Pittsburgh Panthers baseball

Pittsburgh Panthers baseball
2015 Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team
Founded	1869
University	University of Pittsburgh
Conference	ACC
Location	Pittsburgh, PA
Head coach	Joe Jordano (18th year)
Home stadium	Charles L. Cost Field in the Petersen Sports Complex (Capacity: 900)
Nickname	Panthers
Colors	Navy Blue and Gold[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
1959, 1965, 1995
Conference tournament champions
1995
Conference champions
1994

The Pittsburgh Panthers baseball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt baseball team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference and plays their home games at Charles L. Cost Field in the Petersen Sports Complex. It is the university's oldest recorded sport, dating to 1869. Prior to joining the ACC in 2013-14, Pitt had won both the Big East Conference regular season and Big East Tournament championships. The Panthers have also received four First Team All-American selections, and have appeared in three NCAA championships. 52 Panthers have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Joe Jordano has been the head coach of Pitt baseball since 1998.

History

Pitt baseball circa the 1890s when the school was known as the Western University of Pennsylvania. The players are posing in front of Main Hall when the campus was located on Observatory Hill on Pittsburgh's North Side.

Baseball has been called "the first game of consequence played at the University."^[2] The first recorded game was a 21–20, five-inning win over the Eckfords of East Liberty in 1869. The team went undefeated until it lost to a high school team in 1870. Although early records are sparse and incomplete, baseball at the university continued to be played against nearby college teams, although sometimes with irregular schedules, throughout the end of the 19th Century, as well as at the intramural level.^[2] The student yearbook, The Owl, noted that teams fielded between the years of 1888 to 1894 were especially successful.^[3] However, according to the student yearbook, in the early 20th century interest in college baseball at Pitt waned due to a lack of a proper field, strictness of eligibility rules, irregularity of schedules, and the rise of football as the dominant school sport.^[2] Pitt did not field a baseball team from 1918 to 1920, although the program was briefly resurrected under coach Dick Harley for four seasons which were highlighted by the play of future Major League Baseball pitcher Steve Swetonic, before the program again disappeared from 1925 to 1938.^[4] The program was reestablished in 1939 under coach Ralph Mitterling who led the team for 16 seasons and guided players such as future Major League pitcher Russ Kemmerer.^[5]

In 1955, legendary Pitt baseball coach Bobby Lewis took control of the program. Lewis, who is one of two Panthers to have his baseball jersey retired by the school, led the team for 36 seasons until his retirement in 1990.^[5] During his tenure, Pitt went 438–389, garnering Lewis the most wins of any coach in Pitt athletics history to that point.^[6] Under Lewis, Pitt appeared in the NCAA baseball championship twice, and finished ranked 27th in the final 1967 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.^[7] Lewis coached All-Americans George Schoeppner and Fred Mazurek, future long-time Major League professionals Doc Medich and Ken Macha, as well as other notable athletes such as Mike Ditka and Joe Walton.^[6][8]

The new baseball stadium in the Petersen Sports Complex nearing completion in late October, 2010

Mark Jackson took over for Bobby Lewis in 1991 and quickly turned the Panthers into a contender in the Big East Conference, in which Pitt had begun competing in 1985. Jackson led the Panthers to a regular season Big East title in 1994, earning Big East Coach of the Year honors, and went on to win the 1995 Big East Conference Baseball Tournament, thus earning a bid to the NCAA Championship and finishing the season ranked 28th in the final Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.^[9][10] His teams posted five winning seasons out of seven years at the helm, including three 30 or more-win seasons.^[5] Notable players for Jackson include Jason Conti, who went on to play for five seasons in the Major Leagues, and Josh Tyler who won the 1994 Big East Player of the Year award.

