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.
History
Baseball has been called "the first game of consequence played at the University." 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. The student yearbook, The Owl, noted that teams fielded between the years of 1888 to 1894 were especially successful. 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. 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. 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.
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. During his tenure, Pitt went 438–389, garnering Lewis the most wins of any coach in Pitt athletics history to that point. Under Lewis, Pitt appeared in the NCAA baseball championship twice, and finished ranked 27th in the final 1967 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll. 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.
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. His teams posted five winning seasons out of seven years at the helm, including three 30 or more-win seasons. 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. 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. 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. In 2010, Pitt went 38–18 and appeared in the Top 25 polls of both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Baseball America for the first time in its history, earning Jordano the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) East Region Coach of the Year award and the Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year Award. 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.
In 2011, the program moved into a new facility, Charles L. Cost Field, in the Petersen Sports Complex, from its old facility, Trees Field. The new facilities helped to prompt Rivals.com to name Pitt as one of "college baseball's rising programs" heading into the 2011 season. 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."Cardinals 2011 Draft Day Three Complete", St. Louis - ScoutCorey Baker Baseball Statistics [2008-2016]
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) 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. Pitt moved into the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2013.
Jordano resigned as the head coach of Pittsburgh on June 22, 2018. Mike Bell, former associate head coach at Florida State, was hired as Pitt's head coach in July 2018.
Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament 1959 0–1 District 2 1965 0–1 District 2 1995 2–2 Mideast Regional 2-4
All-Americans Pitt has had twelve different players selected as All-Americans, including five first team selections. In addition, two Panthers have been selected as Freshman All-Americans, and five players have been selected as an Academic All-Americans.
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 2026 Lorenzo Carrier, NCBWA
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 2024 Phil Fox, ABCA
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 34 All-East selections over its history, and one coach, Joe Jordano, was named the ABCA East Region Coach of the Year in 2010.
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 Rob Brant, 2005 Ben Copeland, 2005 Billy Muldowney, 2005 Jim Negrych, 2006 Chris Sedon, 2009 Corey Baker, 2010
Cory Brownsten, 2010 Matt Iannazzo, 2010 Joe Leonard, 2010 John Schultz, 2010 David Chester, 2011 Kevan Smith, 2011 Rick Devereaux, 2012 Ethan Mildren, 2013 Casey Roche, 2013 Elvin Soto, 2013
Sam Parente, 2013 Charles Leblanc, 2016 Frank Maldonado, 2018 Liam Sabino, 2018
Big East honors Pitt has receive 69 All-Big East selections along with conference player, pitcher, rookie, and coach of the year awards. In addition, 36 Pitt players have garnered All-Big East Academic Awards and the team earned the Most Improved Team GPA award in 2008.
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, 2013
Rookie of the Year Bill Sherbondy, 1988 Jim Negrych, 2004
Tournament MVP (Jack Kaiser Award) Matthew Reid, 1994 Jon DeBernardis, 1995
Major League Baseball Pitt has had 60 Major League Baseball draft selections since the draft began in 1965. Since 1940, 99 total players that have been drafted or signed to professional contracts, including 60 since 2000.
Panthers in the Major League Baseball Draft Year Player Round Team 1970 30 Yankees 1972 6 Pirates 1981 1 Rangers 1985 2 Royals 1986 11 Astros 1986 25 Royals 1987 11 Giants 1988 16 White Sox 1989 28 Royals 1993 41 Blue Jays 1994 24 Brewers 1994 48 Tigers 1996 32 Diamondbacks 1999 26 Expos 2000 7 Astros 2000 20 Astros 2002 7 Athletics 2002 16 Royals 2004 26 Phillies 2004 29 Indians 2004 44 Giants 2005 4 Giants 2006 6 Pirates 2006 8 Cubs 2006 30 Devil Rays 2007 18 Indians 2007 31 Tigers 2009 10 Tigers 2009 20 White Sox 2010 3 Braves 2010 15 Braves 2010 17 Mariners 2011 7 White Sox 2011 7 Giants 2011 33 Red Sox 2011 34 Marlins 2011 35 Padres 2011 49 Cardinals 2013 12 Twins 2013 16 Diamondbacks 2013 20 Tigers 2014 18 Brewers 2014 19 Yankees 2014 34 Yankees 2015 28 Athletics 2015 31 Yankees 2015 36 Twins 2016 1 Blue Jays 2016 4 Rangers 2016 12 Rangers 2016 28 White Sox 2016 35 Dodgers 2017 17 Athletics 2017 19 Angels 2017 22 Royals 2018 6 Astros 2018 8 Reds 2018 28 Braves 2018 35 Cardinals 2018 36 Tigers 2019 13 Orioles 2019 14 Astros 2023 36 Mariners
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
External links