The Pilots continue West Coast Conference action at home against the San Diego Toreros this weekend. The teams meet at 3 p.m. on Friday and are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts on both Saturday and Sunday.
Portland (12-24, 3-12 WCC) has lost six straight after being swept by Gonzaga last weekend and dropping a slugfest to Washington on Tuesday. The Pilots received quality starts from sophomore Given Kutz and freshman lefty Ari Ronick in the first two games against GU, but the bats were silent as UP fell by scores of 3-1 and 5-1. Kutz went eight-plus innings, allowed three runs and struck out five. Ronick went 6.1 innings and gave up three runs (two earned) while matching a career-high with six strikeouts. The sticks came alive for Portland on Monday spotting the team a 8-6 lead entering the eighth, but the Pilots allowed six unanswered runs to close the series. The wind was blowing out at Joe Etzel Field on Tuesday and Washington capitalized with six home runs en route to a 15-7 win. Jason Krohn and Matthew Peters led Portland offensively, both registering three hits and a home run, while Justin Pierce added another long ball for the Pilots.
Krohn posts a team-high .333 batting average for the Pilots and also leads the team in hits (47), runs (28), and slugging (.489). Sophomore infielder Andrew Wrisley is batting .308, while Nik Kosach (.299) and Jesse Rodgers (.299) have swung the bat well of late. Matthew Peters has three homers in the last six games and leads the Pilots with seven round-trippers on the year. Kutz has been Portland’s most consistent starter and posts a 5-4 record and 4.99 ERA. Josh Roberts has a team-best 4.39 ERA, primarily in relief, but will rejoin the rotation this weekend. As a team, Portland is hitting .255 with a 6.39 ERA.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO: The Toreros (24-19-1, 10-8 WCC) are currently second in the WCC Coast Division, tied in the win column with Gonzaga. San Diego is coming off of an impressive series against Pepperdine, taking two-of-three from the Waves at home last weekend.
Keoni Ruth (.349) leads five USD players hitting better than .300. Justin Snyder (.346), Shane Buschini (.333) and Jamie Hesselgesser (.318) have all been swinging hot bats a majority of the season. Jordan Abruzzo is batting .309, with 12 doubles and team-bests of nine homers and 39 RBI. Nate Boman (5-1) has a team-low ERA of 2.28 in 47.1 innings pitched. Justin Blaine leads the pitching staff with 84 strikeouts in 92.1 innings. As a team, USD is batting .295 and has a 3.98 ERA
The Toreros are scheduled to start sophomore right-hander Josh Butler (7-4, 2.55 ERA) on Friday. Butler has 63 strikeouts over 31 walks and will be making his 13th start. Saturday’s starter will be the junior southpaw Blaine (5-4, 3.70 ERA), making his team-leading 15th start. Sunday’s starter will be freshman right-hander Matthew Couch (2-3, 5.14 ERA), who has logged 49.0 innings and has 26 strikeouts.
SERIES NOTES: San Diego leads the all-time series over Portland by a 30-16 margin. The Toreros. USD is 13-5 all-time at Joe Etzel Field (the former Pilot Stadium), and has swept the last two season-series. The Toreros enter the game riding a nine-game winning streak against Portland.
HOT STICKS IN WCC PLAY: Junior right fielder Travis Vetters is batting .358 (19-53) during conference play, after scorching WCC opponents last year with a .397 league batting average. Sophomore shortstop Jesse Rodgers has also found his stride during WCC action with a .340 (16-47) batting average. Rodgers is batting .265 in non-conference games. Third baseman Jason Krohn has been consistent across the board. Krohn leads the team with a .333 average and is hitting .328 in league. First baseman Matthew Peters has belted four of his team-leading seven homers in WCC games.
LEADOFF SPOT AVAILABLE: Three different Pilots were inserted into the leadoff spot against Gonzaga last weekend as Head Coach Chris Sperry is searching for the right lineup. On the season, five different players have led off with Justin Ehlers and Gustaf Little each hitting first 15 times. Nik Kosach led off three times early in the season, while Justin Pierce and Andrew Wrisley each led off once against Gonzaga. Pierce was again at the top of the order against Washington on Tuesday.
TRIPLE PLAY, DEJA VU: For the second time in as many seasons, the Portland baseball team turned a triple play. In Tuesday’s loss at Washington, the Huskies had the bases loaded with no outs when Cory Rickard hit a fly ball to left field. UP left fielder Cory Wiltshire narrowly missed a diving catch, but the Husky baserunners thought he had caught the ball on the fly. Krause got the ball back to the infield where forceouts were recorded at all three bases.
