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PORTLAND PILOTS (13-16, 1-5 WCC)
at GONZAGA BULLDOGS (17-10, 6-3 WCC)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, April 8-10, 2016
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Ballpark: Patterson Baseball Complex & Washington Trust Field
Live Video: TheW.tv
Live Stats: GoZags.com
Series: GON leads 116-78
2015: GON 5-3, POR 10-6, POR 6-5 (April 17-19 @Portland)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • April 8 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Jordan Wilcox (4-1, 3.59)
GON: RHP Brandon Bailey (4-1, 1.60)
 
Saturday • April 9 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Davis Tominaga (2-5, 4.28)
GON: RHP Eli Morgan (4-1, 4.73)
 
Sunday • April 10 • 12 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (1-2, 4.13)
GON: TBD
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots head to Spokane, Wash., this week for a three-game West Coast Conference series against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field.
• The series opens with a 6 p.m. game on Friday night; first pitch is also set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, while Sunday's finale will begin at 12 p.m.
• Live video of all three games will be available on TheW.tv.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots held the nation's top run producer in check for most of the weekend, but the No. 24 BYU Cougars swept the WCC series at Joe Etzel Field by scores of 8-2, 4-1 and 5-2.
• The four runs matched a season-low for the Cougars, who entered the weekend averaging a national best 9.5 runs per game.
• Caleb Whalen homered during Thursday's loss, and Eric Sapp doubled home Michael Forgione during Friday's set-back.
• The Pilots nearly rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday's finale as Kevin Farley hit a two-run homer, and Portland brought the potential game-tying run to the plate with no outs; but the Cougars escaped the jam to claim the two-run win.
• On Wednesday in Eugene, UP freshman Grant Sutton homered in his first collegiate at-bat, but the Oregon Ducks prevailed 10-1; only three of UO's runs were earned.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Last Thursday's game was UP's 600th game ever at Joe Etzel Field, which opened in 1989.
• Caleb Whalen currently ranks second in the nation with 14 doubles, and he leads the WCC; he also leads conference and is 19th nationally with four sacrifice flies.
• The senior outfielder is tied for the most career triples in program history with 14 after claiming a three-bagger at UC Davis on Feb. 20; Whalen is tied with Larry Farrell (1958-61) and needs just one more triple to become the program leader.
• Whalen was named the WCC Position Player of the Week (Mar. 7) after hitting .462 to help lead the Pilots to a series win over UC Riverside; he also had three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and five RBI's.
• Cooper Hummel had a day on March 26 when the junior catcher went 4-for-4 with three doubles, three RBI's and three runs scored during a 7-3 win over CSUN at Joe Etzel Field; the three doubles match the program's single-game record, and he becomes the first Pilot since Rocky Gale in 2010 to accomplish the feat.
• Cooper Hummel has reached base safely during 28 of UP's 29 games, which includes a current streak of 18 straight games.
• Hummel, a career .168 hitter entering the season, got off to a stellar start to his junior campaign, hitting .500 during the month of February; he's currently batting a team-best .394, which is second in the WCC.
• The crowd of 1,092 for Portland's game with No. 3 Oregon State on Tuesday, March 22 was the largest in Joe Etzel Field history; the attendance surpassed the previous best of 1,002, which was also against Oregon State back in 2007.
• As a team, the Pilots are 12th in the country with 54 stolen bases; Portland swiped just 21 bases all of last season.
• The Pilots have already surpassed last year's win total of 12.
• Michael Forgione is tops in the league and 14th in the nation with 14 steals.
• On March 5 the Pilots stole 10 bases against UC Riverside, which is a single-game high in the WCC this season.
• Freshman Cody Hawken joined the list of Portland baseball players to hit two home runs in a game when he left the yard during his first two at-bats at Joe Etzel Field vs. Oakland on Feb. 26; Hawken became the first Pilot to accomplish the feat since Cody Lenahan last May, and no Portland player has ever hit three home runs in a game.
• Freshman Grant Sutton, who has missed the entire season recovering from an injury, homered in his first collegiate at-bat at Oregon on Wednesday.
• UP Athletics Hall of Famer Geoff Loomis is in his first season as head coach of the Pilots.
• Loomis spent the past 13 seasons at the helm of the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, where he compiled an impressive 327-197-2 (.624) record; he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons during his tenure, including NCAA Regional appearances in 2007 and 2015 and Northwest Conference Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2015.
• Loomis (1990-92) still holds the program career record for batting average (.376) and he earned Pacific-10 North Division Player of the Year honors in 1992.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Bulldogs have won four straight and six out of their last seven.
• Gonzaga is batting .300 as a team and is led by senior Taylor Jones, who's batting a team-best .377; both junior Jeff Bohling and sophomore Tyler Frost have a team-high four home runs, while Frost leads the way with 29 RBI's.
• Opponents are batting .252 against the Bulldogs, and they feature a staff ERA of 4.27.
• Two-time WCC Coach of the Year Mark Machtolf is in his 13th year at GU.