March 1 • Eugene, Ore. • PK Park (3,600)
Series: Oregon leads 73-24• Live Stats: goducks.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
POR - Kyle Kraus (R, Jr., 1-0, 0.00)
ORE - Alex Keudell (R, Jr., 1-0, 1.80)
*(R/L, Yr., W-L, ERA)
This Week in Pilots Baseball...
The Portland Pilots (4-0) make the short road trip south for one game against the in-state rival Oregon Ducks (4-3). The 15th ranked Ducks and Pilots take the field for a 5:00 p.m. game at PK Park in Eugene.
A Brief Look Back
Mother nature delayed the Pilots 2011 home opener as Portland saw three games postponed due to rain and wintry conditions. Portland managed to get one game in over the weekend, defeating the visiting George Fox Bruins 7-2. Redshirt-junior Owen Jones pitched 5.0 innings to pick up his first win of the season while junior Kramer Scott led the Pilots’ offense with a 2-for-4 performance, knocking in three runs.
Sophomore Brian Fratalli picked up his second three-hit game of the season while freshman Turner Gill turned in a two-hit game. Senior Riley Henricks homered to left field in his first at-bat for his first home run of the season.
About Oregon
George Horton returns for his third season as the head coach for the Ducks. Aaron Jones leads the Oregon offense with a .444 average (12-for-27) with two doubles and two home runs. His 20 total bases leads the team as no other Duck has recorded more than eight.
Oregon’s pitching staff has been dominant so far this season. Through seven games, the Ducks’ staff boasts a 2.67 ERA (60.2 IP, 18 ER). Madison Boer has had his hand in two shut-outs already, tossing 15.1 scoreless innings while limited opponents to just six hits. Boer owns a 2-0 record and has a 13:4 K/BB ratio.
Pilots/Ducks Series
Oregon has won 73 games compared to the Pilots’ 24. Portland has taken four of five since Oregon revived the baseball program in 2009. The Pilots have won the last three in Eugene.
It’s Closing Time
Portland senior closer Chris Dennis was named to the initial watch list for the seventh annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. Dennis, who is the all-time career leader in saves at UP, has also been named to the NCBWA Pre-Season All-American First Team and to the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American Second Team.
After saving 14 games last year for the Pilots, Dennis opened the 2011 season with three straight saves against Middle Tennessee State.
The Catcher Can Hit Too
Junior Beau Fraser assumes the role of filling the shoes of Rocky Gale, who graduated and was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 2010 draft. Fraser paced the Pilots in RBI last season with 45, belting seven home runs en route to a slugging percentage of .486. He also drew 17 walks to help post a respectable on-base percentage of .370.
The 6-1 junior from Aptos, Calif., went 5-for-14 (.357) the first weekend of the season, driving in four runs and hitting a decisive three-run home run in the series finale to give the Pilots a three-game sweep of Middle Tennessee State.
WCC Position Player of the Week
Portland senior 2B Riley Henricks was named West Coast Conference Position Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .545 (6-for-11) in the Pilots’ season-opening weekend sweep of Middle Tennessee. Henricks, a 5-11 second baseman from Mukilteo, Wash., scored three runs, had two RBI’s, had a double, four walks and was successful on his only stolen base attempt on his way to garnering the honors.
Welcome to GameCentral
New for 2010-11 is UP’s GameCentral, a free internet portal that combines free audio and livestats in one location, making following the Pilots easier and more accessible than ever before. All home games will be available through the free service, which is also available on your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch. To access GameCentral, simply visit PortlandPilots.com.
Reliving History
At 34-18, the 2010 Pilots squad finished second only to the 1980 squad that finished with 36 wins. It was also the fifth 30-win season in program history and the Pilots first winning season since going 26-23-1 in 1992. Portland’s 14 league wins were the most WCC wins since tallying 16 in 2002, when the Pilots played a 30-game league schedule.
The Pilots won 11 straight games at one point last season 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 strung together an eight-game winning streak earlier in the season.
With a remarkable season, the Pilots earned a No. 22 ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for two weeks during the 2010 season, the first time UP had been ranked since the 1980 campaign. Seven Pilots earned all-conference recognition, which is the program’s most to earn all-conference recognition since UP joined the WCC for baseball in 1996 and catcher Rocky Gale earned WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors after the Pilots pitching staff posted an ERA of 3.42, the fifth best in the nation.
Sophomore pitcher Kyle Kraus went 10-3, becoming just the second pitcher in program history to reach double-digits in victories; he matched Ted Devore’s program record for wins during a season, which came in 1989 when Devore went 10-6.
Junior pitcher Chris Dennis recorded 14 saves to establish not only a new UP single-season record, but also a career record, and tied for third in the nation; he landed on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America Second Team, the Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team and was one of five finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award.
Senior C.J. Cullen became the first UP baseball player to land on the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team
WCC Pre-Season Poll and All-WCC
Portland’s senior 2B Riley Henricks, RHP Kyle Kraus, and RHP Chris Dennis were selected to the 2011 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 fourth but received one first-place vote.
