May 26 • Pullman, Wash. • Bailey-Brayton Field (3,500)
Series: WSU leads 67-25 • Live Stats: WSUCougars.com
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Pilots (31-17, 11-7 WCC) at Gonzaga (20-33, 8-10)
May 28-30 • Spokane, Wash. • Washington Trust Field (1,500)
Series: GON leads 106-73 • Live Stats: GoZags.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Wednesday, May 26 - 5:30 p.m.
POR - Kyle Kraus (R, So., 9-2, 3.29)*
WSU - Travis Cook (R, Fr., 0-3, 6.41)
Friday, May 28 - 6:30 p.m.
POR - Zach Varce (R, Jr., 5-2, 3.48)
GON - Cody Martin (R, Jr., 5-6, 7.00)
Saturday, May 29 - 1:00 p.m.
POR - Owen Jones (R, So., 4-2, 2.50)
GON - Ryan Carpenter (L, So., 4-4, 6.20)
Sunday, May 30 - 1:00 p.m.
POR - Kyle Kraus (R, So., 9-2, 3.29)
GON - TBA
*(R/L, Yr., W-L, ERA)
This Week in Pilots Baseball...
The Portland Pilots (31-17, 11-7 West Coast Conference) look to wrap-up the regular season on a high note with road games this week at No. 20 Washington State (32-18) and at Gonzaga (20-33, 8-10 WCC). First, the Pilots will be in Pullman, Wash., for a non-conference game against the Cougars at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday night at Bailey-Brayton Field. Then UP makes the short trek to Spokane for a regular season-ending three-game West Coast Conference series against the Bulldogs. UP and GU are set to play at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night and at 1:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday at Washington Trust Field.
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A Brief Look Back
The Pilots played just one game last week, dropping a 4-2 decision to the No. 22 Oregon Ducks on Tuesday at Joe Etzel Field. It was the first win for the Ducks over the Pilots in five tries since reinstating their baseball program prior to the 2009 season. Portland took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior 2B Riley Henricks smacked an RBI triple off the fence in center field. The lead was short-lived as Paul Eshleman led off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to left field off of UP starter Keeler Brynteson, who had been cruising to that point. Oregon scored two more in the fifth to claim a 3-1 lead. The Pilots pulled within a run in the sixth when senior C Rocky Gale registered an RBI single. But the Ducks responded once again with a run in the seventh before holding on for the victory.
About Washington State
The Cougars are ranked 20th in the Collegiate Baseball poll and are coming off a 2-0 win at Gonzaga on Tuesday night. WSU, which is No. 32 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, has won six straight games and 10 of its last 11, including a three-game sweep of USC last weekend. Wazzu is batting .302 as a team and is led by freshman Brett Jacobs, who is batting a team-best .362. Sophomore Derek Jones has provided the pop with team highs of 11 home runs and 39 RBI’s. WSU’s staff ERA is 4.49, while opposing hitters are batting .279. Head coach Donnie Marbut is in his sixth season at the helm of the Cougars. Washington is currently third in the Pac-10 Conference with a 14-10 league mark.
Pilots/Cougars Series
Wazzu defeated the Pilots 6-5 on May 11 at Joe Etzel Field and lead the all-time series 67-25. Three of WSU’s seven hits in the May 11th game were home runs.
About Gonzaga
The Bulldogs dropped a 2-0 non-conference decision at home to Wazzu on Tuesday. Gonzaga, which has won five straight conference games, swept LMU in Spokane last weekend. Senior OF Drew Heid leads the team with a .394 batting average and is three hits away from setting a program single-season record. Senior OF Mark Castellitto is batting .337 with team highs of 11 homers and 49 RBI’s. GU is batting .288 as a team, has 6.48 staff ERA and allows opponents to bat .324. Junior RHP Cody Martin has a staff-best five wins, while sophomore LHP Ryan Carpenter is 4-4. Mark Machtolf is in his seventh year as head coach and he led the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional last year. 20 letterwinners and three position starters returned.
Pilots/Bulldogs Series
Portland took two of three from the Bulldogs at Joe Etzel Field last year, but GU still leads the all-time series 106-73. Gonzaga has won 17 of the last 21 meetings against the Pilots, including nine straight in Spokane.
Class Act
Senior C.J. Cullen has been named to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It’s the first Academic All-America honor for Cullen, who is a computer science major with a 3.99 cumulative grade point average. The native of Seattle, Wash., is also minoring in mathematics and he is the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Month (April).
