PORTLAND PILOTS (16-7)
WEEK 7 GAME NOTES
vs. Washington Huskies (13-10, 5-4 Pac-12)
Dates: Tuesday, March 29
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: UW Leads 95-54-1
Last: POR 5, UW 4 (March 15, 2022 @UW)
Tuesday • March 29 • 5 PM
POR: RHP Brock Gillis (2-1, 6.86)
UW: LHP Stu Flesland III (0-2, 1.32)
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots finish their homestand with their final game against Washington.
• The two teams will face off on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m. on Portland's CW.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats.
NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots will be back on the road for a three-game series against the Loyola Marymount Lions.
• First pitch for Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 is set for 6 p.m. while Sunday's April 3 finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 16-7 on the season after narrowly dropping their last WCC series to the San Francisco Dons.
• The Pilots dropped the first two games by a combined three runs before taking the final game 8-2 to avoid the sweep. In Game 2, the Pilots and Dons went 14 innings, making the game the longest the Pilots have played since 1992.
• Despite the series loss, the Pilots still hold their best record since the 2012 season.
• The Pilots also still got stellar production from their rotation this weekend.
• Brett Gillis pitched six innings with eight strikeouts and only one run and three hits allowed. It's the fifth time in six starts that he's allowed one run or less and the fourth time he's had at least eight strikeouts in a start.
• Gillis's 1.22 ERA is second in the WCC and 20th in the nation. He is also 20th in the nation and fifth in the WCC in strikeouts (51), and ranks fifth in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings.
• Eli Morse also pitched seven innings this past Sunday with only one run and five hits allowed and 10 strikeouts. He improved to 5-0 on the season. This is the first time this year he's hit the double-digit threshold for strikeouts, coming just one short of his career high.
• Morse moved to third all-time for the Pilots in career strikeouts at 242 and is just three shy of moving into a tie for second. He is one of only three WCC pitchers with at least five wins on the year and is also sixth in strikeouts at 44. He is ninth all-time in UP history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.61) and eighth in career starts (37).
• Patacsil is the top qualified batter for Portland with a slash line of .356/.438/.442 (BA/SLG/OBP).
• The Pilots are currently first in the WCC in walks (110), second in hits (221), fielding percentage (.976) and on-base percentage (.383) and third in runs (121) and batting average (.279).
• Among other notable individual rankings, Peter Allegro is second in the WCC and 11th in the nation in saves (6).
• 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 total 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.
• Brown is batting .248 with a team-high three home runs and 15 RBI's. He had two homers in the BYU series and a 4-for-5 outing against Seattle U last week.
• 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
• 2022 marks the seventh year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 127 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 Washington Huskies are 13-10 on the season and 5-4 in Pac-12 play.
• They hit .262 as a team with a staff ERA of 3.61.
• They most recently dropped their series against the Arizona State Sun Devils two games to one.
• Stefan Raeth is the top pitcher in the Pac-12 by ERA at 1.01.
• Lindsay Meggs is in his 13th season as head coach of the Huskies.
