The Pitt baseball program has a new outlook heading into the 2019 season. The Panthers made a push in the 2018 ACC Conference Tournament and some key figures from that run have returned for another season.
But the Panthers also brought in a new head coach in Mike Bell. A long-time assistant for Florida State with a reputation as a top recruiter. He will be tasked with making Pitt competitive, as it is one of the most difficult jobs in the ACC.
The Panthers' 2019 campaign started on the road over the weekend with a four-game series in Kissimmee (Fla.). Here is a rundown of how things went for the team in its first weekend of the season.
Friday, February 15 - Pitt 7, Villanova 2
The Panthers’ season got off to a strong start with a win over Villanova on Friday. The Wildcats were one of the worst teams in the Big East last season, and Pitt took full advantage of that, benefiting from 15 walks allowed by Villanova pitchers.
Pitt got it rolling in the third inning when catcher Cole McLaren notched a two-run double to make it 3-0, and the Panthers kept adding to it from there. Nico Popa, Pitt’s leadoff hitter, collected two hits, as did true freshman left fielder Kyle Hess.
The story was more about the pitching. After losing some of its top arms to the MLB Draft in 2018, Pitt turned to Dan Hammer as the number-one starter after a shaky 2018 campaign. He responded by going 5.1 innings and striking out right batters and allowing two runs.
Derek West and Chris Gomez finished off the game, as both pitchers should form one of the stronger bullpens in the ACC. Mike Bell earned win number one in his career with little resistance.
Saturday, February 16 - Iowa 10, Pitt 1; Marshall 7, Pitt 2
In game one of the Saturday double-header, Pitt got handled pretty easily by the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten. Iowa collected 11 hits and took advantage of nine free passes allowed by the Panthers’ pitching staff.
Iowa right fielder Ben Norman went 3-for-4 including a two-run homer in the second inning, followed by a two-run double in the third to break the game wide open.
Pitt starter Christian Comancho was chased in the fourth inning in his Panthers’ debut. Comancho came to the program from Northwest Florida CC after starting his career for Auburn in the SEC. One of Pitt’s prized recruits, Mason Ronan got his first taste of action in college baseball and had a rough go at it. He walked two and hit three batters in 1.2 innings of relief work.
Pitt was limited to just three hits, but one was a pinch-hit solo home run by Connor Perry in the 8th inning to avoid the shutout.
In Saturday’s nightcap, the Panthers’ bats were cold again. Pitt mustered just two runs on five hits against Marshall of Conference USA.
Pitt sophomore second basemen Bryce O’Farrell paced the offense with two hits, while slugger Ron Washington Jr. had an RBI double in the sixth inning.
Panthers’ starter Billy Corcoran picked up the loss. He went four innings and struck out four but allowed three earned runs.
Sunday, February 17 - Milwaukee 9, Pitt 8
The Pitt offense finally woke up a bit on Sunday but could not rally to take down Milwaukee. Pitt found itself trailing 9-5 heading into the ninth inning and scored three runs, but left the tying run at third base with the winning run on second as the comeback bid fell short.
The Panthers received multi-hit games from Perry, McLaren, and Hess. Perry collected three hits and score three runs. McLaren and Hess had two hits apiece, with Hess driving in a pair of runs.
Pitt slugger Ron Washington Jr. notched his first home run of the 2019 season with a two-run bomb in the third. He had six long balls in 2018 as an All-ACC freshman honoree.
The Panthers’ pitching struggled, but two costly errors prolonged some innings. Chris Cappas lasted just 3.2 innings and picked up the loss.
Junior college transfer David Moore and sophomore Chase Smith combined for three scoreless innings to give the Panthers a chance in the end.
Reaction
Mike Bell knew this would be a tough task taking over the Pitt program and every single game can’t be taken for granted for a program like this. Pitt has a lot stacked against itself in conference play, so they need to be better in non-conference games when the schedule is a little lighter.
Pitt lost some key players off of last year’s team, but with a middle of the lineup featuring guys like Washington Jr., McLaren, and David Yanni the offense still should pack enough punch to be competitive in a lot of games.
Losing ace pitcher Matt Pidich was always going to be a tough to overcome, as he ate a ton of innings for this team in 2018. Three of the four starters from this weekend did not even make it to the fifth inning, and that’s a trend that they will need to change soon if the team hopes to have a successful year. The Panthers have a solid bullpen, but asking them to do too much will be costly in the long run.
Next up
Pitt travels to Spartanburg (SC) over the weekend for three games in three days against mid-majors South Carolina-Upstate, Radford and Bucknell. Pitt’s first home game is scheduled for March 5 against Youngstown State.
