PORTLAND PILOTS (20-17, 2-13 WCC)
WEEK 10 GAME NOTES
 
at San Diego Toreros (23-14, 7-8 WCC)
Date: Thur-Sat, April 18-20, 2019
First Pitches: 6 PM/6 PM/1 PM
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Ballpark: Fowler Park
Video: Game 1  Game 2  Game 3
Stats: Game 1  Game 2  Game 3
Series: USD leads 62-26
2018: USD 9-4, USD 5-0, POR 4-3 (May 11-13 in Portland, Ore.)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Thursday • April 18 • 6 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA
 
Friday • April 19 • 6 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA
 
Saturday • April 20 • 1 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots travel south for a three-game West Coast Conference series with the San Diego Toreros at Fowler Park in San Diego, Calif.
• The series opens at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Friday's first pitch is also set for 6 p.m., and Saturday's finale will begin at 1 p.m.
• Links for live streams and live stats for all three games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots dropped a WCC series to the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Joe Etzel Field.
• Friday night's opener was close, as the Bulldogs scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to claim a 4-2 win.
• Chad Stevens went 3-for-4 and scored both Portland runs during the loss.
• The Zags took Saturday's game as well before outlasting the Pilots 4-3 on Sunday in 11 innings.
• Cody Hawken hit a two-run homer for the Pilots during the finale, and Matt Kelly provided a clutch, game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Redshirt-Senior right-hander Chris Clements was the Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season on April 1 after collecting a pair of W's against No. 8 Oregon State and LMU.
• In 10.0 total innings against the Beavers and Lions, Clements surrendered just two earned runs, gave up only three hits, K'd eight, and walked one.
• Clements previously nabbed back-to-back league pitcher of the week awards after tossing consecutive complete games.
• Clements registered a complete-game shutout Sunday against Northern Colorado on March 10, which was the first shutout by a Pilot pitcher since 2015; the 13 K's against the Bears were the most for Portland since Kevin Baker fanned 13 in 2017.
• Clements produced his first complete-game win at Stephen F. Austin on March 2.
• Clements, a transfer who's in his first and only year with the Pilots, is 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA, he has 54 K's in 59.1 innings, and he's holding the opposition to a .179 batting average; he ranks 10th nationally in complete games (2), is 15th in WHIP (0.83), and is 22nd in wins.
• He also leads the WCC in wins, and he's second in the league in WHIP and complete games.
• The 20 runs scored Saturday, March 16, at USF are the most runs by the Pilots since 2006 when they won 20-13 at Oregon State, and it's the most runs for Portland against a WCC opponent since a 22-11 win at Santa Clara in 2002.
• It's also Portland's largest margin of victory since blanking UC Davis 19-0 in 2006.
• Portland opened the year 15-5, which equaled the program's second best record ever after 20 games; Portland's 1958 squad holds the record with an 17-3 mark, and the Pilots also went 15-5 in 1969.
• Portland's seven-game winning streak earlier this season was the longest stretch without a loss for the Pilots since 2010.
• Matt Kelly made history on March 16 when he collected an impressive seven RBI's at USF; it's the most RBI's by a Pilot since Kory Casto also drove in seven runs during a game in 2003.
• Earlier this year, freshman Tracye Tammaro homered in four straight games (March 13-17).
• Portland's sweep at home against Northern Colorado (March 8-10) was the first four-game series sweep for the Pilots since taking four from Eastern Oregon in 1982, and it was the first against a DI opponent since winning four against Seattle in 1980.
• The Pilots lead the WCC in home runs (35) and home runs per game (0.95), and they're second in stolen bases (35).
• Cody Hawken ranks 10th nationally in hit-by-pitches (15) and he's just one shy of matching UP's career mark in that category; Hawken has been plunked 32 times in his career, while the program leader Cory Lunde (1999-2002) claims 44 HBP's.
• Portland closer Connor Knutson is 14th in the country and leads the WCC with eight saves.
• Chad Stevens is second in the WCC in runs (37), while right-hander Eli Morse is 2nd in strikeouts (62) and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.17).
• 2019 marks the fourth 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).
• This summer, Loomis will be one of four managers for the 2019 Prospect Development Pipeline League, which will serve as the primary identification opportunity for the USA Baseball 18U National Team.
• The PDP League will take place at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and it features 80 of the top 2020 MLB Draft eligible high school prospects from around the United States.
• The Pilots' 23 wins last season were the most for the program since winning 27 in 2012; Portland's 12 WCC victories also matched the most for the program since that same season.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The San Diego Toreros feature the WCC's top offense as they lead the league in batting average (.292), runs (261), runs per game (7.1), and hits (372).
• Shane McGuire and Ripken Reyes both have a conference-best 110 hits, and Cody McCready leads six Toreros hitting better than .300 with a .377 average.
• USD's staff ERA is 5.36, they're allowing opponents to bat .244, and starter Chris Murphy leads the WCC and ranks 13th nationally in hits per 9.0 (4.79).
• Rich Hill is in his 21st year as head coach at USD and has compiled almost 700 wins with the Toreros; he's led USD to six WCC titles.