Meet the Panthers… A team trying to get over the hump in Year 7 under Mike Bell
Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: Pittsburgh
Mascot: WWII German Tanks | School Location: City of Bridges, PA | Conference: ACC
2025 Record: 13-7 (1-2, 9th) | 2025 RPI Rank: 24
2024 Record: 26-29 (10-20, 7th Coastal) | 2024 RPI Rank: 88
2023 Record: 24-31 (10-18, 7th Coastal) | 2023 RPI Rank: 81
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Charles L. Cost Field (Pittsburgh, PA)
Game Time(s): Fri, Mar 21 @ 3:00pm | Sat, Mar 22 @ 3:00pm | Sun, Mar 23 @ 1:00pm
TV: Friday (ACCNX), Saturday (ACCNX), Sunday (ACCNX)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Tell me about this team
Here’s the blurb on Pittsburgh from the unpublished baseball preview on ACC opponents. Let’s see how accurate that is/was:
Pitt is basically VT Lite. The lineup should hit well enough – although not to the level of the Hokies – while the central question is whether or not there’s enough pitching for it to matter.
Ryan Reed returns to the weekend rotation and Aiden Coleman will make the logical slide from midweek starter to rotation mainstay. Both should put up better numbers than a year ago. The third spot will likely come down to one of a number of transfer arms (eight total transfer pitchers), although I personally would roll with Ethan Firoved there. They’ll likely use Firoved as a high-leverage stopper, but his five pitch mix and ability to pound the strike zone would make more sense in the starting rotation.
There are a slew of options for relief arms. All told, this could be a pretty good pitching staff, but that’s only if the starting rotation comes together. If they can’t get solid starts, then the bullpen will wear down quickly.
The starting lineup welcomes back four starters, with Luke Cantwell being the best of that group. I’d expect a big year from Jayden Melendez, who cranked 16 home runs last year despite some awful batted ball luck (.201 BABIP). There are eight transfers bats competing for the remaining five spots in the lineup, including Pitt boomerang A.J. Nessler who spent last year at UCF after playing in 27 games as a freshman for Pitt in 2023. That outfield group of transfers is really promising.
I doubt the freshman class will have much impact this year, and that’s somewhat thanks to the MLB Draft taking it’s toll (C Andrew Tess, 12th round Orioles; LHP Joseph Broughton, 13th round Brewers) there.
If you’re looking for a darkhorse to make noise in the ACC, Pitt may be your group. There are a lot of questions to answer first.
First, before we get to the stats, it’s worth noting that Pitt’s schedule has been pretty light so far, and the strength of schedule numbers are being artificially buoyed by RPI numbers that are still mostly useless. They lost two of three at Georgia Tech (RPI #48) in their ACC opening series last weekend, and the weekend before that lost two of three at East Tennessee State (RPI #23). ETSU is pretty legit, seeing that their losses this year – in addition to the one to the Panthers – are at Georgia, at Virginia Tech, and home against Miami-OH. Oh, and ETSU just happens to be one of only two teams (the other being Alabama) to have beaten top-ranked and defending national champs Tennessee.
So how accurate was that preview? Well, the Panthers are hitting a collective line of .283/.405/.443, 38 2B, 20 HR, 13.4 BB%, 21.7 K%, 16-17 SB. The issue has been consistency, but the lineup seems like it might be turning a corner. Jayden Melendez is getting hot as he has five hits over the last three games despite an overall season line of .203/.407/.313, 1 2B, 2 HR, 17.2 BB%, 21.8 K%, 0-1 SB. With his track record of power and on-base abilities, if he starts getting the other hits dropping, that’s big for this lineup, and is likely no coincidence that the Panthers have put up a combined 45 runs over the last three games.
The issue has been runs against the tougher competition. Aside from the 12-run outburst in the series finale against GT, Pitt combined for just 18 runs in their other five total games against the Yellow Jackets and ETSU.
Aidan Coleman didn’t make that “logical slide from midweek starter to rotation mainstay”, instead sticking in that midweek role. Ryan Reed hasn’t had a great amount of success, hurt by a penchant to surrender the long ball (6 HR in 23.2 IP), but he’s still the best of the weekend rotation, the rest of which is comprised of transfers, as expected.
As a whole, the pitching staff sports a 5.26 ERA with a 10.5 BB% and 22.6 K% over 167.2 IP. There are some promising relief arms, but the coaches seem content riding Ethan Firoved as far as he’ll take them.
The claim about the freshman class not having much of an impact seems to be holding. LHP Antonio Doganiero (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 14.8 BB%, 25.9 K%) is the only freshman arm to log more than 1.0 inning this year while no freshman or redshirt-freshman has logged double-digit plate appearances.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Dominic Fritton (JR) — LHP Patrick Gardner (SR)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (SO) — LHP Ryan Reed (JR)
Sunday: LHP Ryan Marohn (SO) — RHP Drew Lafferty (rSO)
Key Players:
Offense
1B Luke Cantwell (SR) – .425/.555/.603, 11 2B, 0 HR, 21.8 BB%, 12.9 K%, 1-1 SB. A former transfer from Farleigh Dickinson who started all 55 games for Pitt last year. The lefty batter hit 30 HR over his first three collegiate seasons, so don’t let the HR total this year fool you; there’s power in that bat. Hit .333/.515/.548, 10 2B, 10 HR, 21.4 BB%, 15.0 K%, 1-2 SB last year. Not a conventional leadoff hitter, but Pitt puts him in the spot to get him to the plate as much as possible. Has multi-hit games in six of the last seven, including 3-hit games in four of those.
