3-27-15

Vol. 105 Issue 138

@thepittnews

Friday, March 27, 2015

Pittnews.com

HAIL TO THE CHIEF (OF STAFF)

Kathy Humphrey, vice chancellor and chief of staff, talks her new job and her vision for Pitt

Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor Kathy Humphrey has moved on — and moved up.

Until January of this year, Humphrey was Pitt’s vice provost and dean of students. Chancellor Patrick Gallagher promoted her not long after winter break to senior vice chancellor and chief of staff. The Pitt News sat down with her and Ken Service, vice chancellor of communications, to speak about her new job, her vision for Pitt and who is going to permanently fill her shoes as dean of students.

The Pitt News: So, Dr. Humphrey, Pitt students want to know: What is Kathy short for?

Is it Cathedral?

Kathy Humphrey: (Laughs) That’s just the name my mom gave me. She didn’t give me any more name. I thought about changing my name to Katherine once, but I decided that it would just be wrong. That was the name she gave me. That takes her rights away. People are always saying, ‘What’s the rest of your name? What’s your legal name?’ That is it. I just happen to work in a Cathy, too.

TPN: So you’re now the former dean of students. What do you miss most about your old job?

KH: I miss many things about my old job. I guess the constant interaction with students, I really miss that. My goal is to still interact with students, so I never forget why I’m coming to

Humphrey Nate Smith | Staff Photographer

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March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

Board of Trustees committee approves leasing, rennovation funds Dale Shoemaker Assistant News Editor The Property and Facilities Committee of Pitt’s Board of Trustees approved $37 million for two renovation projects and several million more for three building leases.

The committee includes 13 members of the Board of Trustees, 11 of which held a conference call Thursday afternoon to approve the funding. The committee approved funding to renovate Parran and Crabtree Halls, the Department of Chemistry in Eberly Hall and three leases in various locations.

The Graduate School for Public Health’s reserve will fund the Parran and Crabtree Hall renovations, the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences reserve will fund the Eberly Hall renovations and the University’s operating expenses will fund the leases. Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, though not a part of the committee, also FROM PAGE 1

HUMPHREY work each day.

TPN: You said you now have the opportunity to work on greater things. What are you working on right now?

KH: I just think about last week — I had the privilege of meeting with some donors. I knew it was important for us to say ‘thank you’ to our donors, but to be the person who sits across from them and really say ‘thank you’ and see how they respond, to show our appreciation, is an amazing experience. Last week,

THE PITT NEWS Natalie Daher Editor-in-Chief editor@pittnews.com

Harrison Kaminsky, News Editor news@pittnews.com

Matt Barnes, Opinions Editor letters@pittnews.com

Shawn Cooke, A&E Editor

aeeditors@gmail.com Chris Puzia, Sports Editor sports@pittnews.com

Theo Schwarz, Visual Editor photos@pittnews.com

Ellie Petrosky, Copy Chief tpncopydesk@gmail.com

Stephen Caruso, Layout Editor tpnlayout@gmail.com

participated in the conference call.

As part of the University’s 12-year facilities plan, which began in 2007, the renovations to Parran and Crabtree Halls — located along Fifth Avenue — are meant to keep the buildings up to date.

The renovations will include upgrades to the mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems; new fire alarm and sprinkler systems; a new security system and upgrades to restrooms to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the University said in a release.

Specifically, this will include building wheelchair ramps, installing wider doors and creating wider bathroom stalls, Ken Service, vice chancellor for communications, said. The University will spend $34 millionof the $37 million approved on this project, the release said.

The second renovation project will upgrade the laboratories in Eberly Hall.

These upgrades will include building a sensor-testing laboratory for research

on carbon nanomaterials, doubling the current space available. The remaining $3 million approved will go towards this project, the release said.

Starting July 1, the University will renew its lease with UPMC Shadyside for space at the Hillman Cancer Center where Pitt conducts some of its research. The lease is for five years, until June 2020, the board of trustees resolution said, and rent starts at $9,071,618 per year but will increase by 1 percent annually.

