Pilots (6-2) vs. Brigham Young (6-4)
March 7-8 • Portland, Ore. • Joe Etzel Field (1,000)
Series: UP leads 8-7 • Live Audio/Stats: portlandpilots.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Monday, March 7 - 2:00 p.m.
POR – Kyle Kraus (R, Jr., 2-0, 2.03)*
BYU – Matthew Neil (R, Jr., 1-0, 0.00)
Tuesday, March 8 - 2:00 p.m.
POR – TBA
BYU – Desmond Poulson (R, Fr. 0-0, 0.00)
*(R/L, Yr., W-L, ERA)
This Week in Pilots Baseball...
The Portland Pilots (6-2) return to Joe Etzel field for a two game series against the Brigham Young Cougars (6-4). The series begins on Monday with a 2:00 p.m. start as junior Kyle Kraus (2-0, 2.03 ERA) returns to the mound for the Pilots. The brief series concludes with a 2:00 p.m. game on Tuesday. Portland is in the midst of playing five games in a four day span.
A Brief Look Back
Portland played three games in two days over the weekend against the Seattle Redhawks. Junior C Beau Fraser hit his second home run of the season in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader with sophomore 1B Brian Fratalli knocking in the go-ahead run in the 13th inning to give the Pilots a 2-1 victory.
The Pilots suffered a 4-3 defeat in the second game of the doubleheader, seeing their nine game winning streak come to an end. Junior C Ben Grubb hit his first career home-run, a three-run shot, but Seattle’s bullpen shutdown the Pilots’ offense to earn the split.
Portland then fell in the series finale as Seattle erupted for six runs in the bottom of the eighth. Grubb hit his second home run in as many games with a two-run shot in the ninth, but Seattle won 12-2.
Portland picked up a big road win earlier in the week with a 5-3 victory over the No. 15 Oregon Ducks. Senior 3B Kevin Armijo knocked in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give junior Kyle Kraus (2-0) a four-run cushion. Senior closer Chris Dennis shut the door for the Pilots to pick up his fourth save of the season.
About BYU
Former Major League All-Star Vance Law is in his 12th year leading the Cougars. His son, Andrew, leads BYU regulars with a .395 average (17-for-43) and 11 runs scored. A second baseman, Law also leads the team with seven stolen bases in eight attempts. 1B Ryan Bernal, OF Stephen Wells, and IF Austin Hall each own a share of the team lead in RBI with seven while Bernal has a team-high 25 total bases.
Taylor Cole paces the pitching staff with a 2-0 record in three starts. Cole has allowed just 10 hits and three earned runs in 18.1 innings of work but has issued eight walks compared to 14 strikeouts. Matthew Neil has a 1-0 record with one save in 6.2 IP. Neil has not allowed a hit or a run so far and owns a 9:2 K/BB ratio.
Pilots/Cougars Series
Portland defeated BYU at a neutral site last season to take an 8-7 edge in the all-time series.
Take Two...or Three
Sophomore 1B Brian Fratalli leads the team with a .481 average (13-for-27) so far this season, his first as a regular in the lineup. It comes as little surprise then that the Huntington Beach, Calif., native has been consistently tallying multi-hit games this year. Through the first seven games, Fratalli has registered four multi-hit games with three three-hit games.
Fratalli has also drawn four walks to give him a team-high .563 on-base percentage.
Keeping it in the Park
Junior RHP Kyle Kraus ranks first in school history in fewest BB/9 at a 1.58 mark, but he has also strung together a prolonged run of avoiding the long ball. Kraus allowed five home runs last season in 109.0 innings and did not allow a home run in his final 11 starts, spanning 78.0 innings. The native of West Linn, Ore., has not allowed a home run in 13.1 innings pitched this season, which brings his streak to an impressive 91.1 innings.
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 and currently is 4-for-4 in save opportunities. Dennis has allowed just one run in 7.0 innings (1.29 ERA), allowing two hits and two walks while recording seven strikeouts.
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.
Fraser currently shares the team lead in home runs (2) and is tied for second in RBI (6). He is hitting .290 (9-for-31) with 16 total bases.
The Catcher Can Hit Too...Two
Junior transfer Ben Grubb has only 15 at-bats on the young season, but he has already hit two home runs and driven in a team-high seven runs. With four hits in those 15 at-bats, Grubb has a .267 batting average and a leads the team with a .733 slugging percentage.
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.
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.
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 (36) in 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 run, the Pilots earned a No. 22 ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for two weeks during the season, the first time UP had been ranked since the 1980 campaign. Seven Pilots earned all-conference recognition, which is the program’s highest total since joining 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 the third highest save total in the nation with 14 en route to establishing a new UP single-season and career record; 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 a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team.
