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Pitt's baseball program has qualified for the Big East Baseball Championships this week. The Panthers barely reached the tournament and will enter as the No. 8 seed. Pitt finished the season 28-26 (10-17 in conference) and has struggled a bit compared to their success in recent years.
Pitt needed to win their final game against the Louisville Cardinals last week, but failed to do so. But with losses by Villanova and West Virginia, the Panthers backed their way into the tournament. Somewhat ironically, they'll face Louisville in their first game as the Cardinals are the top seed.
Pitt will square off against Louisville on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Depending on the outcome of that game, they'll take on either No. 4 seed South Florida or No. 5 seed UConn on Thursday.
Here's the full schedule of games and events surrounding the entire event.
For more on the Big East Championships, check out SB Nation's Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill.
Below the jump, check out video of the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin dominating Finland in the IIHF World Hockey Championship semifinals, putting up a hat trick en route to a 6-2 victory for Russia. The Russians will play Slovakia in the finals on Sunday.
Via The PensBlog. You can check out a recap here.
Steven Adams' game was on display at the New Zealand Under 21 National Championships. The Pitt recruit starred in the tournament, averaging 24.8 points a game. Adams' Wellington team also won the championship, defeating Harbour in the final, 84-81 in overtime. For his efforts, Adams was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Adams' offense has to make Pitt fans excited for what may come. The defense and rebounding are expected to be there when he arrives on campus to play this fall, but it looks as if he can also help lead the team as a scorer. Adams scored at least 15 points in each of his team's six games and topped 20 points four times. He also tallied a tournament-high 38 points in one game against Counties-Manukau and was one of only three players in the entire event to reach 30 points.
For more on Pitt basketball, check out SB Nation Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took the opportunity at the premier of their 2011 highlight video to announce the replacement for Randy Cosgrove as public address announcer at Heinz Field for all home games. Cosgrove served as PA announcer for 15 years at Three Rivers Stadium and Heinz Field. Via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
The Steelers announced during the premier of their 2011 highlight video Friday that Larry Richert will be the public address announcer for all home games at Heinz Field.
Richert has served as the voice of NFL Films/Steelers Highlight videos for years.
The announcement that Tino Sunseri was named as Pitt's starting quarterback heading into the season wasn't a big surprise. But the talk over his backup will soon begin and as of now, the job isn't settled.
Incoming true freshman Chad Voytik will apparently be in the mix according to head coach Paul Chryst:
Chryst said nobody grabbed the backup quarterback job. As for what he anticipates for Chad Voytik once the four-star prospect arrives this summer, Chryst said, "First he's got to get here. Then we've got to see how he picks up things. I anticipate him getting work. Legitimately getting work and then we'll see."
Pitt fans should be excited at the prospect of Voytik getting a look. Neither Mark Myers nor Trey Anderson showed much last season and while each will presumably be better, the more competition, the better. The big factor at play will be the decision to burn Voytik's redshirt. If he can play significant minutes and is the best alternative, then the decision is easy. But if Sunseri is capable enough (and healthy enough) where only mop-up time at the ends of games is available, Pitt may be better off in keeping him on the bench.
As Chryst says, though, it will depend on how he picks things up. If Voytik struggles early on, the decision to redshirt him should be an easy one.
For more on Pitt football, check out SB Nation's Pitt blog, Cardiac Hill.
Hey, you know how the Pirates' offense is incredibly terrible? Well, don't expect the Bucs to turn to their Class AAA team in Indianapolis for help. Indianapolis has been shut out in its last four games, and has scored one run in its last six games. Indianapolis has the worst OPS in the International League, at .628 (although a couple teams have scored fewer runs).
More to the point, there aren't a lot of players on the Indianapolis roster who could be reasonably expected to provide much help. Starling Marte needs time to develop, and while Jake Fox, Jordy Mercer (who was recently injured) and Jose Morales are all worth keeping an eye on, there isn't much reason to expect any of them to provide huge upgrades.
In fact, the Pirates' failure to hit extends throughout much of the organization, as you have to get all the way down to Class A West Virginia to find a team that has a few dynamic hitting prospects. (West Virginia has Josh Bell, Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco, among others.) That doesn't speak well of Neal Huntington's performance as a general manager. He has prioritized pitching, and has often gotten decent results in that area, but that's only one side of the game.
Here's some reaction from Pirates pundits on the Tigers' Justin Verlander getting within two outs of a no-hitter against the Bucs last night.
I never cease being amazed at the number of #Pirates fans who find NO FAULT with Neal Huntington's work, who go to any extreme to defend even the most indefensible results. I get that the sabermetricians like him. That makes sense to me. Neal's very much in that mold. But the very scope of sabermetrics demands real objectivity in analysis. There's no point to be proven in advance. Look at this lineup. Dissect the numbers. Forecast the future. Then tell it like it is.