Fourteen days later, the University will also begin leasing space from Cityview Properties, LLC at the Parkvale Annex Building on Forbes Avenue for five years and sixteen days, until July 2020. The annual rental will be $141,520 plus a reimbursement for part of the real estate taxes on the building. This lease will also include a five-year renewal option that Pitt will be able to act on in 2020.

At the end of 2015, Pitt will also lease the Energy Innovation Center, located

on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District, for 15 years. The EIC will become home to the Energy Storage Technology Laboratory, the Electric Power Technology Laboratory, the High Temperature Corrosion Laboratory, and the Pitt Incubator Laboratories. Pitt will lease the EIC for $311,550 annually for the first five years, $326,988 annually for the second five years, and $343,170 for the final five years.

These new laboratories, the release said, “are expected to foster collaborations between the University and industry.” Service cited former Steeler Charlie Batch’s recent partnership with Pitt as an example. In January, Batch and several partners, in collaboration with Pitt’s Innovation Institute, announced the sports medicine startup Impellia to commercialize some of Pitt’s research.

“That’s a good example of our research being able to be commercialized,” Service said.

I worked on an alumni engagement project.

We’re really committed to making sure the value of your experience as an alumnus is heightened. That’s something I’m working on right now. How do I make sure that after you graduate, you still feel very connected to Pitt, that we’re still investing in you and giving you opportunities to invest in our new students? How do I get past sending a letter saying, ‘Hey, give us some money?’ On the other hand, I want you to want to give and reinvest in your institution. I’m working on developing that so it’s even stronger.

TPN: So, besides alumni relations, do you have any other special projects? Anything

long-term?

KH: Everything is long-term. We’re in a strategic planning session right now. We provide an incredible academic experience, we’re leaders in the community, we connect to the community and the region and the world, we’re developing global citizens, we value diversity. All of those things will continue to stay the same, but what we’re going to do to make those soar is really what the strategic plan is going to be about.

Another area I work with is the governmental relations. We have to determine how we become great partners with our legislators. My hope is that we move from this place

where we’re always concerned about them cutting us, to a place where we’re really seen as a crucial component of what our legislators do. [It’s important] that we become good partners, that we’re not just continually begging from them, but indeed we’re saying, ‘State, city, how do we make you stronger so you can help us be strong?’

TPN: Correct me if I’m wrong, but is the UPMC, CMU and Pitt collaboration all a part of this bigger picture as well? (Humphrey nods.) They said at the unveiling of that partnership [which was announced March

E S T A B L I S HE D 1 9 1 0

Danielle Fox, Managing Editor manager@pittnews.com

Abbey Reighard, Assistant News Editor Dale Shoemaker, Assistant News Editor Courtney Linder, Assistant Opinions Editor Dan Sostek, Assistant Sports Editor Jeff Ahearn, Assistant Visual Editor Mason Lazarcheff, Multimedia Editor David Gardner, Social Media Editor Sam McGinley, Assistant Copy Chief Emily Hower, Assistant Layout Editor

Copy Staff

Sarah Choflet Anjuli Das Kinley Gillette Johanna Helba Emily Maccia Sierra Smith

Bridget Montgomery Sarah Mejia Michelle Reagle Megan Zagorski Sydney Mengel Amanda Sobczak

Humphrey

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March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

#thatawkwardmomentwhen...

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Pitt students recount awkward moments on ‘national holliday’

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wkward moments occur all over campus and are almost inevitable.

National Awkward Moments Day, celebrated last week, gives people the opportunity to rehash past awkward experiences and laugh, cry or both while doing so.

What follows are three stories from Pitt students who braved the awkwardness of their tales and shared them with The Pitt News.

Editor’s Note: Some of the subjects of this article have omitted personal information because of the personal nature of their stories.’

Jessica Iaculoo Staff Writer

Rebekah Jean’s Awkward Moment

Marielle’s Awkward Moment

Elaine’s Awkward Moment

Rebekah Jean, a freshman at Pitt, recounted one time last semester when she “forgot how to walk down the stairs,” slipping and falling on her way to class in front of a crowd of students.

