PORTLAND PILOTS (13-22, 6-9 WCC)
WEEK 10 GAME NOTES
 
at Loyola Marymount Lions (17-20, 10-5 WCC)
Dates: Fri-Sun, April 20-22, 2018
First Pitches: 6 PM/6 PM/2 PM
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Ballpark: Page Stadium
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: LMULions.com
Series: LMU leads 53-30
2017: LMU 7-3; LMU 6-4 (10); LMU 16-5 (May 19-21 in Los Angeles)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • April 20 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (2-5, 4.00)
LMU: RHP Codie Paiva (4-3, 3.67)
 
Saturday • April 21 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (3-4, 5.16)
LMU: RHP Tyler Cohen (1-0, 0.00)
 
Sunday • April 22 • 1 PM
POR: TBA
LMU: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots look to stay in the race for the West Coast Conference Baseball Championships when they travel to Los Angeles, Calif., this weekend for a three-game series with the Loyola Marymount Lions at Page Stadium.
• First pitch for Friday's opener is set for 6 p.m., Saturday's game will begin at 6 p.m. as well, and Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m.
• A live stream for all three games is available at TheW.tv.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• UNLV took both games from the Pilots on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas.
• The Rebels claimed the first game 12-2, and on Wednesday they scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth en route to an 8-7 walk-off win.
• Last weekend the Pilots won a conference series over BYU for the first time ever.
• The Pilots opened the BYU series with a 4-3 win on Thursday night at Joe Etzel Field.
• 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
• 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 take 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 last week 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's currently in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak.
• He leads the WCC in batting average (.400), hits (56), hits per game (1.6), and on-base percentage (.475); he's 21st nationally in batting average.
• The Pilots rank first in the WCC in sacrifice flies (18) and are second in home runs (23), triples (8), and slugging percentage (.391).
• Matt Kelly is currently riding a career-long 12-game hitting streak; he's raised his average from .240 to .287 during that stretch.
• 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.
• 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 LIONS
• The LMU Lions enter the weekend tied on top of the WCC standings with a 10-5 league mark; the Lions swept a three-game home series from USF last weekend.
• LMU is batting .251 as a team, opponents are hitting .271, and their staff ERA is 5.35; LMU leads the WCC with nine triples.
• Sophomore Nick Sogard leads the team with a .339 batting average, and he's second to Beau Brundage in the WCC with an on-base percentage of .460.
• Pre-season All-WCC pick Jamey Smart, a senior, has driven in a team-best 35 RBI's.
• Jason Gill is in his 10th year as head coach of the Lions, who shared the 2017 WCC regular season title.