Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here’s your day in sports for Saturday, September 12, 2015.
What’s on tap for today:
The Nittany Lions (0-1) lead off the day with their first home game at Beaver Stadium in 2015. They’ll try to shake off their tough loss at Temple last week when they take on MAC opponent Buffalo (1-0). The Bulls are coming off a Week 1 victory against Albany. Kickoff is at noon. ESPN2
Later this afternoon, Dana Holgorson’s West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) will try to keep their winning ways rolling along when they host Liberty (1-0) at 3:00 p.m. Liberty, an FCS school, beat Delaware State in Week 1. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Pitt (1-0) will try to avenge last season’s loss to Akron (0-1) as the Panthers will travel to InfoCision Stadium to take on this Zips at 6:00 p.m. Redshirt freshman Qadree Ollison will make his first start at tailback in place of ACC player of the year James Conner.
It isn’t a must-win, but it’s pretty close, as the Riverhounds (10-9-6) scramble for points to get back in playoff position against the last-place Wilmington Hammerheads (3-15-8).
The Pirates (84-56) broke a seven-game losing streak against he Milwaukee Brewers (62-79) last night, and need another win tonight if they want to win the four-game series. Jeff Locke will to the rubber for the Bucs tonight at 7:05 p.m. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh headlines:
The Pirates finally broke through against the Brewers thanks to some clutch hitting by backup catcher Chris Stewart. Stewart went 3-for-4 in the Bucs 6-3 victory over Milwaukee.
Left fielder Starling Marte provided an update on his injured left shoulder and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle recalled his 9/11 experience to beat writer Zachary Weiss.
The Pirates and the City of Pittsburgh welcomed A.J. Burnett back to the mound with a stunning visual display on Thursday.
Steelers tight ends coach James Daniel is being investigated by NFL security for allegedly assaulting a fan during the Steelers Thursday-night loss to New England.
Not everything went poorly for the Steelers on opening night. Find out what went right, as well as what went wrong, in Gar Bercury’s Three up and Three down.
The Pitt Panthers will enter the post-James Conner era with a chip on their shoulders, as the Akron Zips dealt them a home loss a season ago. Pitt writer Matt Shetler has a preview, a prediction and more.
Head coach James Franklin and his players buried the game tape from their embarrassing Week 1 loss to Temple. Now, they have to find a way to get in the win column against a dangerous Buffalo team. Our beat writer Meghan Delsite has the preview of today’s game.
On this date in 1947, Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner (right) broke an MLB record by hitting his eighth home run in a four-game span, besting the mark held since 1936 by New York Yankees second baseman Tony Lazzeri.
He said it: “That’s by far the coolest thing that’s happened to me in my career.” — Pirates starter A.J. Burnett, after the city and the Pirates honored him by dressing up the downtown skyline with Batman symbols for his return to the mound.
Photo credit: Getty Images (main), ESPN (inset)
