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PORTLAND PILOTS (11-2)
vs. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS (8-9)
Dates: Friday & Sunday, March 16 & 18, 2012
Location: Portland, Ore.
Field: Hilken Stadium (1,770) at Concordia University
Live Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: CSUN leads 6-3-1
Last:  POR 3-0 & POR 9-4 (March 12 & 13, 2008 @ CSUN)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday • Mar. 16 • 11 AM • Game 1 (7 innings)
POR: RHP Kyle Kraus (2-1, 3.08)
CSUN: RHP Vincent Roberts (0-2, 3.60)
 
Friday • Mar. 16 • 1:30 PM • Game 2 (9 innings)
POR: LHP Travis Radke (3-0, 1.35)
CSUN: RHP Alex Muren (3-1, 4.91)
 
Sunday • Mar. 18 • 12 PM
POR: RHP Chris Johnson (1-1, 4.50)
CSUN: LHP Jerry Keel (1-0, 2.01)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• Due to the wet weather and unplayable conditions at Joe Etzel Field, the Portland Pilots have shuffled their schedule this weekend and will now host the Cal State Northridge Matadors for a three-game series at Hilken Stadium on the Concordia University campus.
• The Pilots and Matadors will play a double header on Friday, beginning at 11 a.m., with the first game scheduled for only seven innings; UP and CSUN will then play one game on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots began this week with a 4-1 win against the Washington Huskies at a snowy Husky Ballpark in Seattle, Wash., on Tuesday night.
• Junior right-hander Matt McCallister tossed a solid 5.0 innings against the Huskies, Nick Armenta drove in two runs and Owen Jones saved his fourth consecutive game.
• Previously, the UP swept a three-game series against Air Force at home last weekend.
• Portland opened its series against the Falcons with a 1-0 win on Friday; Kyle Kraus got the win, Jones picked up the save and Cody Lenahan provided the game’s only run with an RBI single in the third inning.
• Jones saved two more on Saturday as the Pilots won both games of a double header by scores of 6-2 and 2-1; freshmen starters Travis Radke and Kody Watts each registered a win, Ben Grubb had a two-run homer in the first game and Kris Kauppila knocked in the winning run in the second game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
• Jones was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week after his three saves.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• This is just the second time in program history to begin a season 11-2, joining the 1958 squad.
• The Pilots have won ten straight home games, dating back to last season, which matches a program record.
• Senior shortstop Kris Kauppila nabbed the first WCC Player of the Week award of the season, while Owen Jones was named the WCC’s Pitcher of the Week on March 12 after saving all three games during a sweep of Air Force.
• The Pilots were 24-30 overall in 2011 and finished third in the WCC with an 11-10 league mark.
• Portland has posted consecutive winning records in the WCC for the first time in program history; UP joined the WCC for baseball in 1996 after previously competing in the Pac-10 North Division.
• Portland’s 79 wins during the past three seasons are the most by a Pilots squad since the early 1990’s, when UP tallied 83 W’s from 1990 to 1992.
• Senior pitcher Kyle Kraus and sophomore outfielder/designated hitter Turner Gill were both selected to the 2012 Preseason All-WCC Team.
• Last season head coach Chris Sperry surpassed Terry Pollreisz to become the second winningest coach in UP program history; Sperry, who has 290 career wins, now trails only long-time Portland coach Joe Etzel.
 
CONFERENCE HONORS 
• Owen Jones became the second Pilot this season to earn weekly honors from the conference after nabbing the WCC’s Pitcher of the Week award on Monday.
• Jones pitched in all four wins last week, fanning seven of the 11 batters he faced; he didn’t allow a hitter to reach base in 3.2 innings and he saved all three wins against Air Force.
• On Saturday, he saved both games of the double header against the Falcons, striking out three in 1.1 innings during the first game.
• Senior shortstop Kris Kauppila was named the WCC Player of the Week on Feb. 20 after helping the Pilots open the season with two convincing wins over Stephen F. Austin.
• Kauppila went 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate during the weekend with four RBI’s, a double, a homer and six runs scored; he also swiped one base and was flawless in the field.
• Kauppila currently leads the Pilots with a .375 batting average.
 
CRUISING
• The Pilots have started a season with an 11-2 record for only the second time in program history.
• The 1958 Portland team, which also opened the season 11-2, holds the all-time program record by winning 16 of its first 18 games.
 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
• Portland has won ten straight games at home, dating back to last season, which matches a program record.
• The Pilots also won ten straight at home back in 1989-90.
 
KAREER BUILDING
• Senior right-hander Kyle Kraus is on the verge of becoming the winningest pitcher in the 89-year history of the University of Portland baseball program.
• Kraus, who was named a preseason All-American and landed on the preseason all-conference team, now was 22 career wins after opening 2012 with a 2-1 record.
• The West Linn, Ore., native is now just three wins shy of matching Wes Smith’s (1978-81) all-time program mark of 25 career W’s.
• Kraus already shares the program’s single-season wins mark, which came during his sophomore year when he was 10-3.
• Kraus’ 22 career wins are tied for the sixth most nationally among active pitchers, and he ranks first all-time at UP with a career walks per nine inning mark of 1.40.
 
FINISHING STRONG
• Senior shortstop Kris Kauppila, who was named a Freshman All-American back in 2009, has been Portland’s most consistent hitter this season.
• He is batting .346, while leading the team in hits (18), triples (1), home runs (2), RBI’s (10) RBI’s and runs (9); he also has a pair of doubles.
• Kauppila has been flawless in the field, posting a 1.000 fielding percentage, and he was named the first WCC Player of the Week of the season on Feb. 20.
 
A REPEAT PERFORMANCE
• Sophomore outfielder/designated hitter Turner Gill, who led the Pilots with a .332 batting average last year, has picked up right where he left off.
• Gill is batting .313 with seven RBI’s, seven runs scored, a pair of homers and two doubles.
• He also has perhaps the hit of the year so far, which came with Portland trailing Creighton 2-0 and down to its out on Feb. 24; Gill belted a game-tying two-run home run, sending the game to extra innings, where Kris Kauppila won it with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
• Last spring, Gill became first the Pilot since 2008 to be named to the All-WCC First Team and WCC All-Freshman Team in the same season.
 
THE FRESHMEN
• New to the Pilots this season is a heralded group of 10 newcomers, which features three players who were selected in Major League Baseball’s draft last summer.
• Right-handed pitcher Kody Watts was selected in the 15th round, infielder/outfielder Caleb Whalen went in the 42nd round, and left-handed pitcher Travis Radke was drafted in the 45th round, but all three chose to come to Portland.
• Radke, who has been penciled in as Portland’s Saturday starter, is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA; he fanned a conference-high 11 in 7.0 innings during UP’s 3-0 win at CSU Bakersfield on March 3.
• Whalen is batting .295 thus far with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBI’s.
• Michael Lucarelli, another freshman, has been spectacular at third base, while fellow freshman Cody Lenahan has a handful of clutch hits and at-bats, and is batting .321.