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PORTLAND PILOTS (8-15, 1-2 WCC)
at No. 9 OREGON DUCKS (18-6, 5-1 Pac-12)
Dates: Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2013
First Pitch: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Eugene, Ore.
Field: PK Park (4,000)
Video: Pac-12.com
Stats: GoDucks.com
Series: ORE leads 79-26
2013: ORE 3, POR 1 (Feb. 26 @ Eugene)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Tuesday • March 26 • 6:00 PM
POR: RHP Matt McCallister (1-1, 6.89)
ORE: RHP Brando Tessar (1-0, 4.91)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots play their fifth straight road game when they step out of the WCC briefly for a trip to Eugene, Ore., on Tuesday for a game against the No. 9 Oregon Ducks at 6 p.m. at PK Park.
• Portland will then return home to host the Santa Clara Broncos for a three-game conference series, which will begin with a double header on Thursday at Joe Etzel Field.
• This the second meeting this season between the Ducks and Pilots with Oregon claiming a 3-1 win in Eugene on Feb. 26.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots allowed just five runs total in three games at San Francisco last weekend, but the Dons were still able to win two out of three to claim the league series.
• During Friday’s opener at Benedetti Diamond, the Pilots scored a run in the top of the ninth and had the game-tying runner on base, but the Dons escaped with a 2-1 win.
• UP starter Travis Radke allowed just one run in 6.0 innings, while striking out seven.
• Portland had two runners thrown out at the plate during the top of the first.
• The Pilots bounced back to claim Saturday’s game 5-1, which took place at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
• Starter Kurt Yinger was again masterful as he yielded just one run in 7.2 innings.
• Yinger’s scoreless innings streak was snapped at 26.2 during the win.
• Caleb Whalen drove in three runs for the Pilots, while Jeff Melby knocked in a pair; Whalen hit .417 during the weekend, while Melby was 5-for-13 (.385).
• On Sunday, the Dons scored a run in the bottom of the 10th inning to win 2-1.
• Nick Armenta scored UP’s lone run on a double by Michael Lucarelli in the top of the fifth.
• On Tuesday, March 19 in Seattle, Portland starter Matt McCallister earned the win and Michael Lucarelli and Kramer Scott each registered an RBI as the Pilots defeated the Washington Huskies 4-2 in a game that was called after six innings because of rain at Husky Ballpark.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Sophomore right-hander Kurt Yinger nabbed WCC Pitcher of the Week honors on March 18 after tossing his first career complete game shutout.
• Sophomore lefty Travis Radke, who K’d 14 during a win over UC Riverside on March 15, is third nationally in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (13.5) and is sixth in overall strikeouts (53).
• Nine of Portland’s first 13 games of 2013 were against ranked opponents.
• Portland went 27-25 last year to register the second winning season in the past three years, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1992.
• The Pilots have compiled 85 wins during the past three years (2010-12), which is the most W’s during a three-year span since 1990-92; Portland’s 110 wins during the past four years (2009-12) are also the most since that same time (1989-92).
• UP was 12-12 in the WCC last year, good for a sixth-place finish, marking the third straight year with a conference record of .500 or better, which is a first in the history of the program.
• Junior outfielder Turner Gill and sophomore left-hander Travis Radke were both selected to the Preseason All-West Coast Conference Baseball Team, while the Pilots were picked to finish seventh in a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.
• Head coach Chris Sperry, a former standout catcher/infielder for the Pilots, notched career win No. 300 last year when Portland defeated LMU 6-3 in LA on April 21.
• Sperry, who has 314 career wins in 15+ years at the helm of the Pilots, trails only long-time Portland coach Joe Etzel, who compiled 378 career wins in 21 seasons (1966-86).
• Sperry coached his 800th career game as head coach at UP at UC Irvine on March 2.
 
WCC RAWLINGS PITCHER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore right-hander Kurt Yinger was named the WCC Rawlings Pitcher of the Week (March 18) after hurling his first career complete game shutout as the Pilots blanked UC Riverside 2-0 on March 16 at Joe Etzel Field.
• Yinger registered a career-high 12 strikeouts and didn’t walk a single batter, while scattering six hits.
• The Camas, Wash., native extended his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 19.0, which dated back to the sixth inning of a game at UC Irvine on March 2.
 
STEPPING UP
• Yinger made just eight appearances total during his freshman campaign before making a seamless transition into Portland’s rotation.
• Yinger boasts an impressive ERA of 1.75 and has K’d 34, while walking just five, in 46.1 innings; he’s holding the opposition to a .221 batting average.
• He recently had back-to-back outings of 9.0 scoreless innings and had his consecutive scoreless innings streak snapped at 26.2 during Saturday’s win at San Francisco.
 
KKKKKKKKKKKKKK
• Sophomore left-hander Travis Radke had a career outing on March 15 when he struck out 14 in just 7.0 innings during a win over UC Riverside.
• Radke became the 11th pitcher in the 90-year history of the UP baseball program to record at least 14 K’s in a game.
• The native of Thousand Oaks, Calif., currently ranks third in the nation in K’s per nine innings (13.5) and he’s sixth in overall strikeouts (53); he leads the WCC in K’s.
• Last season, he was named the WCC’s 2012 Freshman of the Year, while also garnering Freshman All-American honors.
• He ended last season 11th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (5.97), 26th in WHIP (1.0) and 30th in ERA (2.09).
 
THE TRIFECTA
• Radke had a little defensive help in the top of the first inning against Riverside on March 15 after the first two batters of the game reached base.
• With both runners on the move, Clayton Prestridge lined out to Jeff Melby at third, who threw it to second base for the force out before Cody Lenahan tossed it to first base for another force out and an inning-ending triple play.
 
THREE BAGGERS
• Sophomore Caleb Whalen already has three triples this season, doubling his career total.
• His three triples are tied for second in the WCC and rank 15th nationally.
• His six career triples are tied for the ninth most all-time at UP and are just eight shy of matching Larry Farrell’s (1958-61) career mark of 14.
 
BEAU KNOWS BASEBALL
• Redshirt-senior Beau Fraser has emerged as Portland’s top bat so far this season by hitting .302 at the plate.
• The senior catcher has battled injuries during the past two years, but this season he has a team-high eight RBI’s, while also adding a pair of doubles.
• As a sophomore in 2010, Fraser hit .316 with seven home runs and 45 RBI’s.
• He utilized his medical redshirt year in 2011.
 
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
• Freshman Lucas Hunter’s last name may be familiar to baseball fans as his father, Brian, spent 12 years playing in Major League Baseball.
• Brian Hunter spent time with the Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners, and he led the American League with 74 stolen bases in 1997.
• Lucas Hunter went to Portland’s Central Catholic and he was drafted in the 31st round of last year’s MLB draft by the Miami Marlins.
 
GAMECENTRAL = #THEPLACETOBE
• UP will once again offer a free online audio broadcast for every home game in 2013.
• Portland will also expand its video streaming to two weekend conference series and a couple of mid-week games.
• The Pilots plan to provide free video for the LMU series (April 26-28), and the Pepperdine series (May 17-19), along with mid-week games against Oregon (April 23) and Washington (May 14).
• Visit PilotsVideo.com to access GameCentral, which also can be used on your smartphone.