Cullen is the first UP baseball player to land on the CoSIDA Academic All-America America First Team and he’s the first to earn Academic All-America since Cory Lunde earned third-team honors in 2000. He’s the third UP student-athlete to earn Academic All-America this year, joining women’s soccer players Danielle Foxhoven and Jessica Tsao.
Run at Your Own Risk
Portland senior catcher Rocky Gale, who has been absolutely lethal in throwing out base stealers during all four of his years on The Bluff, is out-doing himself this season by throwing out a staggering 18 of 23 (.782) attempted base stealers. He easily leads the country with the 78.2 percent success rate. For his career, he’s thrown out 94 of 233 (.403) attempted base stealers and he’s led the WCC all four seasons in number of would-be base stealers thrown out.
The Catcher Can Hit Too
Rocky Gale, most known for his work behind the plate, has been on a tear at the plate this season and he currently leads the team with a .344 batting average. Gale, who was a career .239 hitter entering the season and batted just .194 last year, went 8-for-10 with three RBI’s and five runs scored during the three-game sweep of LMU (April 16-18) and he’s tallied six doubles during Portland’s last five games. Against the Lions on Sunday, April 18, he had his first career five-game hit, which included three doubles. Gale is batting .415 during WCC games.
Meanwhile it’s been business as usual behind the plate for Gale, who has thrown out a staggering 18 of 23 attempted base stealers this season, for a ridiculous percentage of .782.
Making History
Portland is enjoying one of its finest seasons in program history. At 31-17, the Pilots have won the most games since Portland also won 31 during the 1991 season. It’s also the fifth 30-win season in program history and the Pilots have a chance at reaching the program record for wins in a season, which is 36 (1980). UP has also assured itself of its first winning season since going 26-23-1 in 1992.
Portland’s 11 league wins are the most WCC wins since tallying 16 in 2002, when the Pilots played a 30-game league schedule.
The Pilots recently won 11 straight games to match the program’s second longest winning streak, which also occurred in 1980. The 1958 team set the program record with 14 straight victories. UP also won eight straight earlier this season.
Portland’s three-game sweep at Santa Clara (April 1-3) was the first WCC road sweep ever recorded by the Pilots and it was the first sweep of a conference foe since taking three from Pepperdine at home in 2002. The Pilots also registered a three-game sweep against Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., where UP was previously 1-31.
Portland’s 10-2 start to the season matched the best recorded start to a season in program history. The 1958 Pilots also went 10-2.
Taking Notice
Portland’s success has not gone un-noticed as the Pilots entered the rankings this season for the first time since 1980.The Pilots were in polls for two weeks, reaching No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. UP also received votes in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ and the NCBWA Polls. The Pilots were last in the rankings when they were No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball’s final poll of the 1980 season.
Co-Pilots
C.J. Cullen and Chris Dennis were named the WCC Co-Player and Co-Pitcher of the Month, respectively, following a superb April. The Pilots were 13-3 overall during April, while Cullen hit .429 and Dennis went 2-0 with six saves. Cullen, who was named the WCC’s Player of the Week on April 26, was 27-for-63 with 17 RBI’s, 18 runs, a homer, a triple and two doubles. Cullen was clutch as he hit .529 with runners in scoring position, batted .444 with two outs and drove in eight runs with two outs. He also committed only one error in 155 chances for an impressive fielding percentage of .994. Dennis, who earned the league’s pitcher of the week (April 26) honor the same week as Cullen, struck out 14 in 13.0 innings, posted an ERA of 2.08 and became Portland’s all-time career saves leader, while setting a new mark for most saves in a season. Dennis, a native of Bothell, Wash., was also named the regional pitcher of the week after saving four straight Portland wins (April 20-25).
Both Cullen and Dennis earned the conference player and pitcher of the week honors after the Pilots ended an eight-game losing streak to Washington and swept a three-game series at Pepperdine, where Portland was previously 1-31 all-time.
Dennis the Menace
Junior transfer Chris Dennis, a right-handed reliever, is proving to be quite menacing for opposing hitters during his first season as a Pilot. Dennis, a native of Bothell, Wash., who transferred to UP from Edmonds CC last summer, has stepped into the closer role for the Pilots and has already registered a league-best and now program-best 13 saves, which is tied for the third most in the nation. He’s also 4-1, has an impressive ERA of 2.08 and is holding opposing hitters to a .220 batting average. He has 46 K’s in 39.0 innings, for an average of 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
With a save against Pepperdine on April 25, Dennis topped John Nichols’ previous program record of 11 career saves. The 13 saves are also a new single-season record at UP.
He was named the WCC’s Pitcher of the Week (April 26) and College Baseball Insider’s Regional Pitcher of the Week after saving all four of Portland’s wins during the previous week.