She banged up both of her knees, had deep tissue bruises on both calves and sprained both ankles.

“I decided not to go to class that day, and I laid in bed all day deciding when I should tell my mom I’m dropping out of school and moving to Argentina,” Jean said.

During Orientation Week her freshman year, Marielle — now a sophomore at Pitt — was busy making friends alongside the rest of her peers.

While working to meet new people, she and her floormates met a boy. Later that night, Marielle told him he was the cutest boy on campus.

“We barely knew this boy, and [we] were being stupid freshmen at the time, but now we’re all good friends,” Marielle said. “But I think this awkward moment is the reason why we’re friends today.”

Elaine, a Pitt student, tripped and fell while crossing a Fifth Avenue crosswalk. She chipped three teeth and busted her lip open.

She says the most shocking details of her fall were that she was wearing flats, there was no snow on the ground and she was completely alert.

The highlight of the moment, Elaine said, was the group of middle-aged men that exclaimed, “Oh, s***!” after watching her fall.

FROM PAGE 2

HUMPHREY 16]that some of their goals were to create for-profit businesses as a result of the collaboration and the research, so I’m curious as to where this money is going to be going. If these projects are successful and you’re able to hook up with corporations and governments, is any of this money going to come back to Pitt, and if so, where’s it going to go?

KH: Well, naturally, if you make an investment, you’re going to hope that some of it comes back, but it’s bigger than the money.

The money is important. The investment you make, you’re hoping that investment comes back and develops even more research and even more opportunities, or drives the economy. We’re a non-profit, which means everything that we generate, we put back into a system to help it continue to grow even more.

TPN: Okay, so a better way I could have phrased that: After this money comes in and it’s reinvested, how are students going to benefit? Are students going to see the results of these efforts in any way?

KH: Well, let me take that from another

March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com avenue to give you as clean a picture as I can about that. Anything we have eventually is going to touch the life of a student in some way. If it means we could improve a research lab because we were able to create a new revenue stream, if we are able to provide more scholarship dollars because we were able to find a new revenue stream, you name it — at the end of the day, it’s going to touch a student in some way. It has to. It’s not this dollar goes here, this dollar goes there, it’s how is it going to affect the whole? How does that reinvestment make everything we do stronger and better?

TPN: So, switching gears now, Kenyon Bonner [former director of Student Life]is filling your old position right now. So how do you think he’s done so far?

KH: I think he’s doing great. He’s had some difficult things to happen, in two months, he’s had some really hard things.

When a student dies, it’s hard on the student body. [Editor’s note: George Daly, a chemistry and molecular biology major, passed away on Feb. 12 and Anita Valsa Thachet, an information science major, passed away on March 12] It’s hard on those who work with him and know him and to be able to help the

students during that time, just managing the everyday of student affairs. If it wasn’t being managed well, everyone on this campus would know it. It’s a very visible operation. If Student Affairs is going wrong, nobody will have to tell you — you’ll know. I think he’s doing a really good job.

TPN: (To Ken Service) I know I’ve been harassing you with a lot of emails about the dean search, but (to Kathy Humphrey) are you able to speak to prospects for candidates, anything about the search?

KH: I’m not involved with that, that’s Patty Beeson [provost and senior vice chancellor].

Really and truthfully, I shouldn’t be involved with that. So you gotta talk to those folks.

TPN: I’ve been hearing rumors that Kenyon Bonner might step up and fill the position full-time. Are either of you able to speak to that?

Service: Provost Beeson has said there’s a cycle to hiring these kinds of positions, so she’s looking toward the fall semester to really actively pursue that. There have been no decisions made yet.

KH: You have to fall in one of those hiring streams.

TPN: What’s the next step for you? Do

The Pitt News Crossword, 3/27/2015

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ACROSS 1 “That’s terrible!”

5 Like some stockings 9 Guck 14 Windfall 15 “The Salt-N-__ Show” 16 Trojan War figure 17 Roman god of the sky 18 Genre that often includes a ballet 20 Utopias 22 Excited, with “up” 23 TV teaser before the first commercial 26 Côte d’Azur sight 29 Lean-__ 30 Nasser’s confed.

