PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots baseball team officially opened the 2019 season with their first practice, which took place on Friday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. Portland's first game is three weeks away when they travel to Hawai'i for a four-game series the weekend of Feb. 15-17.
Â
The Pilots feature an experienced squad in 2019, while at the same time they add a bevy of newcomers. Portland returns 18 letterwinners and five position starters, which includes all-conference senior outfielder Cody Hawken. Hawken had a career year as junior, batting a team-best .340 during conference play. He also hit a career-best .323 overall and led the Pilots with 10 homers and 36 RBI's.
Â
Senior Matt Kelly returns as well, bringing a wealth of experience back to the infield, and joining him are third baseman Daniel Lopez and Chad Stevens, who started every game at shortstop as a freshman in 2018.
Â
Portland's pitching staff is loaded with veterans and features 2018 all-conference picks Eli Morse and Connor Knutson. Morse, a sophomore righty, flourished as Portland's Friday starter last spring, registering three wins and collecting the program's first complete-game win since 2015. He had an ERA of 3.62 as a freshman, and he fanned 71 in a staff-high 82.0 innings. Knutson, a junior right-handed reliever, made 22 appearances out of the pen last year, going 4-2 with eight saves, a 2.75 ERA and an opponents' batting average of .191.
Â
Senior starter Kevin Baker also returns after missing most of last season with an injury. Baker earned All-WCC Second Team recognition in 2017, and he currently ranks No. 2 all-time at UP with a career average of 10.63 strikeouts per game.
Â
Head coach Geoff Loomis, a Portland baseball alum, returns for his fourth year at the helm of the Pilots, and joining him in the dugout are assistants Jake Valentine (4th year), Connor Lambert (2nd year), and David Tufo (3rd year). The Pilots will be looking to build on their 23 wins and 12 league victories in 2018.
Â
The Pilots follow their trip to Hawai'i with a pair of visits to the state of Texas before returning to The Bluff for their home opener against Oregon on Tuesday, March 5 at Joe Etzel Field.
Â