Complete Release (pdf)

PORTLAND PILOTS (16-6, 3-3 WCC)
at #17 OREGON STATE BEAVERS (17-8, 6-3 Pac-12)
Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2012
First Pitch: 5:35 p.m.
Location: Corvallis, Ore.
Field: Goss Stadium (3,248)
Live Video: OSUBeavers.com ($)
Live Stats: OSUBeavers.com
Series: OSU leads 138-56-1
2011: OSU won all 3 games (11-1 @POR, 6-1 @POR, 13-3 @OSU)
 
Probable Starters
POR: RHP Matt McCallister (3-0, 1.80)
OSU: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots step out of conference this week for a road game at No. 17 Oregon State in Corvallis on Tuesday evening.
• First pitch at Goss Stadium is set for 5:30 p.m.
• The Beavers have won 12 straight against the Pilots, with Portland’s last win in the series coming at OSU in 2006.
• Portland returns to WCC play later this week when the Pilots host San Francisco for three games at Joe Etzel Field; UP and USF are scheduled to play a double header on Thursday and a single game on Saturday.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots used strong pitching last week to win two of three WCC games against the Santa Clara Broncos at Schott Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
• Portland won Friday 3-1, took Saturday’s game 2-0 and dropped Sunday’s finale 5-4.
• On Friday, senior starter Kyle Kraus allowed just four hits and one unearned run in 8.1 innings; he fanned seven, walked one and claimed his 24th career win.
• Beau Fraser, Chet Thompson and Caleb Whalen each registered an RBI, with Whalen’s coming via a solo home run.
• On Saturday, freshman starter Travis Radke was dominant, allowing just one hit in 6.0 innings; a lengthy rain delay forced Radke from the game, but relievers Kody Watts and Owen Jones also held the SCU bats in check.
• Whalen belted his second home run in two days, and Fraser picked up another RBI.
• The Pilots battled back from three runs down to tie the score on Sunday, but a solo HR by SCU’s Andrew Biancardi in the seventh inning proved to be the difference.
 
RE-SCHEDULING
• Due to a handful of home rain-outs this season, the Pilots have added a few of non-conference games with more possibly to come.
• The Pilots added a game against the Washington State Cougars on Tuesday, April 10 at Joe Etzel Field, while the Seattle Redhawks will visit for a game on Wednesday, April 25; both contests are set to begin at 3 p.m.
• Portland also added a road game at Washington on May 16 at 5 p.m.
 
AMONG THE NATION’S ELITE
• The Portland pitching staff currently leads the nation in both team ERA (2.00) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.32); UP is 17th overall in walks allowed per nine innings (2.5).
• Individually, freshman left-handed starter Travis Radke is tops in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (3.75), while ranking seventh in ERA (1.00) and 19th in wins (5).
• Senior closer Owen Jones is fourth nationally in saves (9).
• After allowing just four earned runs in 34.0 innings during the week of March 12-18, InsidePitching.com named UP’s staff its Pitching Staff of the Week.
 
CRUISING
• Portland’s 12-2 start to the season matched the second best start to a season in program history; only the 1958 squad began a season better, jumping out to a 16-2 record.
• Portland’s current record of 16-6 record also matches the program’s second best mark after 22 games; the Pilots last opened a season at 16-6 in 2010, while that 1958 team was 18-4 for the all-time mark.
 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
• Despite playing “home” games at three different locations this year, the Pilots set a program record by winning 11 straight home games, dating back to last season.
• Cal State Northridge ended Portland’s successful run at home during the second game of a double header on March 16.
• UP topped the previous mark of 10 straight home wins, which happened in 1989-90.
 
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 (March 12).
• Jones pitched in all four wins that 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 (March 9-10).
• 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.
 
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 24 career wins after opening 2012 with a 4-2 record.
• The West Linn, Ore., native is just one win shy of matching Wes Smith’s (1978-81) all-time program mark of 25 career W’s; Kraus is scheduled to start in the first game of a double header against USF on Thursday.
• Kraus already shares the program’s single-season wins mark, which came during his sophomore year when he was 10-3.
 
THE SOUTHPAW
• Freshman left-handed starter Travis Radke wasted little time getting acclimated to collegiate baseball, and he currently leads the nation and the WCC in a couple of categories.
• Radke is tops in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (3.75), while ranking seventh in ERA (1.00) and 19th in wins (5).
• Leads the league in both ERA (1.00) and opponents batting average (.127), is second in wins (5) and is tied for the league-high for strikeouts in a single game (11).
• Radke, who is 5-1, has taken over as Portland’s regular Saturday starter, and he has games this season with 11 (vs. CSU Bakersfield 3/11/12) and nine (vs. BYU 3/23/12) strikeouts; the 11 K’s came during just 7.0 innings of work.
 
THE SWITCH
• After spending his first three years on The Bluff mainly as a starter, senior right-hander Owen Jones has made a switch to the bullpen and has already picked up nine saves.
• The nine saves are second in the conference, fourth in the nation and are just five shy of matching Portland’s single-season record of 14.
• Jones also has an ERA of 0.71, an opponents batting average of .163 and 17 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work.
 
HIT OF THE YEAR & THEN SOME
• Sophomore Turner Gill, who led the Pilots with a .332 batting average last year, provided 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.
• Gill is hitting .409 during conference play to raise his average to .304 overall;  he also has three home runs, three doubles, 12 RBI’s and 13 runs.
• 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.
 
FINISHING STRONG
• Kris Kauppila, who was named a Freshman All-American back in 2009, has been one of Portland’s most consistent hitter this season.
• He is second on the team with a .302 batting average, while he’s tops with 26 hits.
• He was named the WCC’s first Player of the Week of 2012 after helping the Pilots open the season with two convincing wins over Stephen F. Austin.
 
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, outfielder Caleb Whalen went in the 42nd round, and Travis Radke was drafted in the 45th round.
• Radke is 5-1 with a 1.00 ERA and an opponents batting average of .127.
• Whalen leads the team with four home runs, five doubles, two triples, 13 RBI’s and a .548 slugging percentage.
• Michael Lucarelli, another freshman, has been spectacular at third base, while fellow freshman Cody Lenahan has a handful of clutch hits and at-bats.