Pittsburgh Panthers baseball | |
---|---|
2015 Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team | |
Founded | 1869 |
University | University of Pittsburgh |
Head coach | Joe Jordano (18th season) |
Conference | ACC |
Location | Pittsburgh, PA |
Home stadium | Charles L. Cost Field in the Petersen Sports Complex (Capacity: 900) |
Nickname | Panthers |
Colors | Blue and Gold |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
1959, 1965, 1995 | |
Conference tournament champions | |
1995 | |
Conference champions | |
1994 |
The Pittsburgh Panthers baseball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 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. 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 regular season and Big East Tournament championships. The Panthers have also received four First Team All-American selections, and have appeared in three NCAA championships. 52 Panthers have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Joe Jordano has been the head coach of Pitt baseball since 1998.
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 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 for four seasons which were highlighted by the play of future Major League Baseball 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.