The Portland Pilots (15-34, 3-15 WCC) play their final three games of the season this weekend with a three-game set against the Loyola Marymount Lions (21-32, 8-10) at Joe Etzel Field. The Pilots and Lions are scheduled to play at 3 p.m. on Friday and at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Pilots dropped a non-conference game 10-4 to the Washington Huskies at Joe Etzel Field on Tuesday. The Pilots led 4-2 after the first inning, but the Huskies outscored UP 8-0 the rest of the game. Freshman Sean Nicol led off the bottom of the first with his fourth home run of the season.
Last Sunday, the Pilots salvaged a win in the series finale against the Santa Clara Broncos in Santa Clara, Calif. Senior Matthew Peters and sophomore Cory Wiltshire each homered in field. Senior right-hander Joe Jones closed the door with three scoreless innings of relief for the Pilots, allowing just one hit for his first save of the season. Sophomore Chris Siegfried was the winning pitcher.
On Saturday, the Pilots had two separate leads in extra innings, but a two-run home run by Bronco catcher Kris Watts in the bottom of the 14th inning finally gave Santa Clara a 7-6 win. The Broncos opened the series with an 18-6 win on Friday night.
The Pilots are hitting .276 as a team this season, led by Peters at .328. Sophomore Danny Meier is hitting .302 with team highs of 39 runs, a .549 slugging percentage, a .399 on-base percentage and 14 doubles. Meier and Peters each have a team-high eight home runs. Peters also leads the Pilots with 44 RBI’s. Junior Justin Ehlers is batting .289 and is currently on an 11-game hitting streak.
On the hill, Jones, who is 2-0 with a 0.63 earned run average in 14.1 innings of work in his last five appearances, earned his first save of the season and third of his career on Sunday. Austin Dirkx, a junior transfer, is 1-4 with seven saves and a staff-best 3.68 ERA. He has 60 strikeouts in 66.0 innings, while holding opposing hitters to a .241 batting average. Sophomore Ari Ronick is 3-5 with a 5.57 ERA and junior Sean Sargent has two complete games and only 11 walks in 78.0 innings.
Portland’s seven-game winning streak earlier this season was the longest winning streak for the Pilots since an eight-game string in 1991. During the seven games, Portland had a .375 team batting average, 94 hits and 75 runs. The pitching staff ERA was an even 3.00.
Head coach Chris Sperry, a former standout on the diamond for the Pilots, is in his ninth season at the helm of the UP baseball program. Portland was picked to finish eighth in the WCC in a preseason vote by the league’s coaches.
About Loyola Marymount
The Lions enter this weekend’s series with a 21-32 overall record and an 8-10 mark in the WCC. LMU has lost five straight games, including a three-game sweep at San Francisco last weekend.
The Lions are hitting .292 as a team, led by senior outfielder Erik Johnson at .358. Johnson also has a team-high 41 RBI’s. LMU has five regular starters hitting .300 or better. Senior outfielder Chris Pettit leads the team with five home runs.
The Loyola Marymount pitching staff has an ERA of 5.31. Senior right-hander Brad Meyers is 7-4 with a staff-best 3.21 ERA. Meyers is holding opposing hitters to a .276 average. Junior left-hander Daniel Macias and sophomore righty Andy Beal are both 4-8.
Head coach Frank Cruz is in his 10th season at the helm of the LMU baseball program.
The Pilots/Lions Series
Loyola Marymount leads the all-time series with the Pilots 30-17. The Lions won two of three against Portland last season, with all three games in Los Angeles, Calif. The Lions won the most recent game 8-4 on April 10, 2005.