Portland also turned a triple play last season in the second game of a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount on Saturday, April 10 at Joe Etzel Field. With runners on first and second in the ninth inning, a grounder led third baseman Travis Vetters for a forceout at third base and the relay to second recorded the second out. The throw to first was a little late, but it didn’t matter as LaMonda was charged with runner’s interference for the final out.
ROBERTS HONORED: Sophomore right-hander Josh Roberts has been named the March 15 West Coast Conference/Rawlings Co-Pitcher of the Week after earning three saves in UP’s three wins over visiting Pacific. Roberts retired all 11 batters he faced, while striking out four in 3.2 innings of work. In UP’s 10-9 win on Friday, he struck out two in one inning of work. In the 9-7 victory on Saturday, Roberts went the final two innings, while striking out two. On Sunday, he came into the game with the tying run at the plate before recording the final two outs of a 6-4 win. Roberts was also recognized on the College Baseball Foundation’s National Weekly Honor Roll.
PILOTS RACK UP NON-CONFERENCE WINS: Portland surpassed its non-conference win total from a year ago with the three-game sweep of Pacific earlier this season. The Pilots are 9-11 in non-conference contests thus far in 2005. A year ago Portland totaled six non-conference wins for a combined 6-20 out-of-conference record. The Pilots have five more non-conference games remaining on the schedule in addition to the 21 conference games yet to be played.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: After suffering through a 12-win season a year ago, Portland Head Coach Chris Sperry and his 2005 squad have already matched that mark with 18 games remaining on the schedule.
INSTANT IMPACT: Portland’s competitive resurgence in 2005 can be attributed to many players, including senior transfer Jason Krohn. Krohn is leading the team in hitting (.333), hits (47), runs scored (28), stolen bases (5), slugging percentage (.489) and on-base percentage (.395).
LITTLE CLIMBS HIT BY PITCH CHARTS: Junior second baseman Gustaf Little was hit three times in one game against San Francisco on Saturday, March 19. The Portland, Ore. native entered the season No. 2 on Portland’s all-time charts and he didn’t take very long to get hit by a pitch in 2005; in fact, he was beaned in his first plate appearance of the season. No worries though, Little has grown accustomed to bumps and bruises as he has been hit 27 times already throughout his career. He was hit eight times during the 2004 season, 11 times as a freshman in 2003 and is tied for the team lead with eight HBP this season. Little is still well short of Cory Lunde’s (1999-02) school record of 44.
HOME RUN TROT: Junior first baseman Matthew Peters blasted his team-leading seventh home run on Tuesday against Washington, maintaining his cushion atop the category. Peters has hit a blast in the last two Pilot games, also going yard against Gonzaga on Monday. Jason Krohn has three homers in the last six games and is second on the UP roster with five round-trippers on the year. Justin Pierce also went deep against the Huskies for his fourth homer of 2005. Billy Krause has two home runs, while six other Pilots have each gone yard once this season.
SWEEPS AND STREAKS: Portland’s sweep of Pacific on March 11-13 marked the first three-game series sweep for the Pilots since beating Pepperdine three straight at home during the 2002 season. Portland then dropped seven straight contests before taking two of three from Santa Clara two weekends ago. The Pilots enter the series with San Diego having lost six straight games, all at Joe Etzel Field.
A RENEWED WRISLEY: Sophomore infielder Andrew Wrisley utilized his redshirt season last year and came into 2005 with nearly 10 pounds of extra muscle. The Portland native has started 19 games as a middle infielder and is second on the team with a .308 batting average. He also has three steals on the basepaths.
THE ROUGH ROAD: The Pilots played the first 15 games of their 2005 schedule away from home, the longest stretch of any WCC team. After playing Washington on March 8 in Seattle, Portland finished the stretch 6-9. For the season, the Pilots are 7-15 when playing away from Joe Etzel Field.
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH: The seventh inning seems to have even more meaning to the 2005 Pilots than just a stretch. Portland is 11-2 when tied or leading after the seventh inning. The Pilots finally won their first game of the season after trailing after seven innings against Loyola Marymount on April 8, thanks to Justin Pierce’s two-run bomb in the top half of the ninth. The Pilots are now 1-21 when trailing after seven innings.
HEAD COACH CHRIS SPERRY: Entering his eighth season, Sperry is the 21st head coach in school history. With a 134-271-1 (.331) career record, he has the third-most wins in school history. Sperry coached in his 400th game as a Pilot two weekends ago, and Portland responded with a 3-2 win over Loyola Marymount.
