Baseball: Panthers ready for Big East play

Despite some tough losses against nonconference teams, Pitt baseball head coach Joe Jordano said… Despite some tough losses against nonconference teams, Pitt baseball head coach Joe Jordano said he believes that the Panthers learned from the defeats and are ready to compete this year for their ultimate goal: a Big East Championship.

The Big East is filled with talent this season with a lot of teams competing for the title, but Jordano said a challenging nonconference schedule helped prepare the Panthers for the season’s next phase. The Panthers enter their first series in conference play with a nonconference record of 12-6.

“It has been the most competitive preseason schedule we have played since I have been the head coach,” Jordano said. “I am confident we will be ready for this weekend.”

The opening portion of Pitt’s nonconference schedule featured five Big Ten teams, and the Panthers still have two games remaining against Penn State, one of which was postponed because of poor weather.

Pitt’s quest for the trophy begins Friday as the Panthers open Big East play with a three-game road series against conference favorite Connecticut, which appears to be headed for a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

But senior pitcher Corey Baker isn’t worried.

“It doesn’t really matter who we start against,” he said. “It adds a little extra excitement to the weekend knowing you’re going to be facing one of the top teams in the conference, but in order for us to win, we need to play our game. We can’t worry about what they do.”

Jordano said the Panthers need to play well for entire games in order to finish at the top of the conference standings.

“We have not played a complete game yet,” Jordano said. “We have had phases of our game look solid at times, but we need to play a complete game if we want to compete for a championship.”

As the Panthers prepare to face the Big East slate, the goal for the season is familiar.

“Our goal every year is to win the Big East,” Baker said. “Last year we won 18 games in the conference, and we feel that we are just as capable of doing that again, if not more.”

Sophomore pitcher Ray Black said the team’s objective isn’t just to compete for a title, but to win one.

“We were close to an NCAA regional bid last year, and the feeling of not seeing our name called for a bracket was tough,” he said. “No one on this team wants to relive that.”

As Pitt moves through its challenging schedule, the younger players will look to a strong senior class to lead the way.

“With the large amount of seniors, I look up to all of them,” Black said. “They are hard-working in the weight room, at practice and tough mentally. As a whole, I look up to the seniors.”

Jordano will also look to the talented senior class to guide the team to its first Big East title since 1994.

“We have a large senior class and each have the responsibility of leading this team in all phases — both on and off the field,” Jordano said.

The Panthers still face several additional nonconference teams. Also on the schedule are Louisville and South Florida. Both squads have excellent pitching but struggle at the plate — leading to a matchup of opposites, as the Panthers are a deep and talented hitting team still looking to develop their pitching staff.