PORTLAND PILOTS (21-28, 10-14 WCC)
WEEK 13 GAME NOTES
 
at Pepperdine Waves (28-20, 16-8 WCC)
Dates: Fri-Sun, May 18-20, 2018
First Pitches: 3 PM/1 PM/1 PM
Location: Malibu, Calif.
Ballpark: Eddy D. Field Stadium
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PepperdineWaves.com
Series: PEPP leads 68-16
Last: PEPP 12-6, PEPP 14-8, POR 2-1 (16) (April 7-9 in Portland)
 
at UCSB Gauchos (24-24-1, 8-10 Big West)
Dates: Monday, May 21, 2018
First Pitch: 3 PM
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Ballpark: Caesar Uyesaka Stadium
Video: BigWest.com
Stats: UCSBGauchos.com
Series: UCSB leads 4-0
Last: UCSB 10, POR 2 (1993 in Santa Barbara)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • May 18 • 3 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (3-7, 3.74)
PEPP: RHP Cooper Chandler (5-3, 4.42)
 
Saturday • May 19 • 1 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (4-6, 4.92)
PEPP: RHP Jonathan Pendergast (6-4, 2.84)
 
Sunday • May 20 • 1 PM
POR: RHP Camden Muller (2-3, 4.76)
PEPP: TBA
 
Monday • May 21 • 3 PM
POR: TBA
UCSB: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots travel to Southern California this week to play their final four games.
• First Portland will be in Malibu for a three-game West Coast Conference series with the Pepperdine Waves at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
• Friday's opener for the Pilots and Waves is set for 3 p.m., while first pitch on Saturday and Sunday is scheduled for 1 p.m.
• Portland then concludes the 2018 campaign with a non-conference contest against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Monday, with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. in Santa Barbara.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots went up to Seattle on Tuesday night and claimed a 6-4 win over the Washington Huskies at Husky Ballpark.
• Cody Hawken belted a solo home run, his team-leading ninth homer of the season, and Ryan Hoogerwerf left the yard with a grand slam in the top of the fifth.
• Reliever Connor Knutson pitched a flawless bottom of the ninth, which included a game-ending K, for his eighth save of the year.
• Previously the Pilots salvaged a win during last weekend's series finale with San Diego when they defeated the Toreros 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field.
• Beau Brundage had a huge day at plate going 4-for-4 with three RBI's, a run scored, two doubles, and a triple; his second double came in the bottom of the seventh inning, which drove in a pair of runs and put the Pilots in front.
• The Toreros previously topped the Pilots 9-4 on Friday night and 5-0 on Saturday.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots have registered 21 wins this season, which is the most for the program since winning 27 in 2012; Portland's 10 WCC victories are also the most since that same season when the Pilots claimed 12 league contests.
• The Pilots have 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.
• 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.
• Last Sunday's win over San Diego at Joe Etzel Field was 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 nine.
• Hawken is enjoying a career year, batting career-best .316; he also leads the team in home runs (9), RBI's (33), and slugging percentage (.546).
• Sophomore outfielder Beau Brundage has been among the nation's leaders in batting average all season long, and his current average of .385 ranks 30th in the country and easily leads the WCC.
• .385 is also the ninth highest average in a single season in UP baseball history.
• Brundage leads the WCC hits per game (1.5), triples (4), and on-base percentage (.465), and he has hitting streaks of 18 games, which was a career high, and 10 games this season.
• 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.
• 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.
• Knutson, who only pitched 8.1 innings as a freshman, is third in the WCC with eight saves, he has an ERA of 3.00 and is holding the opposition to a minuscule .197 average.
• 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 triples (13) and sacrifice flies (25), are second in home runs (33) and slugging percentage (.387), and are third K's per 9.0 innings (8.2).
• 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).
 
ABOUT THE WAVES/GAUCHOS
• The Pepperdine Waves currently sit on top of the WCC standings with a 16-8 league mark, and they're receiving votes in the latest NCBWA rankings.
• The Waves are batting .260 as a team, opponents are hitting .264, and their staff ERA is 3.68.
• Matthew Kanfer is batting a team-best .313, while Jordan Qsar leads the WCC with 58 RBI's and is second with 11 home runs.
• Pepperdine alum Rick Hirtensteiner is in his third year as head coach of the Waves; he's in his 19th season overall on the Pepperdine staff.
• The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos play three games against Big West opponent Cal Poly this weekend before hosting the Pilots.
• The Gauchos have a team batting average of .260, a staff ERA of 4.19, and opponents are hitting .267.
• Clay Fisher leads UCSB with a .314 batting average, while Tommy Jew is hitting .302 with a team-high 39 RBI's.
• Andrew Checketts is in his seventh season as head coach of the Gauchos.