Pitt Welcomes No. 20 Clemson for First ACC Home Weekend Series

Pitt Welcomes No. 20 Clemson for First ACC Home Weekend Series

3/24/2022 5:58:00 PM

UPDATE:
Due to anticipated inclement weather, there will now be a doubleheader Friday starting at noon with an approximate 45-minute break in between games. The series finale is Saturday at the originally scheduled time, 3 p.m.
 
Each game is still slated to be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra through WatchESPN.
 

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Our series is now the following:

?? DH Friday starting at noon.

?? Saturday with the series finale at 3?? PM

Each game will still be streamed on ACCNX!#H2P https://t.co/X5eybh0i4d

— Pitt Baseball (@Pitt_BASE) March 24, 2022

PITTSBURGH – Pitt baseball resumes home play with the first ACC weekend series at Charles L. Cost Field this season against No. 20 Clemson Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME PROMOTIONS

• Saturday’s game will have “Script P” stickers given out.
• Sunday is Little League Day. All kids in Little League attire will be eligible for a $1 ticket and $1 drink.

HOW TO FOLLOW

• Each game can be streamed on ACCNX through WatchESPN.
• Fans can follow along with live stats and updates through Twitter. Follow @Pitt_BASE for the latest news and updates about the team.

STARTING PITCHERS

• FRIDAY: RHP Matt Gilbertson (2-2, 3.62 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) | RHP Mack Anglin (3-1, 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)
• SATURDAY: RHP Logan Evans (2-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) | RHP Nick Hoffman (3-1, 3.51 ERA, 1.27 WHIP)
• SUNDAY: RHP Billy Corcoran (2-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) | RHP Nick Clayton (0-1, 5.12 ERA, 1.52 WHIP)

HOME RUN HITTING SQUAD

• The story of the Pitt offense so far this season has been its home run hitting ability.
• With 34 in 20 games, the Panthers rank in the nation 13th in homers and 13th per game (1.70).
• Tatem Levins has been the leader of that power-hitting squad, blasting eight to place 19th in the nation.
• Kyle Hess also places in the top-100 nationally at 73rd with six.
• All nine of the batters in the current starting lineup have hit at least one with Brocks Franks registering five and Jack Anderson, Bryce Hulett and Ron Washington, Jr. each having four.
• CJ Funk hit his first collegiate homer at Virginia Tech (Saturday, March 19).

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR HULETT

• Bryce Hulett has enjoyed a tremendous start to the season as the Panthers’ top hitter.
• Known for his tremendous glove at first base since he started his career in Pittsburgh in 2020, Hulett has excelled at the plate so far this spring.
• He has the team-lead for batting average (.388), hits (26) and on-base percentage (.494) and second in OPS (1.121) along with eight extra-base hits and 13 walks to just seven strikeouts.
• His power has seen an uptick with four doubles and four homers in 67 at-bats (eight and three in 154 last season), and he’s drawn more walks and cut down drastically on strikeouts (averaging one per 9.57 at-bats) compared to last year (55 in 157, average of one every 2.85 at-bats).

ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (MARCH 7)

• Tatem Levins was named ACC Player of the Week March 7 for in his performance at the All-American Classic.
• Levins homered in all three games and posted nine RBI and a 1.231 slugging percentage.
• He opened the tournament in Fayetteville, N.C. with a 2-4 performance at the plate with a solo homer and double against Army.
• He had a two-run homer in the 6-5 comeback win over Ohio State.
• In the 11-5 victory over Campbell, he saved his best performance for last with a grand slam and two other hits, six RBI and two runs.
• He was also named one of Collegiate Baseball’s Players of the Week.
• For the season, Levins has been an effective power hitter, ranking 18th in the nation with eight homers that included a five-game home run streak (Lipscomb, Feb. 27-at High Point, March 9) and also a two-homer performance last Tuesday in the 21-5 win over Bucknell.
• In the five-game stretch with a homer he registered a .545 batting average (12-22), 12 hits, 12 RBI, 28 total bases, a 1.273 slugging percentage and .545 on-base percentage.
• In the nation he ranks 33rd in homers per game (.40), 47th in total bases (54) and 81st in slugging percentage (.720).
• In the ACC he ranks tied for fifth in homers and 10th in slugging percentage.