31 Harsh 33 Swamp 36 Bone-dry 37 James Bond and others 42 Open org.

43 Second book in Clavell’s “Asian Saga” 44 Fanatic 47 One-up 48 Time zone word: Abbr.

51 Buddhist branch 52 “Great” 1975 Redford role 56 Free-for-all 57 Savanna heavyweight 58 Skinny, so to speak, or what’s hidden in 18-, 23-, 37- and 52Across 63 Lined up, with “in” 64 Movers’ challenge 65 Degree holder 66 Without 67 Choose to join 68 Ages and ages 69 Choice word 1 2 3 4 5

DOWN Protest Jinx King output Upright EPA sticker stat

you see yourself retiring from this position, or are we going to see Chancellor Humphrey in the future?

KH: At this time in my life, it’s interesting to think about. If I’m very honest with you, I never thought about being in this job, it was never part of my forecast. Did I think I was going to do other things? Absolutely, but I never really thought I was going to do this job ... So I don’t know. I’m not that young to be thinking about many more careers, but my take on life at this juncture is to do a job until I feel I’ve like I’ve really exhausted it, until I’ve done everything I can possibly do in that position. I don’t see that anywhere in sight for this. There is so much to be done.

TPN: Do you feel like you exhausted your role as dean of students?

KH: I think I had an amazing run. To be honest, if I think about anything, I think about the very end of my career. My husband and I talk about this all the time. He and I say, when we get ready to retire, we’re going to be hall directors (laughs) because it was one of my favorite jobs and after I’ve done all I think I can do, to be able to just be able to be a part of a small group of students’ lives, I think that’ll still be very important to me.

4/9/15

By Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

6 Adverb in odes 7 Produce 8 Capital NE of Vientiane 9 Quick learner 10 “Dragnet” force, briefly 11 Rage 12 Orbiter for 15 years 13 Spanish “that” 19 Pressures for payment 21 Ting or ping 24 When doubled, a South Pacific capital 25 Blow 26 First name in game shows 27 Iroquoian people 28 Cabs and syrahs 32 “You’re So ___”: 1973 #1 hit 33 Carrier that doesn’t fly on the Sabbath 34 Where to hear maas and baas 35 Popular chip 37 __ bass 38 Words of understanding

Wednesday’s Puzzle Solved

©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

39 Eddie __, detective involved in the actual “French Connection” 40 Each 41 Slender candle 45 Was in debt regarding 46 Yarn 48 Fusilli shape 49 Mortise partners 50 Nod

4/9/15

53 Pigeon’s place 54 Golden, in Guadalajara 55 Full moon, e.g.

56 Thigh-high attire 58 2010 GM financial event 59 Little bite 60 Did nothing 61 One might keep you from seeing the show 62 Magazine VIPs

March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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OPINIONS

EDITORIAL

Casual Fridays

Snapchat Story This week, a Maine citizen wanted for burglary proved to authorities that he really had the best Snapchat story.

Christopher Wallace allegedly stole a propane cook stove and a cast iron wood stove from a nearby campsite in January. While on the run, Wallace posted on Snapchat that he was back at his home in Fairfield. Though this tipped off the police, they couldn’t catch him because they didn’t screenshot the evidence in time. Luckily, Wallace posted another Snapchat that revealed he was hiding in a cabinet in his home. With just a snapshot, in a snap, he was caught. Officials say that police are still grilling him in custody.

Cat Got Your Car? Earlier this week, one feline showed the world how to take life by the reins — or leash, in this case. Ohio police are looking for the Catmobile in question after a photo of a cat riding on the hood of a car — secured via leash — went viral. Police Chief Michael Goodwin said that the main concern was public safety.

However, projectile hairballs could be a concern, too. The cat in question was cited saying, “Get meowt of here.” So, if anyone sees this Cat-illac, be sure to contact authorities.

