PORTLAND PILOTS (3-4, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 3 GAME NOTES
 
vs. CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (2-7, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Thursday-Sunday, March 1-4, 2018
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field (1,300)
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: 4-7
Last Meeting: CSUB 11-4; CSUB 7-3 (7); CSUB 6-3; CSUB 7-5 (Feb. 23-25, 2018 @CSUB)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Thursday • March 1 • 3 PM
POR: LHP Brad McVay (0-0, 0.00)
CSUB: RHP Aaron Charles (0-2, 12.00)
 
Friday • March 2 • 3 PM
POR: TBA
CSUB: TBA
 
Saturday • March 3 • 3 PM
POR: TBA
CSUB: TBA
 
Sunday • March 4 • 12 PM
POR: TBA
CSUB: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots welcome the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners to Joe Etzel Field this week for a four-game series, which begins with the opener at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
• First pitch on Friday and Saturday is also scheduled for 3 p.m., while Sunday's finale will begin at 12 p.m.
• Thursday's and Friday's starting time were both moved up from 6 p.m. as the Pilots and Roadrunners look to avoid playing in frigid temperatures.
• A stream for all four games is available at TheW.tv.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots nearly swept a four-game series against the Saint Joseph's Hawks last weekend at Joe Etzel Field, winning the first three games by 8-0, 6-1, and 9-2 margins; the Hawks escaped with a 9-8 win during Sunday's finale.
• Ryan Kim was on fire at the plate, going 10-for-16 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBI's; he came up a single shy of hitting for the cycle during the second game of a double header on Saturday.
• Daniel Lopez also had a productive weekend, belting three homers; during game two on Saturday, he went 3-for-5 with two HR's and five RBI's.
• Portland pitching combined for an ERA of 1.75, and starters Corbin Powers, Eli Morse and Camden Muller all had quality starts.
• Powers struck out eight in 7.2 scoreless innings on Friday, Morse lasted 8.0 scoreless innings on Saturday with eight K's, and Muller fanned nine in 6.0 scoreless innings to cap the double header.
• Portland nearly rallied for the win on Sunday with Cody Hawken pulling the Pilots within a run with a three-run blast in the bottom of the eight, but the Hawks were able to escape the ninth with the tying run on third base.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots have 12 home runs through seven games, after going yard only five times during the first seven contests of 2017; Portland didn't claim home run No. 12 last season until their 22nd game.
• Ryan Kim nearly became the first Portland player in program history to hit for the cycle last Saturday against Saint Joseph's, but the sophomore outfielder fell a single shy; after going 3-for-3 to begin the day, Kim drew a walk during his final at-bat.
• Daniel Lopez joined a long list of Pilots to hit two home runs in a game during a 3-for-5, eight RBI performance on Saturday against Saint Joseph's; no player in UP history has hit three home runs in a game.
• Portland plays 20 of their first 24 games of 2018 at the friendly confines of Joe Etzel Field.
• 2018 marks the third year for head coach Geoff Loomis, a Portland baseball alum and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member who still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376).
• Portland's game against Seattle on March 22 last season was the 600th in the coaching career of Loomis, who previously spent 13 seasons as head coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons and two NCAA Regional appearances.
• The Pilots returned 20 letterwinners from last year, seven position starters and three starting pitchers.
• Headlining the returners is junior infielder Matt Kelly, who led the team with a .292 batting average last season.
• Joining Kelly is outfielder Beau Brundage, a sophomore coming off a year that saw him bat .283.
• Also back is Portland's leader in RBI's in junior outfielder Cody Hawken, who brought in 27 runs as a sophomore, and senior Ryan Hoogerwerf returns after leading the squad with seven homers last spring.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Baker, who earned Second Team All-West Coast Conference in 2017, was voted to the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team.
• Last spring Baker ranked 27th nationally and was third in the WCC in K's per 9.0 innings (11.41); he also had the Pilots' lone complete game of the season, and his 3.03 ERA was fifth in the conference; his career-high 13 K's at Pacific (April 30) tied for the third most in a game ever for the Pilots.
• New to The Bluff this year are 14 newcomers, which includes four transfers, two redshirts, and eight true freshmen.
• Some tidbits from last year:
        - The 16-inning game against Pepperdine at Joe Etzel Field on April 9 was the longest game for the Pilots since also playing a 16-inning contest in 2008 vs. Northern Illinois.
        - Portland's 10-10 tie at Seattle on April 5 was the first tie for the Pilots since '03.
        - The capacity crowd of 1,300 to watch the Pilots and No. 1 Oregon State on April 4 was the largest in Joe Etzel Field history; the previous high was 1,092, which also came against Oregon State in 2016.
        - The 23-19 loss at BYU on May 11 featured the most combined runs in one game in the 94-year history of the UP baseball program, and it's the most runs ever scored by the Pilots during a loss.
• Joining Loomis on the bench this year is assistant coach Jake Valentine, who is also in his third year on Portland's staff; volunteer assistant coach David Tufo is back for his second year with the Pilots.
• Pitching coach Connor Lambert, who spent the past seven seasons as the associate head coach/pitching coach for the Corvallis Knights, is in his first year at Portland; he came to North Portland from the University of Utah, were he was the director of operations.
 
ABOUT THE ROADRUNNERS
• CSU Bakersfield comes to The Bluff having lost four straight.
• The Roadrunners are batting .248 as team, opponents are hitting .369, and CSUB's staff ERA is 9.47.
• Senior Andrew Penner is batting a team-high .419 with a homer and three RBI's, while Evan Berkey is hitting .394.
• After serving one year as interim head coach, Jeremy Beard was hired as permanent head coach of the Roadrunners in July of 2017.