PORTLAND PILOTS (31-21)
WEEK 15 GAME NOTES

vs. San Diego/BYU/LMU
Dates: Thursday, May  26
Location: Stockton, Calif.
Ballpark: Banner Island Ballpark
Video: PortlandPilots.com    
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com 
WCC Tournament Record: 0-0

PROBABLE STARTERS (2022 W-L, ERA) 
Thursday • May 26 • 7 PM
POR: TBA
TBD: TBA

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots are in the WCC Tournament for the first time in program history, securing the No. 2 seed.
• With their first round bye, the Pilots will take on the second-lowest seed remaining on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. at Banner Island Park in Stockton, Calif.
• They will play either the San Diego Toreros, the BYU Cougars or the Loyla Marymount Lions.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats as well.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots finished the regular season with a 31-21 record overall and a 17-10 record in WCC play after dropping their final WCC series against the Pepperdine Waves.
• Despite the series loss, the Pilots still finish with their best overall record since 2010 and their best WCC record since joining the conference in 1996. They had also won 10 WCC games in a row, a program record, before dropping the second game against the Wavees.
• Head coach Geoff Loomis currently enjoys his best record with the Pilots since taking over as skipper in the 2016 season. His previous highest win total was 25, which he achieved in 2019.
• The WCC recently announced their All-WCC teams as well as conference awards, with the Pilots having 10 players earn some type of All-WCC honors. Most notably, Brett Gillis was named the WCC Pitcher of the Year, making him the first Pilot to win a major award.
• Gillis and Jake Holcroft made the All-WCC First Team, Peter Allegro made the second team, Joey Gartrell made the freshman team and Sam Brown, Brock Gillis, Eli Morse, Ben Patcsil, Trace Tammaro and Jake Tsukada each earned honorable mention.
• Brett has been one of the best pitchers in the nation, posting a 9-1 record and a 1.65 ERA. That ERA ranks first in the WCC and third in the nation among pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched. He's sixth among all qualified pitchers in ERA.
• Brett's nine wins is first in the WCC and tied for 10th in the nation. His 111 strikeouts is third in the WCC and 12th nationally and he is also first in the conference (17th nationally) in hits allowed per nine innings (5.93) and sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.18). He is one of only 27 pitchers with at least 100 strikeouts on the year.
• In terms of program ranks, Gillis's season is among the best. He has the second-most wins of any Pilot pitcher (9), the third most strikeouts (111), the fourth lowest ERA (1.65) and the fourth best strikeout per nine inning average (12.18).
• Outfielder Holcroft was in top form this past weekend, batting an impressive 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles. His stellar weekend moved him to third in the WCC in batting average on the year at .339 (tops on the Pilots). His on-base percentage of .416 is seventh in the WCC
• Designated hitter/first baseman Trace Tammaro has also starred at the plate, posting a slash line of .331/.575/.463 (BA/SLG/OBP). His on-base and slugging percentage both lead the team and he's second in bating average.
• Tammaro's OPS of 1.038 is tops in the WCC. He is first in on-base percentage and third in sluggin percentage. His batting average also ranks sixth.
• The Pilots are currently first in the WCC in hits allowed per nine innings (8.17), second in walks (229), on-base percentage (.363) and WHIP (1.34) and third in ERA (4.04).
• Among other notable individual rankings, Allegro is first in the WCC and fourth in the nation in saves (13). He has 16 for his career, good for third in program history.
• Sophomore Brown and senior 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.
• Morse is second all-time for the Pilots in career strikeouts at 291. He is tied for fourth this season in the WCC in wins at seven and is also sixth in strikeouts at 90. He is ninth all-time in UP history in strikeouts per nine innings (8.73) and fourth in career starts (45).
• Brown is batting .240 with six home runs and a team-high 29 RBI's.
• Tsukada and Patacsil are each batting .269 on the season.
• Brock Gillis has a 2-1 record and 2.93 ERA in WCC play.
• Gartrell has a team-high 25 appearances and boasts a record of 4-1.
• 2022 marks the seventh year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 142 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 POSSIBLE OPPONENTS
• The San Diego Toreros are 32-18 and finished third in the WCC.
• The BYU Cougars are 33-20 overall and finished fourth in the WCC.
• The Loyola Marymount Lions are 19-32-1 but finished fifth in the WCC.
• The Pilots won their series against BYU and USD but narrowly dropped the LMU series.