 
FRANKS THE HOME RUN HITTER

• Brock Franks has also seen a power surge at the plate.
• Only hitting one homer in his first 47 games as a Panther, Franks has hit five in the last 15 games, including his first multi-home run game of his collegiate career.
• In a seven-game stretch, he registered 25 total bases, a 1.087 slugging percentage and 11 RBI.

THE DUFFMAN

• Sky Duff had a breakout campaign in 2021, his third year in Pittsburgh, and earned spots on the All-ACC Third-Team and ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region Second Team.
• Serving as the leadoff batter, Duff still has an active 41-game reached base streak started last year and currently ranks 44th in the nation in walks (18).
• This season he leads the team in walks and has a .457 on-base percentage, 22 hits and nine RBI.
• He recorded a nation-best nine walks and three hits on opening weekend.
• Known for his ability to draw walks in his entire career, he ranks fifth in program history with 101.
• Former teammate David Yanni (148, 2016-21), John Schultz (142, 2008-11), Jacob Wright (116, 2015-17), and Jim Negrych (107, 2004-06) all could be passed by Duff this or next season.
• In the nation he ranked last year 14th in doubles per game (.43), 47th in doubles (18), 67th in hits per game (1.43), 83rd in batting average (.366) and 91st in on-base percentage (.461).
• He was in the ACC fifth in batting average and fourth in on-base percentage and doubles.
• The junior showed an improvement with his power, racking up a team-high 18 doubles.
• He also hit two homers last year after recording his first career homer the previous season.

GILL ON THE HILL

• Matt Gilbertson was the Panthers’ “Saturday” pitcher all of last season and is the No. 1 pitcher this year.
• With starts in the second game of each weekend series in 2021, Gilbertson posted a 6-4 record with a 1.29 WHIP, 4.45 ERA, 72 strikeouts to 20 walks and a .269 opposing batting average.
• In the ACC, he ranked tied seventh in innings pitched (85.0) and ninth in wins (six), both team-highs.
• Gilbertson earned the first win of the season with just one earned run, four hits and no walks with three strikeouts against Indiana State on Feb. 20.
• His next start was arguably his best of the season, six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, two walks and five hits in a 7-2 win at No. 9 Florida State.
• He went a career-high eight innings that included 16-straight retired batters with five strikeouts, two runs, five hits and no walks in a 6-2 series-clinching win at Virginia.
• He went seven innings again with four strikeouts, one run, one hit and nine hits allowed in what ended up a 3-1 win over No. 12 Notre Dame.
• He picked up his fourth win against No. 15 Miami, going seven innings with four runs, six hits, two walks and two strikeouts.
• He threw all but one inning in the home win over Boston College with three strikeouts, eight hits and three walks.
• He arguably saved his best for last when he threw a complete game against No. 3 seed NC State with 10 strikeouts and 22 outs in the last 22 batters faced.
• In 22 career starts at Pitt, Gilbertson has accumulated 119 strikeouts to just 35 walks and gone at least five innings in all but two games.

 
SCOUTING NO. 20 CLEMSON

• Ranked in all but one major poll and are as high as No. 20 by Baseball America.
• Have dropped five of its last seven games after opening the season with 14-straight wins.
• Opened the season strong with a 10-1 record.
• Feature an explosive offense, ranking in the nation eighth in walks (131), 19th in runs (177), 20th in homers (32) and 28th in on-base percentage (.412).
• Three starters have registered an OPS above 1.000 to start the season: sophomore infielder Max Wagner (1.313), sophomore utility player Cooper Ingle (1.119) and redshirt-junior infielder Benjamin Blackwell (1.033).

 
ALL-TIME SERIES

• Clemson has the advantage 7-2.
• Never playing each other before Pitt joined the ACC for the 2014 season, this will be just the fourth overall series and first since 2018.

 
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