PITTSBURGH – Entering his 21st season at the helm of the University of Pittsburgh baseball program, head coach Joe Jordano announced his team’s 2018 schedule Monday afternoon.
“This is a very competitive schedule and will be a challenge early,” said Jordano. “We are a young team with many new faces projected to be in the lineup, as well as several arms that will be competing for us for the first time. It is my goal to make steady progress and gain some momentum entering the always-challenging ACC schedule. Every weekend, from the opener to the last, will be very tough. We all look forward to the challenge.”
The Panthers will host 24 home games at Charles L. Cost Field in 2018, taking part in 20 road contests and 11 neutral site games. Pitt’s ACC matchups come against Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Louisville and Clemson.
Pit will face off against 11 teams in the top 100 of the final 2017 RPI rankings, including six in the top 50 and five in the top 25. The Panthers’ slate consists of five 2017 NCAA qualifiers, including one College World Series participant.
The Panthers open the season at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla., for a four-game tournament with Oakland, Saint Louis and Toledo, Feb. 16-18. Pitt will then take to Spartanburg, S.C., for games with Presbyterian, Seton Hall and USC Upstate, Feb. 23-25 before returning to Kissimmee, Fla., for outings with Massachusetts, Butler and St. Peter’s March 2-6.
ACC play will get underway at the newly renovated English Field in Blacksburg, Va., as Pitt faces off with Virginia Tech March 9-11, before opening the home season against Youngstown State on March 13.
The Panthers will face a tough test early in ACC action March 16-18, traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a weekend series with the Tar Heels, who wrapped up the season ranked No. 14 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 Poll and boasting the nation’s fifth best RPI.
The first regional rivalry game will take place on March 21 as the Panthers visit Penn State, before returning to Charles L. Cost Field for the first ACC home weekend versus Duke (March 23-25). The rivalry action will continue March 27 when the Panthers take to West Virginia for the first of a home-and-home with the Mountaineers, who qualified for the Wake Forest regional last year.
The 2015 National Champion Cavaliers will take to Charles L. Cost Field March 30-April 1 as the Panthers square off with Virginia.
A visit to Youngstown State will kick off the month of April, before Pitt visits Boston College April 6-8. Kent State will make an appearance in Pittsburgh April 10, kicking off a five-game homestand that includes Georgia Tech (April 13-15) and West Virginia (April 17).
The Panthers wrap up a home-and-home with Kent State on April 18 in Kent, Ohio, before traveling to Miami April 20-22. LIU Brooklyn (April 28-29) and Maryland Eastern Shore (May 1-2) will visit Charles L. Cost Field as the Panthers prepare for a tough stretch to conclude the regular season.
Pitt heads to Notre Dame May 4-6, before wrapping up the regular season with seven straight home games. Penn State visits May 8 before the Panthers welcome 2017 CWS participant Louisville May 11-13 and 2016 ACC Champion Clemson May 17-19.
The 2018 ACC Championship will return to Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C., May 22-27 with NCAA Regional action getting underway the following week.
2018 Pittsburgh Baseball Schedule