I suppose it's nice for morale and general fan self-esteem and all, but a lucky Josh Harrison swing on a pitch way out of the strike zone shouldn't really make anyone forget just how bad the Pirate offense was tonight. Verlander is the best in the sport, sure, but pretty much every Pirate I saw (and I'll admit that I didn't start watching until the fourth inning or so) looked like a high school hitter facing a big leaguer.
And finally, here's me at Bucs Dugout:
The game felt like it was over almost as soon as it had begun. Andy Dirks singled off Charlie Morton with one out in the first, and then Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder followed with RBI doubles. A two-run lead for Justin Verlander against the Pirates ... I hate to keep returning to the same point, but that's really what it comes down to.
Nationally, of course, the story here is Verlander. But among Pirates fans, the story continues to be the Pirates' terrible offense. As one Bucs Dugout commenter pointed out last night, the Pirates have been one-hit once, two-hit once, three-hit once, and four-hit three times so far this year.
The Pirates' 111 runs this year are less than half the number the Texas Rangers have. The Bucs are last in the majors in runs scored. The home ballpark of the next-closest team, the Padres, is impossible to hit in, and the Friars have 16 more runs than the Pirates do. The next-closest team after that, the Nationals, has 30 more runs than the Bucs. Around Pittsburgh, that's what people are worried about, as they should be.
Steelers Depot notes that if the Steelers' tentative plans to start 2012 first- and second-round draft picks David DeCastro and Mike Adams come to pass, it would mean that the team would be doing something it hadn't done since "at least 1978."
This would be the first time that this feat has occurred since at least 1978, and there is a good chance that it dates even further back than that. I have only been able to pull the Steelers week one starting offensive lines dating back to 1979, so that covers the last 33 seasons. Dating back to 1979, only four rookie offensive linemen have cracked the week one starting lineup for the Steelers and they were: Tom Ricketts at left guard (1989), Marvel Smith at right tackle (2000) and Maurkice Pouncey at center (2010). That leaves two positions on the offensive line that the Steelers have not had rookies start at since at least at least 1978, and both of those positions are left tackle and right guard, the positions that Adams and DeCastro aim to start at respectively.
As Steelers Depot notes, there really isn't much doubt that DeCastro will start from day one. The question is whether Adams will. That the Steelers are considering starting both -- in addition to second-year man Marcus Gilbert -- shows both how highly they think of DeCastro and Adams and what a problem their offensive line depth had become.
Jameson Taillon, who is one of the Pirates' two best prospects (along with Gerrit Cole), had his worst start of the season on Wednesday in the Bradenton Marauders' doubleheader against St. Lucie, allowing two home runs and six earned runs in 5.2 innings while striking out four.
Frankly, though, this isn't much to worry about, and it's worth pausing here to take stock of just how good Taillon has been. Through eight starts this season, he's pitched 42.1 innings, striking out 40 batters while walking nine. The two homers he allowed on Wednesday were his first two of the season. That's fantastic for a player who's still only 20 and facing much older hitters.
Of course, "fantastic" is merely what's expected for the second overall pick in the draft. (Taillon went one pick after Bryce Harper in 2010.) But in a season in which the Pirates' farm system has been somewhat disappointing, it's good to have a bit of appreciation for an important player whose season has gone according to plan.
For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout.
The Steelers' Maurkice Pouncey is featured on NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah's list of the top 10 NFL players under 25, along with NaVorro Bowman, A.J. Green, Rob Gronkowski, LeSean McCoy, Von Miller, Cam Newton, Jason Pierre-Paul, Aldon Smith and Matthew Stafford. Here's what Jeremiah has to say about Pouncey:
Pouncey has put together two dominant seasons for the Steelers and established himself as the top center in the NFL. The Jets' Nick Mangold and the Panthers' Ryan Kalil are both outstanding but neither possesses Pouncey's combination of size and athletic ability. He has the strength to anchor in pass protection and the power to create movement at the point of attack in the run game. He is outstanding at the second level. He can adjust and pick off linebackers with very little effort. He should be the top player at his position for a very long time.
With the additions of David DeCastro and Mike Adams to Pouncey and fellow youngster Marcus Gilbert, the Steelers' offensive line is coming together quickly, and Pouncey is its anchor.
Another Steeler, Rashard Mendenhall, is in the "just missed the cut" category. So are a few other AFC North players in Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and defensive tackle Geno Atkins and Browns corner Joe Haden.
For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.
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Edited by Charlie Wilmoth
Charlie was born and raised in Wheeling, about fifty miles southwest of Pittsburgh. For the last five years, he has been the author of the Pirates blog Bucs Dugout. He has a doctoral degree in music composition from the University of California, San Diego, and he... See my profile
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