Akron Hits The Road To Battle The Panthers on Tuesday

Tuesday, March 12

Pittsburgh, Penn.

3:00 PM

University of Akron

Pittsburgh

Akron vs Toledo Series 2024 (March 8-10)

Akron Hits The Road To Battle The Panthers on Tuesday

March 11 | Baseball

AKRON, Ohio - After opening MAC play this past week with Toledo, the Akron baseball team makes the short journey to the Keystone State to battle the University of Pittsburgh on March 12 for a 3 pm start.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Video | Stats

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Pittsburgh Leads 29-25
First Meeting: Pittsburgh 7 - Akron 1 (1980, Location unknown)
Last Meeting: Pittsburgh 13 - Akron 7 (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Mar. 18, 2015)

SCOUTING REPORT
The Panthers are 8-4 overall and 0-3 in the ACC in the early stages of the season. Pittsburgh started the season 8-1, which featured four consecutive wins before losing three straight at North Carolina to begin conference action.

All three games against the Tar Heels were close, with the Panthers falling 2-1, 7-4, and 6-5 in 10 innings to conclude the series. The Panthers scored three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game at 5-5 before UNC scored a single run in the bottom of the 10th the claim the win.

Jake Kendro leads the Panthers in batting average with a .364 average in 12 games this season. He also has 16 hits, 10 runs, three home runs and 12 RBI. Dom Popa leads the way with 17 hits, six of which are doubles. He has five RBI and two stolen bases in 12 starts. Ryan Zuckerman is the leader in home runs with five and is one of four Panthers with three or more home runs this season.

On the mound, Jack Sokol leads the Panthers in innings pitched (21.0) and is one of three Panthers with two wins so far this season. Phil Fox is the leader in ERA with a 0.93 average through four appearances and 9.2 innings of work. Fox is also 2-1 on the season while allowing just one run and striking out 10.

ZIPS AT A GLANCE
Akron is 3-11 on the season after falling to Cincinnati last Wednesday and Toledo this past weekend.

Akron returns to the road after hosting Toledo for its home and conference opener. The Zips fell to the Rockets by a single run in the final two games, losing 2-1 in game two of the series and 6-5 in game three.

Nicky Sackett leads the Zips in batting average with a .304 average while collecting seven hits, six runs, and one RBI. Max Bowman is the Zips leader in hits with 14. He has two doubles, two triples, one home run, and eight RBI along with one stolen base as well. Sam Seeker Evan Bottone, Jack Poist, and Andrew Horvath all have three doubles while Bowman leads the squad with his two triples. Five Zips have one home run this season while Bowman leads the way with eight RBI. Horvath and Ian Pennington each have seven. Bottone and Poist each have a team-high four stolen bases.

On the mound for the Zips, Anthony Fett leads the way in ERA with a 3.07 average. Fett is 0-2 in six appearances in relief where he has thrown 14.2 innings with nine strikeouts. Dawson Tourney has thrown 18.0 innings and has struck out 19. Jared Schaeffer has thrown 17.1 innings and 17 strikeouts.

COMMON OPPONENTS WITH PITTSBURGH
Youngstown State (Horizon), Kent State (MAC), Duke (ACC), West Virginia (BIG 12)

SCORELESS RELIEF APPEARANCES
Anthony Fett and Emmett Gillies combined for 9.2 innings of scoreless baseball against Cincinnati (Mar.6) and Toledo (Mar. 8-9).

Fett threw six scoreless innings where he allowed just four hits, and four walks while striking out four.

Fett started his week with a scoreless and hitless 1.1 innings of work against Cincinnati before throwing 4.2 innings in the first game of a doubleheader against Toledo.
Against the Rockets, he walked three and struck out four.

Gillies started his week with an inning of relief work against Cincinnati where he allowed no hits, and no runs while striking out two.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Toledo, Gillies went 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. In his 2.2 innings against the Rockets, Gillies allowed just four hits while walking one and striking out four.

THE CURRENT STREAKS
Max Bowman has reached base in 13 consecutive while Evan Bottone is second with a seven-game streak of reaching base. Charlie Rhee has recorded a hit in four straight games. The longest hitting streak this season belongs to Jack Poist, who recorded a hit in six straight games.

PERKS OF THE JOB
Sean Perkins was named the MAC Pitcher of the Week on March 4 after picking up a win over No. 10/12 Duke.

Coming in down 2-1 against Duke in the second game of the series, Perkins pitched five innings of near-spotless baseball as the Zips defeated the No. 10/12 Blue Devils 4-3 on March 2. Throwing the final five innings, Perkins held his own with just two hits allowed along with one run and two strikeouts to earn the win. He sent Duke three-up-three down in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings and ended the ninth with a strikeout. Perkins also held Duke's hitters to a combined .118 batting average over the five innings of work.

ONE TO REMEMBER
Head coach Bryan Faulds collected his first win leading the Akron Zips in the second game of a doubleheader against Illinois on February 14. Down 4-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, Akron battled to force extra-innings when Max Bowman sent a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to give the Zips a 5-4 victory.

ON DECK
Akron hosts Northern Illinois for a three-game conference series at Skeeles Field beginning on March 15.