Pitt athletics prepares for a busy weekend

Spring season is in full swing as many of Pitt’s teams face their ACC competitors this weekend. Here’s what to look out for from each program.

Track and Field

Track and field returns to action this Friday and Saturday to compete in the South Florida Invitational. 

At a trio meet at Carnegie Mellon last weekend, first-year Taylor Forbes, sophomore Jana Bruses and junior Caroline Rusinski all took first place in one of their respective events. 

Forbes marked 11.19 m in the women’s triple jump for first place. Bruses took first place in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.39 seconds and setting a new personal record. Rusinski dominated her event and beat her competitors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by over a minute. This was Rusinski’s first go at the steeplechase event, and she took first place at 11:08.41. 

The Panthers will travel to Tampa for their second outdoor meet of the season.

Baseball

Pitt has a busy weekend in baseball as the season continues in full swing. This weekend, the Panthers will compete in a three-game series against Georgia Tech.

Before Pitt had its game postponed on Tuesday, the Panthers lost two of three games in their series against Virginia Tech last weekend, including a heartbreaker on Saturday. The game went back and forth with five lead changes. 

Senior infielder Tyler Bischke picked up his ninth multi-hit game of the season and led his team in hits as well. Junior catcher Jayden Melendez scored two of the Panthers’ five runs. The Hokies took the lead at the bottom of the eighth and ultimately won the series. 

Pitt baseball’s weekend series is at Charles L. Cost Field and will air on ACC Network. 

Softball

Softball has a three-game series scheduled this weekend at Boston College. The ACC matchup will take place at Chestnut Hill on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Last weekend, Pitt picked up their first ACC win against Louisville but lost the series. Pitt lost the first game on Friday 3-2, but took the second game on Saturday after nine different Panthers recorded hits. The Panthers’ hot hitting started in the second inning when Pitt scored four runs, ending with sophomore catcher KK Esparza hitting her third home run of the season. Pitt dropped the final game of the series 9-0.

Volleyball

Pitt volleyball continues its brief spring schedule in Columbus, Ohio, for another matchup against the Buckeyes. Two weekends ago, the Panthers swept all four sets from the Buckeyes at the Fitzgerald Field House.

Men’s Soccer

Pitt men’s soccer team continues its short spring season this weekend against Wake Forest at Highmark Stadium. The matchup is the last one before the Spring Soccer Cup on April 14. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Lacrosse 

Coming off of a win earlier in the week, Pitt lacrosse travels to Syracuse this weekend hoping to pick up its first ACC win. 

The Panthers scored the first five goals of the matchup against Central Michigan on a rainy Tuesday at Highmark Stadium and ended the first period with a 6-1 advantage.

Pitt’s offense continued to gain momentum in the second period and scored four more goals. Junior attacker Jenna Hendrickson earned a hat trick scoring back-to-back-to-back goals in the period as well. The Panthers kept Central Michigan from scoring in the final period. 

Pitt looks to continue their aggressive offense in their match against No. 3 Syracuse on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.