Pitt baseball has chance to rebound and regroup with break in the schedule

The Pitt baseball team has been taking a beating lately. After sweeping Virginia Tech and taking a series against Duke, the team has struggled for the most part. A win this weekend over No. 3 North Carolina helped lessen the blow a little, but the Panthers are still 3-8 in their last 11 games. Fortunately, with 16 games left in the regular season, there's still time to rebound.

The Panthers not only have many games left, but a bunch of very winnable ones.

First, they'll play three games against SIU Edwardsville, who is only 17-22 on the year. After that are two games against woeful (8-30) Maryland Eastern Shore.

The Panthers do get back to ACC play following those two games but they will play a three-game set against a beatable Georgia Tech team that is currently in the basement of the Coastal Division. Next is a single mid-week game against 11-27 Youngstown State.

Things don't even get too much more difficult after that with three games against .500 North Carolina State. Pitt wraps up the season by facing West Virginia and with a three-game series against a good Wake Forest team.

With regards to the quest for .500, something I outlined as a significant step for the program before the year began, these next five games are absolutely critical. Pitt really needs to take no fewer than four of those next five to have a shot at it, in my opinion. That would get them to .500 and the team would have a fighting chance to win series' against Georgia Tech and North Carolina State.

The schedule is much easier from here on out. Now the Panthers need to capitalize.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.