3 Things Wake Forest Fans Need to Know about Pitt

There are few things in life that are grander than the onset of spring. Yes, April showers can be a bit of a downer, but the overall grandeur of the season is such that anybody in their right mind is joyful at this time of year. For baseball fans, that joy manifests itself in many different ways, with one of the foremost being college baseball.

Was that a little too much for an early-April preview of Wake Forest’s three-game weekend series against the Pittsburgh Panthers? Perhaps, but it also shows just how important this stretch of baseball is for the Demon Deacons. Just as the flowers are about to bloom, Wake Forest hopes that it can also start anew as April dawns. It’ll have the opportunity to do just that in three games versus Pitt, a team that’s had some success in the early going of the ACC schedule.

Here are three things every Wake Forest fan needs to know about the Pittsburgh Panthers.

A Program Showing Signs of Life

The Pitt baseball program is not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination. It hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1995, the same year it also last won its conference. But spring is all about change, and it appears that 2026 is bringing new life to the Panthers on the diamond.

YOUR ACC STAT LEADERS: WOBA

🤝 @643charts pic.twitter.com/nJpvxdYPgs
— D1Baseball ACC (@D1BaseballACC) April 3, 2026

Pitt is currently 20-7 overall and 5-4 in the ACC. It has picked up series wins over Louisville and Stanford, with its lone series loss in conference play coming against Georgia Tech. The Panthers have competed well, a pleasant surprise for fans in Pittsburgh who have been yearning for baseball success for a long time.

As such, Pitt will be looking to continue to cash in at home against Wake Forest. The team has played particularly well at Charles L. Cost Field, going 8-2 in its friendly confines. Any sort of series victory for Wake Forest will be tough to come by.

An Offense That Can Rake

Pitt can flat-out hit. It has a team OPS of 1.067 and a team batting average of .333. The Panthers have launched 63 home runs — the most in the conference — and have racked up an impressive 217 free passes.

Lorenzo Carrier with 8 RBI on the day? Yeah go ahead and take my vote for ACC Player of the Week

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— Monty Taylor (@Monty2740) March 7, 2026

This lineup is filled with mashers from top to bottom. Lorenzo Carrier leads the way with his 1.565 OPS and 13 long balls. Joey Baran, Trey Fenderson, Carter Dierdorf, AJ Nessler, Caden Dulin, and many others have also been impressive. Long story short, pretty much everybody in the Pitt lineup is hitting at least .300. There’s only one word to describe it: wow.

Pitching That's Solid, Not Spectacular

The Panthers aren’t too bad on the mound, either. While the pitching doesn’t steal the spotlight like the offense, it has been good enough to get the job done.

Pitt’s team ERA of 4.66 ranks just one spot ahead of Wake Forest’s 4.73 in the ACC at No. 9. It’s not eye-popping, but it does speak to how well-rounded this Panthers team is. That said, the starting rotation has been a bit of a struggle so far. All three projected starters this weekend — RHP David Leslie, LHP Vincent Spizzoucco, and RHP Drew Lafferty — carry ERAs north of 4.50, with two sitting above 5.50. If the Demon Deacons are going to take down Pitt, they’ll need to take advantage and swing it well.