PORTLAND PILOTS (13-13) @ NO. 19 OREGON DUCKS (16-6) 
Date: Tue, Apr. 6
Time: 2 PM
Location: Eugene, Ore. 
Ballpark: PK Park 
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: UO leads 24-11 
Last: UO 10, POR 1 (Mar. 23, 2021 @UO) 

PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 W-L, ERA) 
POR: RHP Jacob Dobmeier (0-1, 2.84) 
ORE: RHP Isaac Ayon (0-0, 6.59) 

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots are headed back to Eugene for a rematch against the No. 19 Oregon Ducks.
• The two teams will play Tuesday, Apr. 6 at 2 PM.
• A video stream and live stats will be available for all three games, and links can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

NEXT WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• Portland will head to Provo, Utah to face the Cougars, with the first game taking place on Thursday, Apr. 8 at 5 PM.
• The two teams will then play on Friday, Apr. 9 at 5 p.m. and on Saturday, Apr. 10 at 12 PM. Live stats and video will be available at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Last week, senior RHP Christian Peters won WCC Pitcher of the Week for his stellar performance against the Santa Clara Broncos. On Mar. 26, the senior matched his career-high for strikeouts with 11 in eight shutout innings.
• Peters has four wins on the year with a 3.05 ERA and 41 strikeouts. He is fourth in wins and strikeouts respectively in the WCC.
• Junior RHP Eli Morse has shined in relief after making the move to the bullpen earlier this year, with 19 strikeouts to four walks in 18.2 innings of work. He is also tied for seventh nationally and tops the WCC in saves with six.
• Redshirt sophomore LHP Brad McVay has also had a stellar year on the mound. He improved to 4-1 this past weekend in Portland 3-0 series-clinching win over the Saint Mary's Gaels. McVay had eight strikeouts in seven shutout innings for the Pilots.
• McVay is tied for the team lead in wins (4) and holds the sole lead in ERA (2.12). He ranks fourth in the WCC in both of those categories as well.
• Junior shortstop Chad Stevens has been locked in at the plate this season, even earning WCC Player of the Week honors back on Mar. 23 for his performance. That week, Stevens was 10-22 with four doubles, two home runs, six runs scored and nine RBI's.
•Stevens is fourth on the Pilots in batting average at .307 and leads the team in home runs (four), doubles (10), RBI's (17), total bases (53), slugging percentage (.525) and OPS (.894). His 10 doubles are tied for the most in the WCC.
• Portland is first in the WCC in fewest total earned runs allowed (88), holds the sole lead in shutouts (four) and fewest walks allowed (81).
• The top three batters for Portland up to this point are freshmen: Sam Brown (.321), Jake Tsukada (.320) and Ben Patacsil (.310).
• Tsukada tied the single game record for most hits by a Pilot in a single game on Friday, Mar. 19 against Pacific with six hits and reached a base on 10 straight plate appearances, also thought to be the most in program history. 
• Peters, Stevens, sophomore first baseman Tracye Tammaro, and redshirt-freshman outfielder Jake Holcroft were all voted to the 2021 All-West Coast Conference Preseason Baseball Team. 
• The Pilots tied Pepperdine for the most players on the all-league preseason team, and it's the second straight year to earn the honor for Stevens.  
• The Pilots as a team were selected to finish seventh in the annual poll of the league's 10 head coaches. 
• Senior closer Connor Knutson entered the year second all-time in program history with 22 career saves; the right-hander is just two stops shy of matching career leader Chris Dennis, who compiled 24 saves from 2010-11. 
• Elsewhere on the program's career charts, Peters and Morse rank eighth and ninth respectively for most strikeouts per nine innings. Peters sits at 8.57 and Morse at 8.26.
• The Pilots lost only five players from last year's roster and return 28 letterwinners, including all nine position starters and almost the entire pitching staff. 
• 2021 marks the sixth year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis whose 97 career wins ranks third all-time at Portland. 
• The 25 wins the Pilots recorded in 2019 are the most in a season since 2012. 
• Loomis is a Portland baseball alum and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member who still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376). 
• Joe Etzel Field, UP's home site since 1966 has undergone some upgrades as the University concluded a three-phase, long-term renovation project. 
• The final and most recent phase of the project features the addition of new seating, concourse, press box, ticketing office, dugouts, and a refreshed plaza surrounding the stadium. 
• In 2014, updates included the installation of AstroTurf, new fencing, bullpens, a scoreboard, and a grass berm down the right field line, while new lights were added in 2016. 

ABOUT THE OPPONENT 
• The Oregon Ducks are 16-6 to start the season. 
• They are hitting .265, have a staff ERA of 3.49 and are holding opponents to a .230 batting average. 
• Aaron Zavala is the top batter for the Ducks, leading the club in batting average at .419. Kenyon Yovan is also having a solid year at the plate, batting .379 while leading the team in home runs (8), RBI's (24) and slugging percentage (.776)
• Mark Wasikowski is in his second season as Oregon's head coach. 
 
LAST SEASON IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots were off to a great start last year with a 12-4 record before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• At the end of the abbreviated season, the Pilots were among the nation's leaders in hitting, pitching, and fielding. 
• They were seventh in the country in home runs (23) and 25th in slugging percentage (.471). 
• On the hill their hits allowed per nine innings (6.7) was 23rd, and the staff ERA (2.62) ranked 27th. 
• Individually, Jake Holcroft was one of the best hitters in the country en route to nabbing Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American recognition; he hit a torrid .484 at the plate, which ranked third in the country, and his 30 hits were third nationally. Holcroft was Portland's first freshman All-American since 2012. 
• Christian Peters was nearly flawless on the mound, going 3-1 in four starts with a minuscule 0.63 ERA; he struck out 35 in 28.2 total innings, walked only three, and allowed just three earned runs to rank 24th nationally in ERA. 
• Tracye Tammaro was among the nation's leaders in home runs, belting seven dingers in 16 games to rank eighth in the country; his 22 RBI's were good for 16th nationally.