Leaving on a High Note
Portland senior C.J. Cullen is making the most of his final season on The Bluff, hitting a solid .341 at the plate, which is second on the team and ranks 10th in the WCC. Cullen, who began his career as a shortstop and mostly saw action as a pinch runner during his junior campaign, became Portland’s starting first baseman this year and he’s taken his game to a new level. A career .195 hitter entering the season, Cullen has exploded at the plate with 32 RBI’s, 37 runs, five doubles, a triple and four home runs, one of which was a walk-off, three-run blast to give UP a 7-5 win over Seattle on Feb. 28. He’s also been clutch as 17 of his RBI’s have come with two outs.
Cullen, who has three four-hit games this spring, was the named WCC Player of the Week (April 26) after going 10-for-16 (.625) at the plate with a home run, a triple, six RBI’s and four runs scored as the Pilots won at Washington and swept Pepperdine in Malibu.
The Catcher Can Hit Too, Take Two
Portland sophomore C/DH Beau Fraser, who had a string of eight consecutive at-bats with a hit earlier this season, has been the team’s most consistent hitter this season and he currently leads the Pilots in a plethora of categories. Fraser, who was named the WCC’s Player of the Week on April 19, is third on the squad with a .335 batting average and he leads the team with 13 multi-RBI games, four four-RBI games, six home runs and 44 RBI’s.
K Kraus
Sophomore right-handed starter Kyle Kraus, Portland’s Friday starter as a freshman a year ago, has flourished and then some in his new role as the team’s Saturday starter. Kraus is 9-2 and is on the verge of matching or setting the program record for most wins in a season. Ted Devore currently holds the record with 10 W’s, which was set in 1989. Kraus, a native of West Linn, Ore., leads the league in wins and is tied for the fourth most victories in the country. His 3.29 ERA ranks sixth in the WCC, he has two complete games, is holding opposing hitters to a .266 batting average and recently went 20.2 innings without issuing a walk.
During a win at home against Southern Utah on March 26, Kraus became the second UP pitcher this season to record 14 strikeouts during a game. The 14 strikeouts are tied for the second most by a single pitcher during a game in program history. Two pitchers have previously registered 16 K’s, most recently in 1970.
K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K
Zach Varce and Chris Dennis recently combined in what will go down as one of the best pitching performances in program history. During a 2-1, 10-inning win over Seattle at Joe Etzel Field on Feb. 27, the starter and the reliever combined to strikeout a program record 19 batters.
Varce, who was named the WCC’s Co-Pitcher of the Week following the performance, struck out 14 during 8.0 innings of work. The right-handed Varce, who didn’t factor into the decision, retired the final 18 hitters he faced in order, including striking out the final six. Dennis, also a righty, spelled Varce to begin the ninth inning and promptly struck out five of the seven hitters he faced.
The previous program record of 16 K’s had been accomplished three times, most recently in 1990.
Zac-K Varce
Varce hasn’t slowed down since that 14-strikeout performance as he currently ranks second in the WCC with 102 strikeouts. He’s averaging 10.8 K’s per game, while also posting a 5-2 record and a 3.48 ERA, good for eighth in the conference. The junior is tied for eighth in the league in wins.
Varce was named to the initial watch list for the sixth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, after saving nine games last season.
Kings of the Hill
Portland is once again getting solid production from its pitching staff as the Pilots currently rank first in the WCC and eighth in the country with a staff ERA of 3.51, while also ranking second the league in opponents batting average (.264). Sophomore Kyle Kraus leads the conference with a 9-2 record, junior Chris Dennis leads the league and ranks fourth nationally with 13 saves and junior Zach Varce is second in the WCC and 17th in the nation with 102 strikeouts. Dennis has been nearly unhittable and would league the lead in both ERA (2.08) and opponents batting average (.220) if he had enough innings to qualify. Sophomore Owen Jones is also enjoying a solid year after missing last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. His 2.50 ERA is second in the WCC and his opponents batting average of .253 is fourth. Jones is also 4-2, while Dennis is 4-1.
Kraus, who has tossed two complete-game wins, notched 14 strikeouts against Southern Utah on March 28. Varce did the same against Seattle on Feb. 28, while combining with Dennis to fan a program-high 19 Redhawks total.
WCC Pre-Season Poll and All-WCC
Portland’s middle infield tandem of junior 2B Riley Henricks and sophomore SS Kris Kauppila was selected to the 2010 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team and San Diego was picked as the favorite to win this year’s WCC regular season title in the preseason baseball poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Pilots were selected to finish eighth.