Rabbit Food It seems that Bugs Bunny has really let himself go, in light of recent events. Dorothy Davies opted to enter her rabbit Grace, a double-chinned, obese rabbit into the PDSA Pet Fit Club competition after realizing her bunny had a few carrots too many. At this rate, the tortoise would beat the hare — Grace has moved from rabbit food to eating guineapig food. If she doesn’t get her act together, she really will be asking, “What’s up, Doc?” at the vet’s office.

What a Pig This mammal really likes her premium hogger — sorry, lager. It seems Babe has let it all hang out this week. Frances Bacon, a micro-pig, was banned from a pub for drinking. When the pig gets tipsy, she headbutts the people around her — not to mention she hogs up too much space.

Buggin’ Out A 65-year-old man was really buggin’ out when he arrived at a Brazilian hospital earlier this week. It turned out that it might have been more appropriate to call Pest Control than go to a doctor, considering over 100 maggots were living inside the man’s nasal passage. Indeed, he had caught a bit of a bug. The man is still undergoing treatment, and the doctors are using all of their ter-might to debug him.

TNS

OP-ED

Educators: Understand the past and empower todayʼs black students Jamil Alhassan Op-Ed Contributor This February, students across the country celebrated Black History Month. They read books by black authors, wrote research papers on civil rights activists, memorized Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech and watched videos about the Underground Railroad. And as they learned about the struggle of the past, many began to recognize it in their own present — when a cashier squints suspiciously as they walk into a store, or when they turn on the news and see another person who looks like them lose his life to senseless

violence. These lessons are anything but history.

In the face of this reality, we have no time to waste. This school year marked the first in which the majority of public school students are minorities, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Our generation has a responsibility to work to ensure that each and every one of them is moving through a system that affirms their identities, shows them they’re valued and allows them access to the opportunities they have been denied for far too long.

While the “whites only” signs of the ’60s have come down, the reality of separate and unequal endures. Alongside

glaring gaps in educational, employment and economic opportunity, people of color in this nation face a variety of subtler, no less damaging assumptions.

A successful black lawyer hears whispers of affirmative action.

A young black boy on a corner is seen as “lurking,” whereas his white peers “hang out.” A black college student is asked to give “the black perspective” to a seminar full of white students who are never asked to speak on behalf of their entire race.

My students in Camden felt the effects of these stereotypes every day. Though they were bright and talented, they often

Alhassan

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ALHASSAN heard messages — both subtle and overt — that they didn’t have what it takes to succeed. When they looked around, they didn’t see enough people who looked like them excelling. So when it came to school, it was hard to see the point.

They often missed class or didn’t take the work seriously because they had been told, implicitly and explicitly, that it didn’t matter much anyway.

But I knew that it did matter, and my job was to prove it to them. To get us started, I created and implemented a program at the Camden City Accelerated Academy, and then at the Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy, called SWAG — Students Will Achieve Greatness — that incentivized students to reach their goals and made classes more fun and engaging. I brought doctors, lawyers and business professionals who looked like them into the classroom so they could see what was possible for their own futures. I brought them to

March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com a symposium on a Saturday at Arcadia University, where they got to set foot on a college campus, share their stories and dream big.

Once my students saw that I was hold-

along — that they were capable of greatness. Along with their parents, fellow educators at my school and a loving community, I became one more person who believed in them. Our kids need as many

Every day, we can remind our kids that their thoughts, ideas, identities and opinions are important. ing them to high expectations and taking their education seriously, our work together changed. Attendance improved.

Homework was completed. Students applied to college. They focused more in class. They proved what I knew all

of us as we can muster.

I joined Teach For America in 2011 because I believe that, as a black man with a college degree, it is my responsibility to empower and support kids who look like me. All kids deserve to feel that they

T P N S U D O K U

are valued and that they have potential — because they are, and they do.

We have a long way to go as a country before we truly achieve justice for all. To fix the systemic oppression that has created the gross inequality of the present will take the hard, dedicated work of countless leaders and changemakers — many who have experienced it firsthand and others who bear witness to it from further away. We must work toward these long-term changes as well as the immediate, urgent opportunities to change the way our students view themselves and their futures.

