Baseball looks to rebound with trip to Notre Dame

Joe Jordano isn’t beating around the bush when he talks about his team.

“We’ve got to get… Joe Jordano isn’t beating around the bush when he talks about his team.

“We’ve got to get it together, or we’re in for a long weekend,” the head coach said of his Pitt baseball team.

The Panthers (11-12 overall, 2-4 Big East) travel to South Bend, Ind., this weekend to take on Notre Dame (14-8, 2-1) in a rematch of last year’s Big East Tournament championship game.

Pitt enters the weekend on a four-game losing skid. After West Virginia swept them in Morgantown, W.Va., last weekend, the team was trounced by Kent State at Trees Field on Wednesday, 14-4.

Jordano used five different pitchers to try to shut down the Golden Flashes’ offense. Looking at Notre Dame’s offense, it might take even more to control this weekend.

The Fighting Irish have five regulars hitting above .300. The biggest threat in the lineup is Matt Bransfield. He enters the series hitting .325 with a team-high nine doubles and two home runs. He also boasts a team-leading slugging percentage of .545. He has 25 hits to lead the Irish, as well.

Junior Danny Dressman leads the team with a .361 average. He has drawn 12 walks and sports a .487 on-base percentage. As a team, the Fighting Irish are hitting a blistering .298.

Pitt will likely counter the Notre Dame bats with their top three starters: Billy Muldowney, Robert Brant and Paul Nardozzi. All three were chased early in starts against West Virginia.

Muldowney leads the team with 50 strikeouts in 39 innings of work. He tops the staff with a 3.00 ERA. Right behind him is Nardozzi, who leads the team in innings pitched with 43.1. He has given up only 16 earned runs, but 11 of them came in just 4.1 innings of work in the Panthers’ loss to West Virginia on Sunday. His ERA jumped from 1.15 to 3.32 after that shelling. He does have 49 strikeouts on the year, and he leads the team with four wins.

The Panthers might also use Kyle Landis in a start. Landis is 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA.

Jim Negrych leads the Pitt offense. The junior is hitting .408, and is the team’s foremost power hitter. He has four home runs and 22 RBIs for the year, and has a .592 slugging percentage. He also has an on-base percentage of .511.

Beyond Negrych, only two other Panther regulars hit above .300 — Jimmy Mayer (.327) and Dan Williams (.313). As a team, Pitt hits just .263. Jordano is less than pleased with the offensive effort and output. In their last four games, the Panthers have been outscored 41-14.

“We’re not particularly running the bases well,” he said, “and our offensive approach is pretty weak.”

They will have to deal with a Notre Dame pitching staff whose starters have lost just four games all season. The top Fighting Irish pitcher is Tom Thornton. He is 4-1 in five starts with a 2.38 ERA, and has a shutout to his name.

Jeff Manship has also started five games. He has 41 strikeouts in 31 innings, and a 2.32 ERA. Opposing hitters are batting just .208 against him.

Jeff Smardzija has started five games as well, and, like Manship, he owns a 2-1 record. He also sports a 3.92 ERA. Wade Korpi, who has started four games, is also 2-1. Out of the bullpen, Kyle Weiland has the most appearances (9). He has five saves, but is 0-3 with a 3.95 ERA.

Notre Dame has won four games in a row and five of six. Included in that streak is a series win over conference rival Georgetown. They took two of three from the Hoyas last weekend.

Pitt and Notre Dame had a memorable series of games last year. In the midst of their late-season run, Pitt took a series from Notre Dame at home. Pitt swept a doubleheader on the first day of the series, only to fall 21-1 to Notre Dame in the finale.

After that run took the Panthers to the Big East Tournament, they upset top-seeded St. John’s before falling to Notre Dame 4-2 in the second round of the double-elimination tournament.

The Panthers won their next game, a 12-inning thriller over Boston College that ended when Jim Negrych hit a walk-off, two-run homer — his second round-tripper of the game — that gave the Panthers a 3-2 victory. That set up a final game with none other than Notre Dame.

The Irish made sure the Panthers never had a chance in that game, walking away with an 11-4 win to secure the Big East’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

This weekend’s series kicks off tonight at 6:05. Fans can follow each game via Gametracker at www.pittsburghpanthers.com.