Complete Release (pdf)  I  vs. ORE: Audio  Stats  I  at SU: Video  Stats
 
PORTLAND PILOTS (7-26) vs. OREGON DUCKS (18-15)
Dates: Tuesday, April 7, 2015
First Pitch: 3:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Field: Joe Etzel Field (1,000)
Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: ORE leads 87-27
2015: @ORE 8, POR 2 (2/24); POR 6, @ORE 4 (3/31)
 
PORTLAND PILOTS (7-26) at SEATTLE REDHAWKS (15-15)
Dates: Wednesday, April 8, 2015
First Pitch: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Bellevue, Wash.
Field: Bannerwood Park (1,000)
Video/Stats: GoSeattleU.com
Series: POR leads 75-69
2015: @POR 9, SU 0 (2/17); POR 2, @SU 1 (3/3
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Tuesday • April 7 • 3 PM
POR: RHP Jordan Wilcox (1-3, 6.62)
ORE: RHP Brac Warren (1-0, 2.53)
 
Wednesday • April 8 • 4 PM
POR: LHP Cole Doherty (1-2, 10.57)
SU: LHP Nick Meservey (0-1, 0.75)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots play a pair of non-conference games this week before returning to the West Coast Conference this weekend.
• First up is a visit from the Oregon Ducks on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. game at Joe Etzel Field.
• The Pilots then return to the road to face the Seattle Redhawks on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Wash.
• The weekend brings a three-game WCC series at San Francisco.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The BYU Cougars took two of three from the Pilots last week at Ralph H. Miller Park in Provo, Utah; BYU claimed a come-from-behind 3-2 win on Thursday night, the Pilots won 6-3 on Friday night and the Cougars took Sunday's finale 9-3.
• In Thursday's opener, the Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally for the win; Turner Gill hit his team-best sixth home run during the loss.
• On Friday, Kevin Wade had two RBI doubles, starting pitcher Kurt Yinger threw 8.0 solid innings and reliever Carl Snaring registered his second save.
• The Pilots led 1-0 early on Saturday before the Cougars surged ahead for the win.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Senior Caleb Whalen ranks eighth among active players nationally with 13 career triples, while fellow senior Turner Gill is tied for 12th with 47 career doubles.
• Davis Tominaga ranks sixth in the country and first in the WCC with two complete games; Gill is second in the WCC with six home runs.
• Kevin Wade is currently riding a career-best 12-game hitting streak, which is also a season-high for the Pilots.
• Portland's game against Seattle on Feb. 17 was the 3,000th game in the history of the University of Portland baseball program, which dates back to 1923.
• That Seattle game was also the 900th game at the helm of the Pilots for head coach Chris Sperry, who began his coaching career in 1998.
• Portland's 15 hits in the 9-7 loss at UC Riverside on Feb. 15 were the most hits for the Pilots in a game since April 3, 2013; the Pilots followed that performance with 15 more hits during a 9-0 win over Seattle at Joe Etzel Field on Feb. 17 and they collected 15 hits again on March 1 against UC Davis.
• The Pilots went 11-41 last season and posted a 5-22 record in the West Coast Conference.
• Four of Portland's 11 wins last season came on walk-offs.
• Caleb Whalen, who is currently unavailable due to an injury, ranks second all-time at UP with 13 career triples, which is just one shy of Larry Farrell's (1958-61) all-time program career record of 14 triples.
• Whalen's six RBI's at Oregon on April 8 last year tied for the fourth most in a game in program history and it's the most RBI's by a Pilot since 2009, when Garrett Queen also drove in six against Hawai'i.
• The Pilots were picked to finish 10th in a pre-season poll of the WCC's 10 head coaches.
• Joe Etzel Field, Portland's home ballpark, received a new surface during the off-season, switching from natural grass to artificial AstroTurf; the Etz also received new fencing, bullpens and a scoreboard and the improvements mark the beginning of a three-phase, long-term upgrade to the facility.
• Sperry, a former standout catcher/infielder for the Pilots, has compiled 342 career wins in 17+ years at the helm; he trails only long-time Portland coach Joe Etzel, who collected 378 career wins in 21 seasons (1966-86).
• Joining Sperry on the bench are assistants Larry Casian (9th year), Tucker Brack (7th year) and Jeremy Beard (2nd year).
• Casian, a pitcher, spent parts of nine years in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Ducks have lost seven of their last eight, which included a 6-4 loss to the Pilots in Eugene last Tuesday.
• Oregon is batting .249 as a team and has a 3.69 staff ERA; junior Phil Craig-St. Louis leads the team with a .297 batting average, senior Shaun Chase has five home runs and junior Brandon Cuddy has driven in 23 RBI's.
• George Horton is in his seventh year as head coach at Oregon and he's led the Ducks to three straight NCAA post-season appearances.
• Seattle swept a three-game series from WAC foe Sacramento State last weekend; the Pilots have already defeated SU twice this season.
• The Redhawks are batting .251 as a team, have a staff ERA of 3.32 and are led by junior Sheldon Stober's .319 average and 22 RBI's
• Donny Harrel is in his seventh year as Seattle's head coach.