One of the most successful eras of Pitt baseball began with the hiring of Joe Jordano as coach on November 15, 1997.^[11] Since coming to Pittsburgh, Jordano has had 38 players taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, 50 of his players sign professional contracts, and 36 All-Big East players.^[12] Since 2000, Jordano's teams have produced nine All-Americans, 20 All-region selections, six 30-win seasons, and six Big East Baseball Tournament appearances. Jordano earned the Big East Coach of the Year award in 2004 following a 38–18 season in which Pitt finished second in the conference standings.^[13] In 2010, Pitt went 38-18 and appeared in the Top 25 polls of both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper^[14] and Baseball America^[15] for the first time in its history, earning Jordano the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) East Region Coach of the Year award^[16] and the Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year Award.^[17] On March 2, 2012, Jordano surpassed former head coach Bobby Lewis to become Pitt baseball's all-time wins leader when he earned his 403rd career victory, a 3-1 win at Coastal Carolina.^[18][19]

In 2011, the program moved into a new facility, Charles L. Cost Field, in the Petersen Sports Complex, from its old facility, Trees Field.^[20] The new facilities helped to prompt Rivals.com to name Pitt as one of "college baseball's rising programs" heading into the 2011 season.^[21] Pitcher Corey Baker, who in 2010 had been named to the All-Big East First Team, and to the ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region First Team, ended his university career in 2011 as the Pittsburgh Panthers all-time career wins leader, with 24.^[22][23]

In the 2013 season, Pitt's last in the Big East Conference, the team set a record for the most wins in a single season (42)^[24] and became nationally ranked in the Top 25 of all five major college baseball polls for the first time in program history, including climbing as high as #16 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.^[25] Pitt moved into the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013.^[26]

All-Americans

Pitt has had ten different players selected as All-Americans, including four first team selections. In addition, two Panthers have been selected as Freshman All-Americans,^[27][28][29] and five players have been selected as an Academic All-Americans.^[30][31]

First Team All-Americans 2004 P.J. Hiser, Louisville Slugger, Collegiate Baseball 2005 Jim Negrych, Louisville Slugger, Baseball America 2006 Jim Negrych, Baseball America 2009 Chris Sedon, Louisville Slugger, Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-Americans 1959 George Schoeppner 2009 Chris Sedon, Baseball America, CollegeBaseballInsider.com 2010 Joe Leonard, ABCA 2016 Charles Leblanc, NCBWA

Third Team All-Americans 1965 Fred Mazurek 1994 Jon Murphy, ABCA 2002 Brad Rea, ABCA 2004 P.J. Hiser, NCBWA 2005 Ben Copeland, ABCA 2009 Chris Sedon, ABCA 2010 Joe Leonard, Louisville Slugger, Ping!Baseball 2013 Casey Roche, NCBWA 2016 Charles LaBlanc, Perfect Game/Rawlings Freshman All-Americans 2004 Jim Negrych, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly 2005 Robert Brant, Louisville Slugger

Academic All-Americans 1970 Guy Caparelli, CoSIDA 1985 Joe Murray, CoSIDA 1994 Josh Tyler, CoSIDA 2011 Philip Konieczny, CoSIDA 2012 Anthony DeFabio, CoSIDA

All-East

Pitt has had 32 All-East selections over its history,^{[12][27][32][33][34]} and one coach, Joe Jordano, was named the ABCA East Region Coach of the Year in 2010.^[16]

George Schoeppner, 1959 Robert Cuthbert, 1963 John Carlisle, 1963 Al Ricciuti, 1963 Fred Mazurek, 1965 George Medich, 1969 Ken Macha, 1972 Joe Groetsch, 1975

Rich Kline, 1981 Allen Lachowicz, 1981 Chris Jelic, 1985 Tedde Campbell, 1995 Brad Rea, 2002 Brian Spamer, 2003[35] Rob Brant, 2005 Ben Copeland, 2005

Billy Muldowney, 2005 Jim Negrych, 2006[36] Chris Sedon, 2009 Corey Baker, 2010 Cory Brownsten, 2010 Matt Iannazzo, 2010 Joe Leonard, 2010 John Schultz, 2010

David Chester, 2011[37] Kevan Smith, 2011[37] Rick Devereaux, 2012[38] Ethan Mildren, 2013[34] Casey Roche, 2013[34] Elvin Soto, 2013[34] Sam Parente, 2013[34] Charles Leblanc, 2016[39]

