PORTLAND PILOTS (19-26, 9-12 WCC)
WEEK 12 GAME NOTES
 
vs. San Diego Toreros (21-29, 10-14 WCC)
Dates: Fri-Sun, May 11-13, 2018
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
TV (Saturday Only): NBC Sports NW
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: USD leads 60-25
2017: USD 3-2; USD 2-1; USD 8-2 (March 17-19 in San Diego, Calif.)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • May 11 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (3-6, 3.17)
USD: RHP Paul Richan (3-6, 4.63)
 
Saturday • May 12 • 6:05 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA
 
Sunday • May 13 • 12 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots play their final home games of 2018 this weekend when they host the San Diego Toreros for a three-game West Coast Conference series at Joe Etzel Field.
• Friday's opener is set for 6 p.m., Saturday's game will begin at 6:05 p.m., and Sunday's finale is scheduled for 12 p.m.
• All three games will be streamed live at TheW.tv, and Saturday's contest will be broadcast on NBC Sports Northwest in the Portland area.
• Sunday is Senior Day, and the Pilots will honor their eight seniors with a pre-game ceremony.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots went to Bellevue, Wash., and swept a two-game, non-conference series with the Seattle Redhawks, winning 13-2 on Tuesday and 2-0 on Wednesday.
• During Tuesday's win, Cody Hawken, Ryan Hoogerwerf, and Hunter Montgomery each finished with three hits, Henry Cheney belted a solo home run, and the Pilots collected season-highs in both runs and hits (18).
• Tate Budnick was masterful in relief, yielding just one hit in 5.2 innings, while striking out six and walking only one en route to his third win.
• On Wednesday, Jace McKinney had a triple and scored both runs, Jordan Horak struck out six in 4.1 innings of solid relief, and Connor Knutson claimed his sixth save.
• The Pilots had last weekend off due to graduation.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots have registered 19 wins this season, which is the most for the program since winning 27 in 2012; Portland's nine WCC victories are also the most since that same season when the Pilots claimed 12 league contests.
• 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 (April 12-14) was the first for the Pilots over the Cougars since they joined the WCC, and Portland's 2-1 series win over Saint Mary's (March 16-18) was the Pilots' first against the Gaels since 2012.
• The next win at Joe Etzel Field will be victory number 300 for the Pilots in the 30-plus year history of the facility.
• 10 different Pilots have homered this year, led by Cody Hawken with seven.
• Hawken has stepped up his game against WCC foes, batting a team-high .351 during conference play; he's hitting .317 overall, which is easily a career-best and ranks second on the team.
• Sophomore outfielder Beau Brundage is currently batting .392, which leads the WCC by a wide margin and ranks 21st nationally; it's also No. 7 on Portland's single season record charts.
• He also leads the WCC in hits (69), hits per game (1.5), and on-base percentage (.473).
• Brundage has hitting streaks of 18 games, which was a career high, and 10 games this season.
• Daniel Lopez is tops in the league in sacrifice flies (7).
• Eli Morse was masterful on the mound at LMU on Friday, April 20, collecting Portland's first complete-game win since 2015; the freshman K'd a career-high 11, and he yielded just five hits.
• In his last two starts, Morse has surrendered just one earned run, while fanning 17 in 17.0 innings pitched.
• 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, 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).
• The Pilots lead the WCC in slugging percentage (.386) and sacrifice flies (24), are second in stolen bases (41), and are third in triples (9) and K's per 9.0 innings (8.4).
• Matt Kelly had a career-long 12-game hitting streak snapped recently.
• Ryan Kim nearly became the first Portland player in program history to hit for the cycle on Feb. 24 against Saint Joseph's, but he'd end up 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.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Baker, who earned Second Team All-WCC in 2017, was voted to the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team; he's made two appearances this season (Apr. 25 & May 8) after recovering 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 TOREROS
• San Diego leads the WCC in batting average (.283), hits (494) and runs (268).
• Their staff ERA is 5.63, and opponents are batting .278.
• Preseason All-WCC selection Jay Schuyler is the team's top hitter with a .340 batting average, six home runs, and 33 RBI's.
• Friday night's starting pitcher Paul Richan leads the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.0) and is second in K's (91).
• Rich Hill is in his 20th year as head coach at USD and has compiled almost 700 wins with the Toreros, and he won his 1000th career game earlier this month.