PITTSBURGH – The Niagara baseball team travels to the Steel City for the four-game Panther Classic II hosted by the University of Pittsburgh this weekend.
 
The tournament begins on Friday with the Purple Eagles (3-13) facing the Toledo Rockets (5-9) in the early game of a doubleheader that finishes with a matchup against the host, Pittsburgh Panthers (9-5).  First pitch for the opener against Toledo is at 10:15 a.m. with the second game scheduled for 1:15 p.m.  Saturday’s schedule is exactly the same with a game against Toledo at 10:15 a.m. and the closing game against Pittsburgh at 1:15 p.m.
 
The Rockets enter the weekend with a 3-2 record in their last five games, which included two 6-1 victories, with one against both Florida Atlantic and Dayton.  Senior infielder Matt Delewski has started all 14 games for Toledo.  He has a .406 average on the season and a share of the team-lead with 10 RBIs.  James Miglin also has 10 RBIs.  The power hitter has a team-high four extra base hits, four doubles and a home run, but just a .245 batting average. 

Kyle Shaw (1-2, 3.68 ERA) and Ryan Wilkinson (0-1, 5.31 ERA) are expected to lead the Rockets on the mound. 
 
The Panthers saw a four-game winning streak come to an end earlier this week when they dropped an 8-7 decision to West Virginia on Tuesday to end Panther Classic Part I.  Before the loss, two wins against Youngstown State (9-2 and 16-1) bookended a pair of wins over Manhattan (6-5 and 9-3).  Offensively the Panthers are balanced with eight players batting above .300, with first baseman Eric Hess leading the way with a .440 average.  Casey Roche leads the team with five homeruns and is second with 16 RBIs. 

A trio of righties lead the rotation as Rhys Aldenhoven (2-0, 2.88 ERA), Ethan Mildren (2-1, 3.86 ERA), Matt Wotherspoon (2-1, 4.61 ERA) each have four starts this year.
 
The Purple Eagles are coming off of a week that saw them play six games in five days against the Big 12’s Kansas State and Kansas.  NU played its best baseball of the season in the Friday doubleheader against the Jayhawks when it stayed with KU in a pair of one-run losses (3-2 and 5-4).  The Purple Eagles out-hit the Jayhakws in the first game and both teams collected six hits in the second.  Freshman infielder baseman Michael Fuhrman enters the weekend with a team-high .293 average.  Fellow freshmen Christian Vangeison and Greg Rodgers  share the team-lead with nine RBIs.  As a team, NU has shown patience up at the dish, with at six players with at least six walks.