Big East honors

Pitt has receive 69 All-Big East selections^[40] along with conference player, pitcher, rookie, and coach of the year awards.^[9][12] In addition, 36 Pitt players have garnered All-Big East Academic Awards and the team earned the Most Improved Team GPA award in 2008.^[11]

Player of the Year Josh Tyler, 1994 P.J. Hiser, 2004 Joe Leonard, 2010 Pitcher of the Year Nick Evangelista (co), 2004

Coach of the Year Mark Jackson, 1994 Joe Jordano, 2004 Joe Jordano, 2013 Rookie of the Year Bill Sherbondy, 1988 Jim Negrych, 2004

Tournament MVP (Jack Kaiser Award) Jon DeBernardis, 1995

Major League Baseball

Pitt has had 52 Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965. Since 1940, 90 total players that have been drafted or signed to professional contracts, including 51 since 2000.^{[27][41][42][43]}

Manager Ken Macha (center) played college baseball at Pitt

Jason Conti spent five years in the Majors with the Diamondbacks, Rays, Brewers, and Rangers

Right-handed pitcher Pete Parise went undrafted but is currently St. Louis Cardinals system where he was named the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds 2009 Reliever of the Year^[44]

Panthers in the Major League Baseball Draft

Year Player Round Team 1970 George Medich 30 Yankees 1972 Ken Macha 6 Pirates 1981 Allen Lachowicz 1 Rangers 1985 Chris Jelic 2 Royals 1986 Matt Stennett 11 Astros 1986 Chuck Scales 25 Royals 1987 David Westwood 11 Giants 1988 Frank Merigliano 16 White Sox 1989 Darnell Dickerson 28 Royals 1993 David Sumner 41 Blue Jays 1994 Josh Tyler 24 Brewers 1994 Eric Dinyar 48 Tigers 1996 Jason Conti 32 Diamondbacks 1999 Lou Melucci 26 Expos 2000 Joe Lydic 7 Astros 2000 Jory Coughenour 20 Astros 2002 Brant Colamarino 7 Athletics 2002 Eric Ackerman 16 Royals 2004 Nick Evangelista 26 Phillies 2004 P.J. Hiser 29 Indians 2004 T.J. Gornati 44 Giants 2005 Ben Copeland 4 Giants 2006 Jim Negrych 6 Pirates 2006 Bill Muldowney 8 Cubs 2006 Jimmy Mayer 30 Devil Rays 2007 Kyle Landis 18 Indians 2007 Paul Nardozzi 31 Tigers 2009 Chris Sedon 10 Tigers 2009 Nate Reed 20 White Sox 2010 Joe Leonard 3 Braves 2010 Cory Brownsten 15 Braves 2010 Danny Lopez 17 Mariners 2011 Kevan Smith 7 White Sox 2011 Raymond Black 7 Giants 2011 David Chester 33 Red Sox 2011 John Schultz 34 Marlins 2011 Travis Whitmore 35 Padres 2011 Corey Baker 49 Cardinals 2013 Ethan Mildren 12 Twins 2013 Elvin Soto 16 Diamondbacks 2013 Matt Wotherspoon 20 Tigers 2014 Luke Curtis 18 Brewers 2014 Joseph Harvey 19 Yankees 2014 Matt Wotherspoon 34 Yankees 2015 Marc Berube 28 Athletics 2015 Hobie Harris 31 Yankees 2015 Rich Condeelis 36 Twins 2016 T. J. Zeuch 1 Blue Jays 2016 Charles Leblanc 4 Rangers 2016 Alex Kowalczyk 12 Rangers 2016 Aaron Schnurbusch 28 White Sox 2016 Nick Yarnall 35 Dodgers

Other Pitt players that had Major League careers include Steve Swetonic, Robert Malloy, Russ Kemmerer, and Jason Rakers.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball programs

