PORTLAND PILOTS (17-11)
WEEK 8 GAME NOTES

vs. San Diego Toreros (18-9)
Dates: Fri-Sun, April 8-10
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
Video: PortlandPilots.com  
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com 
Series: USD leads 66-28
Last: POR 6, USD 2 (May 22, 2021 @USD)

Friday • April 8 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Brett Gillis (5-1, 1.67)
USD: RHP Garrett Rennie (2-2, 2.98)

Saturday • April 9 • 1 PM
POR: LHP Caleb Franzen (1-5, 5.40)
USD: LHP Brycen Mautz (5-1, 3.37)

Sunday • April 10 • 12 PM
POR: TBA
USD: TBA

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots will welcome the San Diego Toreros to Joe Etzel Field for a three-game WCC series.
• They'll play on Friday at 6 p.m., on Saturday at 1 p.m. and on Sunday at 12 p.m. Friday's game will also be broadcast on Portland's CW.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats.

NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots won't play any midweek games, instead restarting action towards the end of the week against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
•  They'll play the Zags in Spokane on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m and on Saturday at 12 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 17-11 on the season after dropping their series against the Loyola Marymount Lions two games to one and falling to the No. 5 Oregon State Beavers.
• The Pilots are still off to their best start through 28 games since the 2019 season. It's the second time under head coach Geoff Loomis they've held this strong a record at this point in the year.
• Brett Gillis continued his stretch of strong starts, going six innings in Portland's only victory this weekend, striking out nine batters and allowing only three runs. It's his fourth start this year with at least eight strikeouts.
• Gillis's 1.67 ERA is second in the WCC. He is also 20th in the nation and fifth in the WCC in strikeouts (60), and ranks sixth in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (12.56).
• Eli Morse went 5.2 innings and struck out 11 while allowing three runs. His 11 strikeouts matched a career-high for the senior.
• Morse moved to second all-time for the Pilots in career strikeouts at 253. He is tied for first in the WCC in wins on the year with Gillis at five and is also sixth in strikeouts at 55. He is eighth all-time in UP history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.80) and eighth in career starts (38).
• Patacsil is the top qualified batter for Portland with a slash line of .337/.413/.415 (BA/SLG/OBP).
• Gabe Skoro had a stellar weekend at the plate, batting .385 with five extra-base hits (four doubles, one triple). He added two RBI's as well.
• 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 10th in the nation in saves (7).
• 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 .255 with a team-high five home runs and 20 RBI's. He hit two home runs 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 .315 at the plate with an OPS of .814.
• 2022 marks the seventh year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 128 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 San Diego Toreros are 18-9 overall and 6-3 in WCC play, good for second in the WCC.
• They hit .297 as a team with a staff ERA of 4.47.
• They've turned the fourth-most double plays in the nation at 28.
• Brock Ungricht is in his first season as head coach of the Toreros.