PORTLAND PILOTS (8-4)
WEEK 4 GAME NOTES

Dates: Thu-Fri, March 10-11
Location: Riverside, Calif.
Ballpark: Riverside Sports Complex
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series: Tied 7-7-0
Last: POR 1, UCR 4 (March 6, 2016 @POR)

Thursday • March 10 • 5 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (2-0, 4.00)
UCR: RHP Eric Marrujo (0-1, 6.50)

Friday • March 11 • 10 AM • Game 1
POR: RHP Joey Gartrell (0-0, 5.40)
UCR: RHP Tyler Frazier (0-2, 5.11)

Friday • March 11 • 1:05 PM • Game 2
POR: RHP Brett Gillis (2-1, 2.12)
UCR: RHP Caleb Turner (0-1, 9.00)

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots will head back to California for another three-game series, this time against UC Riverside.
• The two teams will start their series on Thursday with a showdown at 5 p.m. They'll play a doubleheader the following day on Friday starting at 10 p.m. 
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats.

NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots will return to the Pacific Northwest for a matchup against the Washington Huskies in Seattle.
• The two teams will play on Tuesday, March 15 with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats.

ABOUT THE PILOTS 
• The Pilots are 8-4 to start the year after most recently taking a loss to the Oregon Ducks.
• Prior to that loss, the Pilots had narrowly dropped their most recent series to the Fresno State Bulldogs and defeated the Cal Poly Mustangs in a one-off matchup.
• Nick Nygard shined as a reliever for the Pilots last week, pitching six innings over two games while allowing no runs and striking out eight.
• Nygard currently sits at first in the WCC strikeout-to-walk ratio (15.00) and walks allowed per nine (0.64) and fourth in saves (2).
• Briley Knight also impressed last week at the plate for the Pilots, batting a slash line of .462/.500/864 (BA/OBP/SLG) in four games. He had a home run and three RBI's as well.
• Knight currently bats .323 with an OPS of 1.109. He is tied for the team lead in homers with two.
• Jake Holcroft is the top batter so far with a .341 average. He currently holds a five-game hit streak.
• Brett Gillis has been the top pitcher with a 2.12 ERA and a 2-1 record. He ranks fifth in strikeouts conferece-wise (25), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.25) and fifth strikeouts per nine innings (13.24).
• The Pilots currently lead the WCC in walks (65), are second in on-base percentage (.401) and sacrifice flies (7) and third in total hits (111).
• Among other notable individual rankings, Jake Tsukada ranks first in sac flies (2), Peter Allegro ranks second in saves (3).
• 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 sixth all-time in total strikeouts (213), ninth all-time in program history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.41) and 10th in saves (eight).
• 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 119 career wins, 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 UC Riverside Highlanders are 1-10 on the year.
• They hit .329 as a team with a staff ERA of 4.68
• They most recently dropped their series against the Saint Mary's Gaels, winning only the final game of the series. The Gaels are a WCC-leading 12-1 so far this year.
• Justin Johnson is in his second year as head coach of the Highlanders.