3B Ryan Zuckerman (SO) – .333/.426/.704, 9 2B, 7 HR, 8.5 BB%, 27.7 K%, 1-1 SB. Currently riding a 9-game hitting streak and has 10 multi-hit games this year. Big time potential with the stick, he hit .267/.386/.467, 4 2B, 9 HR, 15.2 BB%, 31.0 K%, 3-5 SB last year.
RF Lorenzo Carrier (rJR) – .309/.462/.515, 2 2B, 4 HR, 20.4 BB%, 32.3 K%, 2-2 SB. Transfer from Miami where he started 75 games over three years for the Hurricanes, including 43 starts last year when he hit .245/.377/.446, 13 2B, 5 HR, 13.5 BB%, 30.0 K%, 1-1 SB. Big frame and power potential from a 6’5, 228 lbs frame. Has four hits, including a pair of home runs, over the last two games.
LF A.J. Nessler (JR) – .325/.415/.450, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10.6 BB%, 8.5 K%, 3-3 SB. The 5’9 Florida native started his career at Pitt (hit .293/.407/.455, 4 2B, 2 HR, 15.4 BB%, 17.9 K%, 2-2 SB in 2023) before transferring to UCF (hit .276/.375/.408, 5 2B, 1 HR, 12.0 BB%, 12.0 K%, 0-1 SB in 2024 with the Knights) and now returning again to Pitt. Has hits in 14 of the last 15 games.
Pitching
LHP Patrick Gardner (SR) – 2-1, 6.46 ERA, 23.2 IP, 11.4 BB%, 17.1 K%. Transfer from Farleigh Dickinson after starting his career at the DII level with the College of Staten Island. Posted a line of 8-2, 3.14 ERA, 86.0 IP, 9.4 BB%, 25.8 K% last year at FDU. GT touched him up for 7 R (all earned) over 4.2 IP last weekend. Not an overpowering arm, but the slider can get a good amount of whiffs.
LHP Ryan Reed (JR) – 2-2, 5.32 ERA, 23.2 IP, 6.5 BB%, 26.2 K%. The lone returner from Pitt’s 2024 rotation, a season in which he posted a line of 0-7, 1 SV, 8.45 ERA, 54.1 IP, 9.7 BB%, 15.5 K%, so things are going better this year. Fastball can reach the mid-90s and his best pitch is probably the changeup. Had a two-game run against Monmouth and UNCG ealrier this year where he combined for 12.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 16 K.
RHP Drew Lafferty (rSO) – 1-0, 7.36 ERA, 18.1 IP, 7.9 BB%, 13.5 K%. Started 8 midweek games for Kentucky last year before transferring back closer to home. Low 90’s fastball and decent slider. Put together a decent start against ETSU (4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K) but got touched up by GT last weekend (1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 0 K).
LHP Ethan Firoved (SR) – 1-1, 4 SV, 1.19 ERA, 22.2 IP, 3.3 BB%, 34.4 K%. As mentioned, really surprised Firoved isn’t in the starting rotation given his repertoire and experience, but utilizing him in a relief role allows Pitt to better chase wins when available. Not an overpowering arm, but the bevy of pitch offerings keeps hitters off balance. Five of his seven outings have gone 3.0+ innings, including a 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 9 K effort against GT last Sunday.
RHP Gavin Chillot (SO) – 1-0, 3.29 ERA, 13.2 IP, 9.7 BB%, 17.7 K%. Athletic but undersized with a 5’9, 170 lbs frame, his fastball is anything but undersized as it can sit in the mid-90’s. If can develop into a second quality multi-inning reliever to pair with Firoved, it may be exactly what this Pitt pitching staff needs. Or it may allow the staff to move Firoved into the rotation and use Chillot as the stopper/closer.
LHP Matt Porter (JR) – 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 6.2 IP, 11.1 BB%, 37.0 K%. Was a starter for two years at the JUCO level before transferring to Pitt. Struggled with control in JUCO ball, but has since reigned that in. Probably deserves a look as a starter with his low-90’s fastball and quality curveball and changeup. Regardless, he’s a strikeout machine who needs more innings.
Quick! Fun Facts!
Pitt 1B Luke Cantwell played for the Chatham Anglers in the Cape Cod League last summer where he was teammates with former NC State (and current Tulane) pitcher Garrett Payne.
Pitt LF A.J. Nessler attended the same high school as NC State FR RHP Aden Knowles. The teammates helped lead Tampa Jesuit to the 2022 Florida 5A State Championship. Knowles led the team to the title again in 2024.
The Panthers rank 2nd in the ACC having turned 16 double plays over 20 games.
NC State leads the all-time series 17-1, having won the last 17 in a row (all 17 having been played since 2015). The lone other meeting between the two baseball teams came back in 1941.
The Key To A Series Win For State
Just keep doing what you’ve been doing the last five nine 14 games (minus that one inning against VT): pitchers pounding the strike zone and hitters having quality ABs.
Prediction
That one horrendous inning on Saturday against VT aside, NC State has looked like a much improved team over the last 14 games. This will be a tough road test for the Pack, and the last time the team had to play over a weekend while staying in a hotel, things didn’t go so hot. I’m going to say the team learns something from that experience.
Outcome: NC State takes two of three.