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Pitt's baseball season is over quite yet, but the Panthers don't have much time to turn around their season.
After a strong showing against No. 1 Virginia a couple of weeks ago, Pitt has found winning games to be difficult. The Panthers held their own in that series against the Cavaliers, despite being no-hit. After winning one and nearly taking a second, the pitching staff gave some reason for optimism.
That hasn't lasted long, though, and now the baseball team finds itself in a huge hole. All told, since the team swept a ranked Georgia Tech team a few weeks ago prior to the Virginia series, Pitt has been a dismal 2-11. That's forced the Panthers to an overall record of only 17-22.
After losing two out of three against Virginia, Pitt promptly lost to Akron in a mid-week game. Those non-weekend contests have been something that's hurt the team this season. Pitt was swept by ranked Miami last weekend, lost to Kent State on Wednesday, and then lost two out of three to Top 25 team Clemson, this past weekend. The Panthers won on Sunday to give the team another Top 25 win on the year, but it's just not been enough.
To be fair to the team, the biggest problem for Pitt is that the Panthers have faced some stiff competition this season. Clemson, who took two out of three from the team this weekend, was ranked No. 20. And each of the past four series' have also been against Top 25 foes (Clemson, Miami, Virginia, and Georgia Tech). Even the recent mid-week games against Akron and Kent State haven't been easy ones. Both teams have already won 20 games and possess winning records.
Pitt isn't bad this year, but the Panthers have faced some of the strongest teams in the nation these past several weeks. That, perhaps more than anything else, is the reason that success has been hard to find this year.
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