PORTLAND PILOTS (0-0, 0-0 WCC)
at CSUN MATADORS (0-0, 0-0 BIG WEST)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, 2017
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Ballpark: Matador Field (1,000)
Live Video (tentative)/Stats: GoMatadors.com
Series: CSUN leads 10-6-1
2016: POR 6-5, CSUN 2-1 (15), CSUN 2-1, POR 7-3 (March 24-26 @Portland & Hillsboro)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2016 W-L, ERA)
Friday • Feb. 17  • 2 PM
POR: LHP Grady Miller (N/A)
CSUN: RHP Andrew Weston (7-5, 3.19)
 
Saturday • Feb. 18  • Game 1 • 10 AM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (1-8, 5.66)
CSUN: RHP Samuel Myers (3-0, 2.00)
 
Saturday • Feb. 18  • Game 2 • 1:30 PM
POR: RHP Kevin Baker (0-5, 5.53)
CSUN: RHP Tei Vanderford (N/A)
 
Sunday • Feb. 19 • 12 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (N/A)
CSUN: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots begin the 2017 season with a scheduled four-game road trip to Northridge, Calif., to face the CSUN Matadors at Matador Field.
• The series is set to begin with a game on Friday at 2 p.m.
• A double header follows on Saturday at 10 a.m., and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 12 p.m.
• Rain is in the forecast and may force the Pilots and Matadors to adjust the schedule, and updates will be posted to PortlandPilots.com as soon as they become available.
 
LAST YEAR IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots were under the guidance of first-year head coach and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member Geoff Loomis.
• Portland got off to a quick start, winning their first three games of 2016 and nine of their first 13.
• The Pilots' season slowed down from there, but Portland still topped the previous season's win total.
• 2016 also featured a win over the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers, Portland's first victory over their in-state rivals since 2006, a string of 25 straight OSU W's.
• Following the season, the Milwaukee Brewers selected junior catcher Cooper Hummel in the 18th round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft, before adding senior outfielder Caleb Whalen in the 38th round.
• Hummel and Whalen are the first Pilots taken in the draft since Travis Radke in 2014.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The new-look Pilots enter the season with 14 returning letterwinners, only two position starters and three starting pitchers.
• New to The Bluff is a sizable group of newcomers as the Pilots welcomed 20 new players to the program; that includes 12 freshmen, two redshirt-freshmen and six JC transfers.
• The crowd of 1,092 for Portland's game with No. 3 Oregon State on March 22, 2016, 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.
• On March 31 of last season, the Pilots played the 600th game ever at Joe Etzel Field, which opened in 1989.
• On May 10 in Keizer, Ore., the Pilots defeated the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers for Portland's first win over OSU since a 20-13 victory in Corvallis, back in 2006; OSU had won 25 straight against the Pilots.
• It was also Portland's first win over a ranked opponent since opening the 2014 campaign with a victory over No. 12 and reigning national champion UCLA in Los Angeles.
• The Pilots led the WCC last season with 71 stolen bases, which came after swiping only 21 the year before.
• Then-junior Michael Forgione finished second in the league with 21 stolen bases in 2016.
• One of Portland's returners is sophomore Cody Hawken, who joined the list of Portland baseball players to hit two home runs in a game when he homered in his first two career at-bats at Joe Etzel Field vs. Oakland (Feb. 26); no UP player has ever hit three home runs in the same game.
• Then-freshman Grant Sutton, who had missed the entire season recovering from an injury, homered in his first collegiate at-bat at Oregon (April 6).
• UP Athletics Hall of Famer Geoff Loomis is in his second season as head coach of the Pilots.
• Loomis spent the previous 13 seasons at the helm of the Pacific Lutheran Lutes; 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 UP program career record for batting average (.376) and he earned Pacific-10 North Division Player of the Year honors in 1992.
• Returning to the Portland bench are second-year assistants Gregg Swenson and Jake Valentine, while David Tufo, Jr., is in his first year on the staff.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The CSUN Matadors, picked to finish sixth in the Big West, went 33-22 last year and 11-13 in their conference.
• The Matadors return 16 letterwinners, including six that competed in 50 or more games last season, along with six pitchers that appeared in 10 or more games; CSUN adds 20 newcomers and returns seven redshirts.
• Senior infielder Fred Smith is CSUN's top returning offensive player after hitting .314 last year with 10 doubles, 19 RBI's and 34 runs.
• Senior right-handed pitchers Conner O'Neil (10 saves in 2016) and Samuel Myers (3-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 36.0 last year) were named to watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award.
• Greg Moore is in his fourth season at the helm of the Matadors.