PORTLAND PILOTS (22-21, 13-8 WCC) VS. No. 22 GONZAGA BULLDOGS (27-13, 14-4 WCC)
Date: Fri-Sun, May 14-16 
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
Live Video: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series: GON leads 129-83 
Last: GON 8, POR 1 (Mar. 7, 2021 @GON)

PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 W-L, ERA)
Friday • May 14 • 6 PM • Game 1
POR: RHP Brett Gillis (2-3, 4.91) 
GON: RHP Alek Jacob (4-1, 3.02)
 
Saturday • May 15 • 3 PM • Game 2
POR: LHP Brad Mcvay (6-2, 2.98)
GON: RHP William Kempner (2-1, 2.20)
 
Sunday • May 16 • 12 PM • Game 3
POR: TBA
GON: TBA

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots are set for their final home WCC series of the season against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
• The two teams will start the series with a game on Friday, May 14 at 6 p.m.
• Following that, they will play on Saturday, May 15 at 3 p.m. and will close the series with a Sunday matchup on May 16 at 12 p.m.
• 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
• The Pilots will play their final home game against Oregon State before playing their final WCC series against the San Diego Toreros.
• Portland's game against the Beavers will take place on Tuesday, May 18 at 5 p.m. at Joe Etzel Field.
• The Pilots will then head to San Diego for their series against the Toreros starting on Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m. They will then play on Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at 6 p.m. as well
•Check PortlandPilots.com for links to live stats and video.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland's 13-8 record in WCC play is their best through 21 games since 2010 and the best 18-game mark since Geoff Loomis took over as head coach in 2016.
• Sophomore RHP Peter Allegro was named WCC Pitcher of the week on Monday for his stellar relief performance against the Pepperdine Waves on May 7. Allegro earned a save after pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out eight batters in the process.
• Junior shortstop Chad Steven has been locked in at the plate this season, twice earning WCC Player of the Week honors. The Fox Island, Wash. native most recently won the award on Apr. 12 after batting 11-for-18 the week prior with a pair of four-hit games. In his last four games, he has batted 9-for-18 with a home run and a double.
• Stevens leads the Pilots in several stats at the plate, including total hits (57), doubles (16), home runs (7) and RBI's (21). His 16 doubles are good for 20th in the nation and first in the WCC.
• Freshman first baseman Sam Brown has been electric in his first season on The Bluff. Brown ranks second on the team in batting average (.327), hits (50), doubles (13) and slugging percentage (.503).
• Brown is first among WCC freshmen in slugging percentage (.503) and second in batting average (.327).
• Redshirt freshman Jake Holcroft has recorded a hit in the past 13 games for the Pilots. Over that stretch, he has batted .313 with one home run, one double and five RBI's.
• Junior right fielder Gabe Skoro is 8-of-15 in his last four games with three RBI's. He is now batting .324 on the season in 16 games played
• Portland is second in the WCC in shutouts (4), WHIP (1.31), walks allowed per nine innings (3.30) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.85).
• Portland's Friday and Saturday starters -- RHP Brett Gillis and LHP Brad McVay -- had stellar weekends against the Pepperdine Waves. Gillis recorded 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings on May 8 while McVay had a quality six innings with seven strikeouts on May 9.
• McVay is tied for the conference lead in wins this season with six. He has posted a 2.98 ERA (fifth in the WCC) with 59 strikeouts in 11 appearances this year.
• Senior RHP Christian Peters won WCC Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 30 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 2.91 ERA and 62 strikeouts. He is third in the WCC in ERA and seventh in strikeouts.
• Junior RHP Eli Morse has shined in relief after making the move to the bullpen this year. He is 11th nationally and tops the WCC in saves with eight.
• Two of the top three batters for the Pilots are freshmen: Brown (.327) and Jake Tsukada (.310).
• Tsukada tied the single-game record for most hits by a Pilot 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. In his past four games, he has gone 7-for-15 with six RBI's.
• Peters, Stevens, sophomore first baseman Tracye Tammaro, and 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 8.70 and Morse at 8.36.
• 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 No. 22 Gonzaga Bulldogs are 27-13 this season and 14-4 in WCC play.
• They are hitting .285, have a staff ERA of 4.18 and are holding opponents to a .234 batting average.
• Gonzaga sits at the top of the conference with the best winning percentage in the WCC. Before their recent pause due to COVID-19, they had won six in a row
• Junior Brett Harris has been one of the best batters in the WCC this season, leading the conference in batting average (.373), on-base percentage (.500) and runs per game (1.07).
• On the mound, junior RHP and Friday starter Alek Jacob has posted a conference-leading 80 strikeouts and is also first in WHIP (0.88), complete games (1) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.56).
• Mark Machtolf is in his 18th season as head coach of the Zags.

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.