PORTLAND PILOTS (15-23, 8-10 WCC)
WEEK 11 GAME NOTES
 
vs. No. 6 Oregon State Beavers (29-6, 10-5 Pac-12)
Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2018
First Pitch: 5 PM
Location: Hillsboro, Ore.
Ballpark: Ron Tonkin Field
Video: N/A
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: OSU leads 154-57-1
2018: No. 1 OSU 6, POR 3 (March 6 in Corvallis)
 
vs. Oregon Ducks (19-18, 6-12 Pac-12)
Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2018
First Pitch: 6 PM
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: ORE leads 93-29
2018: POR 9, ORE 7 (11) (April 9 in Eugene)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots play a pair of non-conference games this week, first facing the No. 6 Oregon State Beavers on Tuesday night at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Ore.
• First pitch for the Pilots and Beavers is set for 5 p.m.
• Portland then returns to The Bluff on Wednesday to host the Oregon Ducks for a 6 p.m. game at Joe Etzel Field; the game is a make-up date from earlier this season.
• The Pilots remain at home during the weekend to host the Pacific Tigers in a three-game West Coast Conference series.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots went to L.A. last weekend and won two of three against the Loyola Marymount Lions to stay alive in the race for the WCC's Postseason Tournament.
• During Friday's opener, freshman starter Eli Morse went the distance on the hill as the Pilots won 6-1; Morse struck out a career-best 11 and allowed only five hits.
• Cody Hawken hit a solo homer in the top of the 2nd and the Pilots scored four in the fourth en route to the win.
• On Saturday, the Pilots again limited the Lions to only one run as Portland claimed the series with a 2-1 victory.
• Corbin Powers tossed 6.2 solid innings, Tate Budnick was clutch in relief, and Daniel Lopez and Cody Hawken provided the RBI's.
• On Sunday, Ryan Hoogerwerf launched a two-run homer in the seventh to pull the Pilots within a run, but LMU pulled away for an 8-2 win.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Eli Morse was masterful on the mound last Friday, collecting Portland's first complete-game win since 2015; the freshman K'd a career-high 11, and he yielded just five hits.
• Portland was won more weekend series this season than they've lost, going 5-4.
• The Pilots have already won four WCC series this season, which is the most won by the Pilots since also claiming four league sets in 2012.
• The series win over BYU was the first for the Pilots over the Cougars since they joined the WCC.
• Sophomore right-handed reliever Connor Knutson nabbed Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week honors after producing a win and two saves during the week of April 8-15; Knutson's final line for the week included only two hits, both singles, in 4.0 scoreless innings, and he claimed five K's.
• Previously, sophomore outfielder Beau Brundage was named Rawlings WCC Player of the Week on March 12 after hitting .563 with three doubles and seven RBI's during a four-game series at home with UC Irvine (Mar. 9-11).
• Brundage had an 18-game hitting streak earlier this season, he recently had a 10-game string snapped, and he's only gone hitless six times.
• He leads the WCC in batting average (.395), hits (60), hits per game (1.6), and on-base percentage (.469); he's 26th nationally in batting average.
• The Pilots rank first in the WCC in sacrifice flies (19) and are second in home runs (25), triples (8), and slugging percentage (.387).
• Matt Kelly just had a career-long 12-game hitting streak snapped; he raised his average from .240 to .287 during that stretch.
• Portland's 11-9 comeback win at Santa Clara on March 29 marks the largest come-from-behind win during the modern era of UP baseball; the Pilots scored nine runs in the top of the eighth, with seven coming with two outs, to secure the win.
• The nine runs are tied for the most by a Pilot team in a single inning since Portland tallied 11 runs in the seventh inning of a 19-0 win versus UC Davis on March 24, 2006 at Joe Etzel Field.
• Ryan Kim nearly became the first Portland player in program history to hit for the cycle on Feb. 24 against Saint Joseph's, but the sophomore outfielder fell a single shy; after going 3-for-3 to begin the day, Kim drew a walk during his final at-bat.
• Daniel Lopez joined a long list of Pilots to hit two home runs in a game during a 3-for-5, five RBI performance on Feb. 24 against Saint Joseph's; no player in UP history has hit three home runs in a game.
• Portland played 20 of their first 24 games of 2018 at Joe Etzel Field.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Baker, who earned Second Team All-WCC in 2017, was voted to the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team; he's been unavailable for most of this season as he recovers from an injury.
• 2018 marks the third year for head coach Geoff Loomis, a Portland baseball alum and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member who still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376); Loomis spent the previous 13 seasons as head coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons and two NCAA Regional appearances.
 
ABOUT THE BEAVERS & DUCKS
• The Oregon State Beavers are coming off a three-game sweep of Oregon and are ranked No. 6 nationally.
• They're batting .307 as a team, which ranks 12th in the country, holding opponents to a .235 average, and have a staff ERA of 3.64.
• Sophomore Adley Rutschman is batting .378, while junior Trevor Larnach is hitting .341 with team-bests of 12 home runs and 46 RBI's.
• University of Portland Athletics Hall of Famer Pat Casey is in his 24th season as head coach at Oregon State and he's led the Beavers to two NCAA National Championships.
• The Oregon Ducks are batting .248 as a team and are led by senior infielder Kyle Kasser, who is hitting a team-best .318.
• Oregon's staff ERA is 3.87, the Ducks are holding opposing hitters to a .248 batting average, and they rank first in the Pac-12 in K's per game (8.8).
• George Horton is in his 10th year as head coach at Oregon and he's led the Ducks to five NCAA post-season appearances.