening tournament at Mercer University. Pitt won both games in five innings, defeating the Bonnies 10-0 and 9-1.
LAST TIME OUT
· Pitt went 1-2 last weekend against Virginia.
· The Cavaliers defeated the Panthers 8-5 in game one. Pitt rebounded to take the second game 11-3 in six innings, before falling in the series finale 4-2.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
· Sophomore Giorgiana Zeremenko has been on a tear this season. She leads Pitt in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.463), home runs (9), RBIs (35), total bases (66), slugging percentage (.985) and on base percentage (.549).
· Zeremenko leads the ACC in batting average and slugging percentage. She ranks second in the conference in on base percentage and third in total bases and runs batted in. Her nine home runs are also good for third in the ACC.
· Her batting average of .463 ranks 23rd in the nation.
GOING STREAKING
· Freshman Olivia Gray is currently on a 12-game hitting streak and reached base streak dating back to Pitt’s March 5 game at San Diego.
· Zeremenko currently holds a 16-game reached base streak dating back to the Panthers game against Providence on Feb. 28.
· Sophomore McKayla Taylor follows right behind Zeremenko with a 13-game reached base streak. Her streak goes back to Pitt’s game versus Grand Canyon on March 5.
IN THE RANKINGS
· Pitt has been hot all year on offense. The team leads the conference in slugging percentage, (.548), doubles (51), and total bases (425). The Panthers rank second in the ACC in on base percentage (.425), hits (255), and home runs (39).
· Pitt currently ranks ninth in the nation in slugging percentage (.559), 10th in home runs per game (1.34), 11th in scoring per game (7.45), 12th in doubles per game (1.72), and 16th in on base percentage (.425).
REPRESENTING THE WPIAL
· Local products Zeremenko (Canon McMillian), Gray (Trinity) and Erin Hershman (Mars) currently comprise the Panthers’ outfield.
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE
· St. Bonaventure comes to Pittsburgh with an overall record of 4-15, and a 1-2 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bonnies have lost seven out of their last eight, and have just one road win this season. They picked up their lone road win at St. Louis last weekend.
· St. Bonaventure is led by Kelli Rohan who is hitting .418 this season and is riding a seven-game hitting streak. Rohan has recorded a hit in 11 out of her last 12 games.
LOOKING FORWARD
· Pitt will hit the road and return to ACC action with a weekend series at NC State.
· The Panthers will play a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 2 and will conclude the series on Sunday, April 4 at Noon.
BASEBALL
Wrapping up a seven-game home stand at Charles L. Cost Field, the University of Pittsburgh baseball team welcomes Kent State for a mid-week battle Wednesday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams as the Panthers earned a 9-4 victory in Kent, Ohio, on March 16.
HOW TO FOLLOW
§ Live stats provided by PittsburghPanthers.com
§ A live video stream of the game will also be
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
§ Wednesday is Pierogies Day as Pirates Pierogies will be in attendance to interact with fans
§ The concession stand will also have pierogies available and fans can receive a free side of the traditional meal with the purchase of a burger or chicken sandwich
LEADING OFF
§ Pitt (11-9-0, 4-5-0 ACC) closes out a seven-game home stretch with a mid-week dual with Kent State (16-6-0, 2-1-0 MAC)
§ The Panthers enter the game coming off of their first ACC series victory of the season as they claimed back-to-back wins over Boston College on Friday and Saturday
§ The Golden Flashes are playing in the second of back-to-back outings as they took on Lake Erie on their home field Tuesday evening
§ Kent State is also coming off of a conference series victory, as they downed Central Michigan in the opening and closing meetings of a three-game series over the weekend
SCOUTING KENT STATE
§ The Golden Flashes are coming off a tough stretch of games in which they competed on the road in seven straight outings, before returning to Kent, Ohio for a meeting with Lake Erie Tuesday evening
§ Kent State starter Joey Murray has seen action in six games, earning one previous start but not earning a decision yet this season, he’s compiled a 5.59 ERA through 9.2 innings pitched
§ Offensively, Brad Hamilton has been hot lately, recording a .375 average over the last seven games, with nine hits, including five doubles and a home run
§ Zarley Zalewski has remained steady for the Golden Flashes, posting a .341 average in his 22 games, going 29-of-85 with eight doubles, three home runs and 22 runs batted in
SERIES WITH KENT STATE
§ Kent State holds the all-time series advantage over Pitt with a record of 37-26-0 in a series dating back to 1951
§ Pitt earned a 9-4 decision earlier this year at Kent, led by a three-RBI performance from Alex Kowalczyk
§ The Golden Flashes earned a 1-0 victory in their last appearance in Pittsburgh and captured a 4-1 win on their home field in 2014
STREAKING
§ Frank Maldonado is currently the lone Panther boasting a hit streak above one, as the redshirt sophomore outfielder is in the midst of a four-game stretch in which he has recorded seven hits, including two extra base hits
§ The Panthers’ longest hit-streak of the season came from Charles Leblanc and Nick Yarnall, who each saw 10-game hit streaks snapped earlier this month
§ Aaron Schnurbusch has reached base safely in 10 consecutive outings to pace the Panthers, while P.J. DeMeo has touched safely in each of the eight contests in which he has seen game time
§ Yarnall boasts the longest reached base streak of the season at 13, while Schnurbusch, David Yanni and Leblanc have each earned 10-game streaks
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 retired 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
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
UP NEXT
§ Pitt will hit the road for a three-game series with No. 14 Clemson to open the month of April
§ The Panthers will then travel to Penn State for a mid-week meeting with the Nittany Lions before returning to Pittsburgh for a three-game stand with ACC foe Georgia Tech
ACC AMONGST THE TOP
§ Eight ACC schools rank in the top 25 in three of the four major polls, with seven schools checking in in all four
§ D1baseball.com has Miami in the No. 4 spot, followed by North Carolina in seventh, Louisville in eighth, Florida State at No. 9, Clemson in 14th, North Carolina State in 17th, Virginia at No. 20 and Georgia Tech rounding out the top 25
§ Miami ranks second in the NCBWA poll, followed by Louisville at No. 5, Florida State in seventh, North Carolina in 10th, Virginia at No. 14, Georgia Tech at 21st, North Carolina State in 23rd and Clemson at No. 26
§ In the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, Miami paces the ACC in second, followed by Louisville at No. 5, Florida State in eighth, North Carolina in 10th, Virginia at No. 16, Georgia Tech in 18th and Clemson in 22nd
§ PerfectGame.com puts Miami in the third spot, followed by Louisville in fifth, North Carolina in seventh, Florida State at No. 10, Virginia in 13th, North Carolina State in 19th, Georgia Tech at No. 24 and Clemson in 25th
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
§ Pitt is 2-4-0 against the Cavaliers since joining the ACC
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