References

1. "Graphic Standards | University of Pittsburgh" (PDF). Communications.pitt.edu. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
2. "The "University Nine" Defeats the "Eckfords"-1869". The Owl. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh: 222. 1937. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
3. The Owl. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. 1910. p. 123. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
4. The Owl. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. 1926. p. 347. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
5. Rupert, Lauren; Nestor, Mendy, eds. (2010). Pitt Baseball 2010 Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. p. 47. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
6. Jayes, Paul (1990-06-28). "Pitt's Bobby Lewis: It will be tough filling his shoes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
7. 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Records Book (PDF). NCAA. 2010. p. 38. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
8. Jayes, Paul (1983-05-18). "'Other' Pitt coach already a legend". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
9. Rupert, Lauren; Nestor, Mendy, eds. (2010). Pitt Baseball 2010 Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. p. 50. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
10. 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Records Book (PDF). NCAA. 2010. p. 40. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
11. Rupert, Lauren; Nestor, Mendy, eds. (2010). Pitt Baseball 2010 Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
12. "Pitt Baseball: The Jordano Era" (PDF). PittsburghPanthers.com. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
13. Rupert, Lauren; Nestor, Mendy, eds. (2010). Pitt Baseball 2010 Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
14. "Arizona State No. 1 In Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll". College Baseball Newspaper. 2010-03-29. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
15. "College Top 25: May 10". Baseball America. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
16. "Jordano Named ABCA East Region Coach of the Year". Pittsburgh, PA: PittsburghPanthers.com. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
17. "Pitt Baseball's Joe Jordano Named Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
18. "Joe Jordano Becomes Pitt Baseball's All-Time Wins Leader". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
19. Mackey, Jason (2012-03-09). "Pitt baseball coach Jordano is embracing some new challenges". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
20. Fittipaldo, Ray (2010-05-20). "Pitt's time at Trees Field coming to an end". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
21. Rogers, Kendall (2010-11-04). "Rising programs helping conferences succeed". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
22. "Cardinals 2011 Draft Day Three Complete", St. Louis - Scout
23. Corey Baker Baseball Statistics [2008-2016]
24. Harris, John (May 13, 2013). "Harris: Pitt coach Jordano talks more than a good game". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
25. "Pitt Baseball Ranked in All Five Major Polls". PittsburghPanthers.com. May 13, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
26. Fittipaldo, Ray (July 18, 2012). "Pitt's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference is now official". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
27. Rupert, Lauren; Nestor, Mendy, eds. (2010). Pitt Baseball 2010 Media Guide (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. p. 49. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
28. 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Records Book (PDF). NCAA. 2010. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
29. "Casey Roche Named a NCBWA All-American". PittsburghPanthers.com. June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
30. CoSIDA Academic All-American All-Time List (by School) (PDF), College Sports Information Directors of America, 2012-03-08, pp. 352–353, retrieved 2012-06-02
31. "DeFabio Selected to the Academic All-American Second Team". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
32. "Panthers Named To East Region Teams". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
33. "Chester, Smith Named to ABCA All-East Region Teams". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
34. "Four Panthers Earn Rawlings/ABCA All-Region Honors". PittsburghPanthers.com. June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
35. "Internet Archive: 2003 ABCA & NCAA Division I All-Region". American Baseball Coaches Association. 2003. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
36. "Internet Archive: 2006 ABCA & Rawlings NCAA Division I All-Region" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). American Baseball Coaches Association. 2006-07-21. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
37. "2011 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA I All-East Region" (PDF). American Baseball Coaches Association. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-06-24.
38. "2012 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-East Region Teams" (PDF). American Baseball Coaches Association. 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
39. "Leblanc Garners ABCA All-Region Recognition". PittsburghPanthers.com. June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
40. Magnoli, Chris (2012). 2012 Big East Baseball Media Guide. Big East Conference. p. 56. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
41. Grupp, John (2011-06-09). "Seven local players taken on final day of MLB draft". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
42. "Panthers in the Pros" (PDF). PittsburghPanthers.com. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
43. "Matt Wotherspoon Drafted by Detroit Tigers". PittsburghPanthers.com. June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
44. "Former Pitt Baseball Player Pete Parise Named Memphis Redbirds 2009 Reliever of the Year". PittsburghPanthers.com. 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2010-05-20.

External links

• Official website