PORTLAND PILOTS (6-21, 2-7 WCC)
WEEK 8 GAME NOTES
 
vs. No. 1 Oregon State Beavers (24-1, 9-0 PAC-12)
Date: Tuesday, April 4, 2017
First Pitch: 6 PM
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field (1,300)
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: OSU leads 151-57-1
2016: OSU 13, @POR 6 (3/22); POR 7, OSU 5 (@Keizer, 5/10)
 
at Seattle Redhawks (8-18, 1-5 WAC)
Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2017
First Pitch: 12 PM
Location: Bellevue, Wash.
Ballpark: Bannerwood Park (1,000)
Video: GoSeattleU.com
Stats: GoSeattleU.com
Series: POR leads 78-72
2017: POR 6-3, POR 5-3 (March 21-22 @Joe Etzel Field)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Tuesday • April 4 • 6 PM
POR: TBA
OSU: TBA
 
Wednesday • April 5 • 12 PM
POR: RHP Jake Hawken (1-0, 6.75)
SU: LHP Nick Hoefling (0-0, 3.12)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots welcome the No. 1 team in the country to Joe Etzel Field on Tuesday when the Oregon State Beavers come to The Bluff for a 6 p.m. non-conference game.
• Portland then travels to Bellevue, Wash., on Wednesday to play the Seattle Redhawks at 12 p.m. at Bannerwood Park; the game is a make-up from a previously rained out contest.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots notched their first series win of the season when they took two of three from the Santa Clara Broncos at Joe Etzel Field last weekend.
• During Friday's 7-5 win, Devin Kopas went 3-for-5 with three RBI's, and the Pilots were solid out of the bullpen as they rallied from an early four-deficit.
• The Broncos prevailed 7-4 on Saturday night, and Kevin Wade drove in all three runs during Sunday's 3-2 series-clinching win.
• Starter Kevin Baker was masterful on Sunday, fanning 11 in 6.1 innings; he combined with relievers Jordan Horak and Marty Luckenbach to limit the Broncos to just four hits, and Luckenbach collected his second save during the weekend.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Against Santa Clara on Sunday, Kevin Baker became the second Portland pitcher this year to record double-digit strikeouts when he fanned a career-best 11 in 6.1 innings; unfortunately the sophomore was forced to leave the game in the seventh after he turned his ankle trying to make a play on defense.
• Baker is currently third in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (13.66).
• On Friday, March 9, freshman left-hander Grady Miller struck out 12 in 7.0 innings as the Pilots defeated Northwestern 5-2; the 12 K's are tied for the fourth most in a game ever for the Pilots, and it's the most strikeouts since Travis Radke fanned 14 in 2013.
• Miller K'd nine more in 7.1 innings in his next outing at San Diego (March 17), giving him 21 strikeouts during his last 14.1 innings; he ranks seventh in the WCC in strikeouts (35, 9.5 per 9.0 IP).
• Sophomore Matt Kelly is batting a team-best .327, and he recently had a team-best, 10-game hitting streak snapped.
• Portland ranks 31st in the nation in sacrifice bunts (22), while redshirt-freshman Beau Brundage is 11th nationally with seven sacrifice bunts.
• Portland's game against Seattle on March 22 was the 600th in the coaching career of skipper Geoff Loomis; the UP alum and Athletics Hall of Fame member is in his second season at the helm of the Pilots after 13 seasons as head coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons and two NCAA Regional appearances.
• 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.
• The Pilots opened the season with 11 straight road games before finally playing at Joe Etzel Field on March 10; 15 of Portland's first 20 games are on the road.
• On Feb. 24 at CSU Bakersfield, Ryan Hoogerwerf and Hawken went back-to-back with home runs in the first inning; Hoogerwerf leads the team with four homers on the year.
• The new-look Pilots entered 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.
• On March 31 of last season, the Pilots played the 600th game ever at Joe Etzel Field, which opened in 1989.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Beavers have won a program-record 19 straight games and are the unanimous No. 1 team in the country.
• Oregon State nationally ranks first in team ERA (1.66), hits allowed (5.96), shutouts (7) and WHIP (0.92), and they're eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.46).
• As a team, OSU is batting .302, while holding opponents to a .187 average; sophomore Nick Madrigal is one of seven Beavers batting better than .300 and leads the team with a .406 average.
• University of Portland Athletics Hall of Famer Pat Casey is in his 22nd season as head coach at Oregon State and he's led the Beavers to two NCAA National Championships.
• Seattle is batting .258, the opposition is hitting .282, and SU's staff ERA is 5.38.
• Four Redhawks are batting .300 or better, led by freshman Austin Lively at .333; senior Aaron Stroosma is hitting .324 with team highs of three homers and 23 RBI's.
• Donny Harrel is in his eighth year as head coach at Seattle, and he led the Redhawks to the WAC title last season.