PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland Pilots senior 1B C.J. Cullen and junior reliever Chris Dennis were named the West Coast Conference 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 a 17 RBI’s, 18 runs, a homer, a triple and two doubles as the Pilots won 13 of 16 overall and went 11-1 during league games. 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. The native of Seattle, Wash., had two four-hit games, three three-hit games and one game with four RBI’s. Cullen committed only one error in 155 chances for an impressive fielding percentage of .994.
Cullen shares the monthly honor with San Diego’s James Meador.
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). He picked up his 10th save of the season during an 8-6 win at Pepperdine on April 23 to set the new single-season mark, which had stood since 1987. Two games later, Dennis registered his 12th save of the season and of his career during a 5-2 win at Pepperdine on April 24, becoming the all-time saves leader at Portland. He ended the month tied for the second most saves in the country with.
USD’s Kyle Blair was also named the WCC Co-Pitcher of the Week.
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.
The Pilots, who are ranked 22nd and are 31-9 overall and 11-1 in the WCC, welcome the No. 23 and first-place San Diego Toreros (23-15, 12-0 WCC) to Joe Etzel Field this weekend for a critical three-game conference series. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. on Friday and 1:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
