PORTLAND PILOTS (12-4)
WEEK 5 GAME NOTES

vs. BYU Cougars (9-5)
Dates: Thu-Sat, March 17-19
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
Video: PortlandPilots.com  
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com 
Series: BYU leads 15-29-0
Last: POR 7, BYU 6 (April 10, 2021 @BYU)

Thursday • March 17 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Caleb Franzen (1-2, 4.76)
BYU: RHP Jack Sterner (0-1, 3.66)

Friday • March 18 • 2 PM
POR: RHP Brett Gillis (3-1, 1.50)
BYU: RHP Janzen Keisel (2-0, 1.77)

Saturday • March 19 • 1 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (3-0, 4.50)
BYU: RHP Ryan Brady (1-0, 3.77)

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots are back at Joe Etzel Field for their first West Coast Conference series of the season against the BYU Cougars.
• The series will start on Thursday, March 17 with their opener at 6 p.m. The two teams will then play on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19, with Friday starting at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats.

NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots will stay home for their matchup against the Seattle U Redhawks on March 22.
•  First pitch for the game is currently set for 4 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats.

ABOUT THE PILOTS 
• The Pilots are 12-4 to start the year after earning a big win over Washington.
• Prior to that, Portland swept the UC Riverside Highlanders in a three-game series, their second sweep of the season.
• Portland has won four in a row and their 12-4 record is tied for the best 16-game start for Portland since Geoff Loomis took over as head coach. They went 8-4 in their 12-game road stretch
• Trace Tammaro went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI's while Jake Holcroft went an impressive 3-for-4 with an RBI against Washington. Both players are currently sporting a six-game hit streak, the highest of any Pilot this year. 
• Holcroft has been the top batter for the Pilots among qualified batters with a .367 average, a homer and 11 RBI's. His 1.47 hits per game is good for sixth in the WCC.
• Although he's just short of the required number of at-bats, Tammaro does have  a .400 batting average with an OPS of 1.202. His three home runs is tops on the team.
• The top pitcher for Portland so far has been Brett Gillis, who is 3-1 on the year with an impressive 1.50 ERA and 31 strikeouts. His ERA is tops in the WCC, and he's also third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.20), fifth in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (11.62).
• The Pilots currently second the WCC in walks (79), on-base percentage (.396) and sacrifice flies (8) and third in total hits (156) and runs (105).
• Among other notable individual rankings, Peter Allegro is first in the WCC and third in the nation in saves (5) while Nick Nygard is first in walks allowed per nine innings (1.04) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.50) and fourth in WHIP (1.04)
• Sophomore Sam Brown and senior Eli Morse were both named to the All-WCC Preseason Team this season. The Pilots as a team were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The sixth-place ranking marks the first time since 2003 that the Pilots were slated to finish in the top six. It's the first time since the conference also expanded to 10 teams in 2013.
• The Pilots return 28 players while adding 10 newcomers from last year's squad, including seven players who earned All-WCC honors last year. Seven position starters return along with 11 pitchers.
• Morse returns after leading the WCC in saves last season with eight. He was among the nation's leaders in the category as well for most of the year.
• Morse is fourth all-time in total strikeouts (226), ninth all-time in program history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.48) and 10th in saves (eight). He is sixth in the WCC in strikeouts this season with 28.
• Jake Tsukada, Ben Patacsil and Jake Holcroft were among the top batters for the Pilots, batting .282, .263 and .262 as freshmen.
• Tsukada also tied the school record for hits in a games last season against the Pacific Tigers with six. He is the first Pilot who played Division I baseball to do so.
• Holcroft batted an astounding .484 in a shortened 2020 season and was named a Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American. Against San Jose State, he batted .455 with four RBI's
• Caleb Franzen is another hurler poised for a breakout season with the Pilots. Last season, he was third in the WCC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.82) and fourth in walks allowed per nine innings (1.65).
• The Pilots also return Trace Tammaro, who sat out almost all of last season due to a back injury. The redshirt sophomore batted .333 with a team-leading seven home runs in 2020. He is tied for the team-lead with two home runs this year.
• 2022 marks the seventh year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 123 career wins as Portland's skipper, Loomis already ranks fourth all-time for coaching wins at Portland.
• 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).

LAST SEASON IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots went 24-26 overall last season with a 14-13 record in WCC play.
• Their fifth-place finish in the WCC was their best full-season finish since head coach Geoff Loomis took over the Pilots and their best since 2011. Their 14 wins in WCC player were also the most for the team since 2010.
• The Pilots had nine players earn All-WCC recognition, with shortstop Chad Stevens most notably earning first team recognition. First baseman Sam Brown and starting pitcher Christian Peters both named to the All-WCC Second Team.
• Stevens batted a team-high .333 with with 67 hits, eight home runs, 19 doubles and 29 RBI's. His total hits and doubles both were tops in the WCC and he was also second in extra-base hits (27) and total bases (110).
• Stevens was subsequently drafted in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros. The last Pilot to get drafted was Beau Brundage in 2018.
• Brown put together one of the best seasons by a freshman in the conference, batting .315 with five home runs, 16 doubles and a triple. Among freshman, he was first in doubles (fifth overall), second in extra-base hits (22), third in slugging percentage (.495) and fifth in batting average.
• Brown made the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American baseball team as well, becoming the third Pilot to do so since 2012.
• Peters was among the top hurlers, with the second best ERA in the WCC at 2.63. He was also fourth in WHIP (1.12) and strikeouts (78). He was one of only three pitchers to earn WCC Pitcher of the Week honors multiple times last year.
• The other six players to earn All-WCC recognition were pitcher Peter Allegro, two-way player Brett Gillis, left fielder Jake Holcroft, center fielder Briley Knight, pitcher Eli Morse and second baseman Jake Tsukada. Brown, Holcroft and Tsukada all made the All-WCC Freshman Team.
• As a whole, the team ranked second in the WCC in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.93), WHIP (1.31) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.28). Their four shutouts also ranked third in the WCC.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT 
• The BYU Cougars are 9-5 so far this season, good for fourth in the WCC
• They hit .262 as a team with a staff ERA of 3.38.
• They most recently took down a tough Pac-12 opponent in the Utah Utes, winning 10-3 on the road
• Mike Littlewood is in his 10th season as head coach of the Cougars.