PORTLAND PILOTS (13-20, 6-9 WCC)
WEEK 10 GAME NOTES
 
at UNLV Rebels (26-12, 9-6 MWC)
Dates: Tue-Wed, April 17-18, 2018
First Pitches: 6:05 PM/2:05 PM
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Ballpark: Wilson Stadium
Video: UNLVRebels.com
Stats: UNLVRebels.com
Series: UNLV leads 3-0
2017: UNLV 5-1; UNLV 4-1 (April 25-26 in Las Vegas, Nev.)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Tuesday • April 17 • 6:05 PM
POR: RHP Joey Morris (1-0, 8.53)
UNLV: LHP Garrett Poole (1-1, 6.27)
 
Wednesday • April 18 • 2:05 PM
POR: TBA
UNLV: RHP Paul Richy (1-0, 7.61)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots head back on the road this week for a pair of non-conference games against the UNLV Rebels at Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.
• The Pilots and Rebels first play on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m., and Wednesday's contest is scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m.
• A stream for both games is available at UNLVRebels.com
• Portland then remains on the road this weekend for a three-game West Coast Conference series against the LMU Lions in Los Angeles, which opens on Friday night at 6 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots went 3-1 last week, defeating the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Monday before winning a WCC home series against BYU.
• Against the Ducks, Portland overcame an early deficit and a ninth-inning, game-tying home run to win 9-7 in 11 innings.
• Portland's go-ahead run came in the 11th on a passed ball, and Ryan Kim added some insurance with an RBI single; Portland had 15 hits as a team.
• The Pilots then opened the series vs. BYU with a 4-3 win on Thursday night.
• Cody Hawken and Daniel Lopez both left the yard, with Lopez's homer in the bottom of the sixth proving to be the game-winner at Joe Etzel Field.
• Christian Peters was flawless in relief to earn the win, and Connor Knutson collected his third save of the year.
• The Cougars won the second game Friday night 6-2, but the Pilots responded to claim Saturday's finale 8-6,
• During that win, the Pilots scored all eight runs between the second and fourth innings, and Knutson notched another save; all nine Portland starters reached base.
• Knutson registered a win and two saves during Portland's four games en route to WCC Pitcher of the Week honors.


ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Sophomore right-handed reliever Connor Knutson is the Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week after producing a win and two saves last week; Knutson's final line for the week included only two hits, both singles, in 4.0 scoreless innings, and he claimed five K's.
• Previously sophomore outfielder Beau Brundage nabbed Rawlings WCC Player of the Week honors on March 12 after hitting .563 with three doubles and seven RBI's during a four-game series at home with UC Irvine (Mar. 9-11).
• Brundage had an 18-game hitting streak earlier this season, and he's only gone hitless five times.
• He leads the WCC in batting average (.389) and hits per game (1.55), and he's second in on-base percentage (.471).
• The Pilots rank first in the WCC in sacrifice flies (18) and are second in home runs (21), triples (7), and slugging percentage (.390).
• Matt Kelly is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, which matches a career-long.
• Last weekend the Pilots won a conference series over BYU for the first time ever.
• Portland has already won three WCC series this season, which is the most won by the Pilots since claiming four league sets in 2012.
• Portland's 11-9 comeback win at Santa Clara on March 29 marks the largest come-from-behind win during the modern era of UP baseball; the Pilots scored nine runs in the top of the eighth, with seven coming with two outs, to secure the win.
• The nine runs are tied for the most by a Pilot team in a single inning since Portland tallied 11 runs in the seventh inning of a 19-0 win versus UC Davis on March 24, 2006 at Joe Etzel Field.
• Ryan Kim nearly became the first Portland player in program history to hit for the cycle on Feb. 24 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, five RBI performance on Feb. 24 against Saint Joseph's; no player in UP history has hit three home runs in a game.
• Portland played 20 of their first 24 games of 2018 at Joe Etzel Field.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Baker, who earned Second Team All-WCC in 2017, was voted to the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team; he's currently unavailable as he recovers from an injury.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 UP from the University of Utah, were he was the director of operations.
 
ABOUT THE REBELS
• The UNLV Rebels enter the week No. 49 in the RPI and are coming off a Mountain West Conference series win over Air Force.
• They feature one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking second in the country in both hits (440) and doubles (98), and they're third in batting average (.321).
• Bryson Scott is one of seven players batting better than .300 with a .394 average, and he's first nationally in hits (65) and doubles (21).
• Opponents are batting .295 against UNLV, and their staff ERA is 4.81.
• Stan Stolte is in his third year as head coach of the Rebels after previously serving as UNLV's associate head coach for five years.