PORTLAND PILOTS (19-12)
WEEK 9 GAME NOTES

vs. #14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-8)
Dates: Thu-Sat, April 14-16
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Ballpark: Patterson Baseball Complex
Video: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3    
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3  
Series: GU leads 136-79
Last: POR 3, GU 5 (10) (May 16, 2021 @POR)

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots are headed up to Spokane for more WCC action against the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
• They'll play the Zags on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m and on Saturday at 12 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats.

NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots will be back home for their final game this year against the Oregon Ducks.
• They two teams will face off on Tuesday, April 19 at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Portland's CW.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats as well.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 19-12 on the season and back at .500 in WCC play after defeating the San Diego Toreros in two of three games.
• They won the series opener and split their doubleheader to take the series. It's their second WCC series victory of the year and their first since defeating BYU to start WCC play.
• Brett Gillis recorded the win for Portland in the opener, pitching eight innings with only two runs and three hits allowed and seven strikeouts. No other Pilot pitcher has gone eight innings this season.
• No pitcher in the WCC has as many wins as Gillis this year at six. That's also tied for eighth in the nation.
• Gillis's 1.76 ERA is second in the WCC. He is also 22nd in the nation and fifth in the WCC in strikeouts (67), fifth in WHIP (1.04) and seventh in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (11.82).
• Eli Morse went 6.2 innings with two runs and seven hits allowed in Portland's win in Game 2 of their doubleheader. He also threw eight strikeouts.
• Morse is second all-time for the Pilots in career strikeouts at 261. He is tied for second in wins at five and is also sixth in strikeouts at 63. He is seventh all-time in UP history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.85) and sixth in career starts (39).
• Patacsil is the top qualified batter for Portland with a slash line of .317/.385/.395 (BA/SLG/OBP).
• Jake Holcroft was the top batter for the Pilots last week after batting .375 with four doubles and three RBI's. He's batting .311, leading the team in hits (37) and doubles (8).
• The Pilots are currently second in the WCC in walks (124) and fielding percentage (.975) and third in on-base percentage (.369) and hits (257).
• Among other notable individual rankings, Peter Allegro is tied for first in the WCC and 13th in the nation in saves (7). He's at 10 saves for his career, which is fifth all-time for the Pilots.
• 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 .236 with a team-high five home runs and 22 RBI's. He hit two home runs in Portland's series against LMU, marking the second time this season he's hit two homers in a WCC series this season, doing so against BYU as well.
• 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. This year he's batting .311 at the plate with an OPS of .828.
• 2022 marks the seventh year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 130 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 No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs are tops in the WCC at 21-8 overall and 9-3 in WCC play.
• They hit .286 as a team with a staff ERA of 4.36.
• Their 198 runs are second in the WCC.
• They've also earned a conference-leading three shutout and have brought home a WCC-leading 17 runners via sacrifice flies.
• Mark Machtolf is in his 19th season as head coach of the Zags.