As teachers, we can play a central role in this. Every day, we can remind our kids that their thoughts, ideas, identities and opinions are important. We can share our own stories so that when our kids look to the front of the room, they see a little bit of themselves reflected back. We can remind them that they matter, that they always have and that they always will.

Jamil Alhassan is a 2011 alum of Pitt and Teach For America-Philadelphia. He is currently a medical student at Pitt.

Today’s difficulty level: Very Hard Puzzles by Dailysudoku.com

March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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SPORTS The TPN sports staff Eating Crow reevaluates its pre-season Pitt’s women’s basketball team completed a remarkable season when it advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 2 seed Tennessee.

Making the tournament was a surprise. Before the season

Chris Puzia

-sports editor

preseason prediction: breakout pick:

10-19

Monica Wignot

Clearly, I underestimated the Panthers. But, to be fair, so did pretty much everybody else. Still, when I said Pitt’s goal should be to finish above the bottom three teams in the ACC, I did not account for the incredible coaching skills of McConnell-Serio. She kept her team engaged and competitive in nearly every game this season, and when the team needed

Dan Sostek

-assistant sports editor

preseason prediction: breakout pick:

11-18

Yacine Diop

Monica Wignot was one of our preseason picks for players to breakout in 2014-2015.

Alyson Derrick | Staff Photographer

Everyone underestimated this year’s Pitt women’s basketball team. It wasn’t without reason.

The team was heading into the year with monumental depth concerns, as the team would be without sophomore center Marvadene “Bubbles” Anderson and junior guard Brittany Gordon for the entire year because of injuries.

started, voters picked the Panthers to finish last in the ACC after several seasons of minimal conference success. Instead, head coach Suzie McConnellSerio led the team to a 20-12 finish, including a 9-7 mark in the ACC.

Before the season started, several of The Pitt News staff members made predictions about how the team would perform, as well as selecting a player poised for a breakout season. Below are their reflections on the picks.

wins late in the season, it got them.

It always helps to have one of the greatest players in program history peaking in her senior year on the squad. Point guard Brianna Kiesel did enough to earn her numerous accolades this year, and has averaged more than 18 points per game en route to becoming Pitt’s fifth-highest career scorer.

As my breakout pick, graduate student and former volleyball player Monica Wignot played well and provided crucial depth at the center position all season.

She finished second on the team in scoring, with 10 points

per game, and third in rebounding, with 6.4 per game. She also recorded a team-high 83 blocks, making her second in Pitt history in a single season.

Next year, however, Pitt will lose Kiesel and Wignot to graduation. But McConnellSerio seems to have her team prepared to sustain the losses, between this year’s group of talented freshmen and next year’s highly-touted recruiting class.

Considering the depth of Pitt’s young talent, I would not be surprised to see McConnellSerio’s group back in the NCAA Tournament conversation for a second year in a row.

Second year head coach McConnell-Serio was going to have to rely on a lineup of star player Kiesel, freshmen Stasha Carey, Yacine Diop and Aysia Bugg, plus ex-volleyball player Wignot. The odds didn’t appear to be in the Panthers’ favor.

But McConnell-Serio had her team constantly overperforming this year. Kiesel took a dynamic leap, transitioning from a good point guard to one of the best in the entire nation. All three freshmen instantly contributed — particularly Carey, who led the team in double-doubles.

Wignot didn’t miss a beat, finishing with the second-highest single-season block total in Pitt

history.

The bench also saw improvements, with senior Cora McManus and sophomore Fred Potvin each making tremendous strides.

McConnell-Serio is building a potential powerhouse in Pittsburgh. Despite the loss of Kiesel, Wignot and McManus to graduation, the program still has the trio of promising freshmen and an equally strong recruiting class coming in.

This will be the last time in a while that I’ll pick McConnellSerio’s team to finish with a losing record.

Season

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March 27, 2015 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Baseball, softball have crucial pair of series this weekend Chris Puzia Sports Editor

Pitt’s softball team’s five-game homestand came to an early end when Wednesday’s doubleheader against St. Bonaventure was canceled because of rain. Next, the team travels to Tallahassee for a weekend series against Florida State.

