The Pittsburgh Panthers baseball is the
NCAA Division I intercollegiate baseball program of the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
, often referred to as "Pitt", located in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. 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
The Petersen Sports Complex (PSC) is a multi-sport athletic facility on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses Charles L. Cost Field, Vartabedian Field, and Ambrose Urbanic Field, the respective home pr ...
. 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
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
regular season and
Big East Tournament championships. The Panthers have also received four First Team
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n selections, and have appeared in three
NCAA championships
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
. 52 Panthers have been selected in the
Major League Baseball Draft
The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...
.
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
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
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
Richard Joseph Harley (September 25, 1872 – April 3, 1952) was an American baseball outfielder, manager, and coach.
A native of Philadelphia, Harley played baseball and American football at Georgetown University. He then played professional b ...
for four seasons which were highlighted by the play of future
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
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
Russell Paul Kemmerer (November 1, 1930 – December 8, 2014) was an American professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox (–), the Washington Senators (–), the Chicago White Sox (–), and the ...
.
In 1955, legendary Pitt baseball coach
Bobby Lewis
Robert Alan Lewis (February 9, 1925 – April 28, 2020) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1961 hit singles " Tossin' and Turnin'" and "One Track Mind".
Biography
Lewis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana ...
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
''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...
'' poll. Lewis coached
All-Americans George Schoeppner and
Fred Mazurek
Frederick Henry Mazurek (born March 21, 1943) is a former American football flanker in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. Fred received a scholarship from Pitt and was the starting quarterback for the Pitt Panthers from 19 ...
, future long-time Major League professionals
Doc Medich
George Francis "Doc" Medich (born December 9, 1948) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1972–1982. He was a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, and acquired the nickname "Doc" during his e ...
and
Ken Macha
Kenneth Edward Macha (; born September 29, 1950) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and manager. He managed the Oakland Athletics from 2003–2006, including American League Western Division championships in both his first and final s ...
, as well as other notable athletes such as
Mike Ditka
Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...
and
Joe Walton
Joseph Frank Walton (December 15, 1935 – August 15, 2021) was an American football player and coach who retired after 20 years as the head coach and creator of the football program at Robert Morris University. Walton played eight seasons in t ...
.
Mark Jackson took over for Bobby Lewis in 1991 and quickly turned the Panthers into a contender in the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
, 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
Stanley Jason Conti (; born January 27, 1975) is a former outfielder in Major League baseball. He spent five years in the major leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Texas Rangers.
Career
Conti wa ...
, 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
Joe Jordano is an American college baseball coach and former collegiate baseball player. He most recently served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team. He held that position from 1998 NCAA Division I baseball season, 1998 season t ...
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
The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...
(ABCA) East Region Coach of the Year award
and the
Chuck Tanner Collegiate Baseball Manager of the Year Award The Chuck Tanner Baseball Manager of the Year Award is the original name for two awards that are given by the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh,''Go to'Rotary Club of Pittsburghofficial website ''and click on'' "Chuck Tanner Event". in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...
. 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
Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...
.
In 2011, the program moved into a new facility, Charles L. Cost Field, in the
Petersen Sports Complex
The Petersen Sports Complex (PSC) is a multi-sport athletic facility on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses Charles L. Cost Field, Vartabedian Field, and Ambrose Urbanic Field, the respective home pr ...
, from its old facility,
Trees Field. The new facilities helped to prompt
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
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
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
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.
[Corey_Baker_Baseball_Statistics_[2008-2016]]
/ref>
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Jordano_resigned_as_the_head_coach_of_Pittsburgh_on_June_22,_2018._
">Corey_Baker_Baseball_Statistics_[2008-2016]/ref>
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.
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,_was_hired_as_Pitt's_head_coach_in_July_2018.
_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,_and_five_players_have_been_selected_as_an_Academic_All-Americans.
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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__
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,_was_hired_as_Pitt's_head_coach_in_July_2018.
_All-Americans
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,_
">Corey_Baker_Baseball_Statistics_[2008-2016]/ref>
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__
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,_was_hired_as_Pitt's_head_coach_in_July_2018.
_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,
_and_five_players_have_been_selected_as_an_Academic_All-Americans.
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