Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here’s your day in sports for Saturday, October 3, 2015.
What’s on tap for today:
Pitt (2-1) will visit the Virginia Tech Hokies (2-2) for their first ACC contest of the 2015 season. Freshman running back Darrin Hall will be out with a leg injury for the Panthers, while the Hokies will be without star cornerback Kendall Fuller. Kickoff is at noon. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Penn State (3-1) will host Army (1-3) for their fourth straight home game at Beaver Stadium. If the Lions are able to extend their three-game winning streak, they’ll likely have to do it without the services of breakout freshman RB Saquan Barkley. The Nitts and the Knights kick off at noon. ESPNU
West Virginia (3-0) will take on Oklahoma (3-0) in an early battle of Big 12 unbeatens. This game will be the first big test for Dana Holgorson’s squad, who rolled over Maryland a week ago. The Mountaineers also kick off at noon. Fox Sports 1
The Pirates (97-63) magic number for home-field advantage in the Wild Card game is down to one. Either a victory over the Reds (63-97) tonight or a Cubs loss will make sure that the Bucs will face Jake Arrieta at home next week. A.J. Burnett will face Brandon Finnegan at 7:05 p.m. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh headlines:
Starling Marte completed the Pirates comeback from down 4-0 to win 5-4 with his 12th-inning walk-off home run.
Pirates director of baseball operations talked to our Zachary Weiss about his candidacy for the Milwaukee Brewers’ GM position.
Steelers beat writer Gar Bercury takes his weekly look at the three up and three down of Thursday’s loss to the Ravens.
Meanwhile, editor Matt Shetler has handed out the grades for his Steelers report card. Here’s guessing there’s going to be some remedial studies in order.
The Penguins finished up their preseason with a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes last night. Their season starts next Thursday.
Get all your pregame info for Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi’s big ACC debut against Virginia Tech today.
Penn State beat writer Meghan Delsite has all the Nittany Lions news ahead of their nonconference matchup against Army today.
On this date in 1960, tailgating in its modern form was invented by Centre Daily Times editor Jerry Weinstein, who suggested that Penn State fans bring a picnic lunch and arrive early in order to alleviate traffic concerns in State College.
He said it: “I was ready for the fastball away because I knew how he threw. I prepared myself to be ready for that pitch.” — Pirates left fielder Starling Marte on his game-winning home run.
Photo credit: David McKeown / The Republican-Herald (main), Pennlive (inset)