The baseball team will also begin a weekend road series, as it travels to face North Carolina State for a three-game series.

Here is a preview of Pitt’s baseball and softball matchups this weekend:

runs on the season.

On the pitching side, Pitt may face freshman Brian Brown on the mound.

Brown posts a 2-1 record with a 3.63 ERA. The first game is scheduled to begin

pectedly had a week off to prepare for Florida State after a doubleheader rainout on Wednesday.

In their last outing over the weekend, the Panthers took two out of three games from North Carolina State, in-

cluding one win on a dramatic walk-off home run, capping off a big seventh inning.

Freshman Giorgiana Zeremenko hit

a two-run blast over the scoreboard on Saturday to overcome what began as an 8-3 deficit in the final inning to win.

This weekend, senior pitcher Savannah King will likely factor into at least one of the contests. She leads Pitt in nearly every significant pitching category, including innings pitched (101) and ERA (2.76).

She boasts a 14-3 record and has held batters to only a .238 batting average against her this season.

But Pitt may find itself in a pitching duel over the weekend.

Florida State’s senior pitcher Lacey Waldrop could match King on the mound. Waldrop holds an 18-3 record with a 1.11 ERA this season, and she has amassed 149 strikeouts in 126 innings pitched. Whichever offense breaks through and scores on the opposing pitcher will likely be the one that comes out on top.

Offensively, the Seminoles will look to sophomore Ellie Cooper in that effort. Cooper leads the team with her .337 batting average and ranks second on the team with 19 runs scored.

For Pitt, Shelby Pickett leads the Panther offense with her .422 batting average. The redshirt junior also holds a teamhigh 46 hits and 14 doubles, and she ranks third on the team with 26 runs batted in. She and King will likely play a factor if Pitt is to succeed against the ACC’s top team this weekend in Florida State (27-8, 8-1 ACC).

expectations by ending the season with 20 wins, one of them being an NCAA Tournament game. Depth was less of an issue than I had originally anticipated. The freshmen played a lot of minutes, and productively.

As a bonus, their lack of experience was never a detriment to the team and rarely showed.

Although Potvin attempted the most 3-point field goals for the team, she didn’t become the breakout player I was antici-

pating — albeit being a solid contributor off the bench. Potvin was overshadowed by the sensational play by Wignot and the freshmen, but her role is due to expand as a scorer with Pitt losing Kiesel next season.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s to never again underestimate McConnell-Serio. She has the uncanny ability to squeeze every bit of effort out of each of her players and put them in the position to succeed.

BASEBALL

The Panthers (11-12, 4-5 ACC) rebounded from a series loss to Duke with a definitive 8-4 victory over Youngstown State on Wednesday. Sophomore pitcher Sam Mersing and junior catcher Alex Kowalczyk carried the squad in the win.

Mersing threw five innings and allowed two runs, improving his season record to 2-0. Kowalczyk provided all of the run support that Mersing needed, driving in a career-high four runs on three hits.

Next, the Panthers travel to Shelby Pickett leads all Pitt softball players Raleigh to face North Carolina Sunners | Staff Photographer State (14-9, 3-5 ACC) in an effort to bring their record over .500.

Sophomore first baseman Preston on Friday with the first pitch at 3 p.m.

Palmeiro leads the Wolfpack with his team-high .398 batting average. He also SOFTBALL ties for the team lead with three home Pitt softball (24-7, 6-3 ACC) unexFROM PAGE 7

SEASON Logan Hitchcock

-staff writer

prediction: breakout player:

13-16 Fred Potvin

Prior to the beginning of the women’s basketball season, I felt confident with my predictions for the team. I expected Potvin to break out and Kiesel to put the team on her back and win them as many games as she could. But I only anticipated that was worth about 13 games. Although I was the most optimistic of the predictors, I was still horribly wrong — in fact, we all were.

The Panthers, on Kiesel’s back (the one prediction I made correctly), shattered

with a .422 batting average. Meghan