PORTLAND PILOTS (3-1)
WEEK 2 SERIES NOTES

at #5 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1)
Dates: Fri-Sun, Feb. 24-26
Location: College Station, Texas
Ballpark: Olsen Field
Video: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series: N/A
Last: N/A

PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 W-L, ERA) 
Friday • Feb. 24 • 4 PM
POR: RHP Joey Gartrell (1-0, 3.60)
TAMU: RHP Nathan Dettmer (0-0, 0.00)

Saturday • Feb. 25 • 12 PM
POR: RHP Brock Gillis (0-0, 9.00)
TAMU: LHP Troy Wansing (0-0, 8.10)

Sunday • Feb. 26 • 11 AM
POR: RHP Nick Brink (1-0, 0.00)
TAMU: RHP Chris Cortez (1-0, 3.60)

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots are back on the road for one of their toughest tests this season -- a three-game road series against the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies.
• They'll play on Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 12 p.m. and the finale on Sunday at 11 a.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats as well.

NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL 
• The Pilots play their home opener on Wednesday, March 1 against the Seattle U Redhawks. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats as well.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots had an explosive first weekend of action, going 3-1 in their four-game series against the Utah Tech Trailblazers.
• The Pilots have won three of their last four opening weekend series.
• They scored a combined 45 runs over four games, with 44 of them coming in the first three games. It's the most runs the Pilots have scored in their opening three games ever.
• Their 17 runs last Friday were the most they've scored on opening day since the 1985 season.
• Portland leads the conference currently in batting average (.395), home runs (10), on-base percentage (.480), total runs (45), runs per game (11.2), hits (58), home runs per game (2.50) and sluggin percentage (.667).
• Nationally, they are third in batting average, ninth in total hits, seventh in slugging percentage, 13th in home runs, 11th in home runs per game, 13th in on-base percentage, 22nd in runs and 16th in runs per game.
• Portland catcher Nich Klemp had an astounding weekend at the plate, batting .765 with two home runs, five RBI's and an OPS of 1.928.
• Klemp currently leads the country in total hits (13) and hits per game (3.25). He is also  third in batting average and fourth in runs per game (2.50), batting average and on-base percentage, and is also the WCC leader for all of the above-mentioned categories.
• Also impressing at the plate, Jake Holcroft hit three home runs on Saturday, including two in Game 2 of their doubleheader. It was the first multi-home run game of his career.
• Holcroft is first in the WCC in home runs and home runs per game (.75). He is eighth and 11th nationally in each respective category.
• Briley Knight put together three multi-hit games this past weekend. He is fifth in the WCC in total hits (8), fourth in RBI's (7) and third in both RBI's per game (1.75) and runs per game (1.50). 
• Knight and Tristan Gomes both batted .444 after the weekend. Gomes hit a grand slam in his Pilot debut and had five RBI's as well.
• Among Pilots averaging two plate appearances per contest and 75% of games played, six are batting over .300: Klemp (.765), Knight, Gomes (.444 each), Jake Tsukada, Evan Scavotto (.375) and Holcroft (.316).
• On the mound, Joey Gartrell, Kaden Segel and Nick Brink all earned wins over the weekend. Segel allowed no runs in four innings of relief with five strikeouts.
• The Pilots were picked to finish fourth in the WCC this season, which is their highest slotting ever and their highest under head coach Geoff Loomis.
• D1 Baseball picked the Pilots to finish third in the conference with an outside shot to make the NCAA Regional.
• In their annual prospect rankings, DI Baseball had Christian Cooney, Brock Gillis and Jake Holcroft as the 20th, 21st and 30th ranked WCC prospects respectively for the 2023 MLB Draft. Pitcher Joey Gartrell was also second among prospects for the 2024 draft.
• The Pilots return 28 players in total while adding 10 newcomers.
• Three returning Pilots made the All-WCC Preseason team this season: Jake Holcroft, Brock Gillis and Peter Allegro.
• Of the Pilots' 10 All-WCC honorees from last year, seven return, including Holcroft, Allegro and Brock Gillis.
• 2023 marks the eighth year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 146 career wins as Portland's skipper, Loomis already ranks fourth all-time for total 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 PILOT BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots enter the 2023 season after a highly successful 2022 campaign.
• The Pilots finished last year second in the WCC with a 32-23 record overall and a 17-10 record in WCC play. It was their best overall record since the 2010 season and their best WCC record ever.
• Portland's second-place finish, also their best ever, helped them qualify for the WCC Tournament for the first time in program history. They finished third in the tournament.
• The Pilots had 10 players earn All-WCC honors last season, a program record. The honorees for Portland were Brett Gillis, Jake Holcroft, Peter Allegro, Sam Brown, Brock Gillis, Eli Morse, Ben Patacsil, Trace Tammaro, Jake Tsukada and Joey Gartrell.
• Brett Gillis and Holcroft were the Pilots' two first team selections, with Gillis being the first Pilot to ever win WCC Pitcher of the year after an incredible year on the mound.
• Gillis, an All-American for both Collegiate Baseball News and the ABCA/Rawlings, posted a 2.24 ERA with a 9-2 record overall. He led the WCC in ERA and ranked second nationally among pitchers with 70 or more innings pitched.
• The Washington native was also first in the WCC in hits allowed per nine innings (6.51), second in wins, third in strikeouts (115), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.27) and fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.59). Nationally, he was 21st in strikeouts, 23rd in wins, 27th in strikeouts per nine and 29th in hits allowed per nine.
• Gillis was one of two Pilots taken in the 2022 MLB Draft, being taken in the ninth round by the Houston Astros. Southpaw pitcher Caleb Franzen was also taken in the 12th round by the Colorado Rockies.
• Holcroft was the top batter for the Pilots last season, batting .343 with four home runs, 26 RBI's and a combined .893 on-base and slugging percentage (OPS). 
• Holcroft was third in the conference in batting average, fifth in total hits (71), tied for eighth in doubles (15) and ninth in on-base percentage (.420).
• Allegro was one of the best relief pitchers in the nation last year. He was an All-WCC Second Team selection and an ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region Second Team selection -- the first All-Region selection for the Pilots along with Brett Gillis since 1992 -- after posting a 2.76 ERA in 24 appearances.
• Allegro was first in the WCC and ninth nationally in saves at 13 last year. He is a preseason All-American as well, having made the first team for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the second team for Collegiate Baseball News.
• Brett's brother, Brock, posted a 4-4 record with a 4.61 ERA in 18 appearances (13 starts) in his first year at Portland.
• In WCC play, the Washington transfer posted a 2-1 record with a 2.93 ERA. He is the only returning pitcher for Portland who posted 10 or more starts last season.  
• Among other All-WCC returners for Portland, Trace Tammaro provides a strong bat after hitting .323 at the plate with seven home runs, 27 RBI's and an OPS of 1.019. 
• Tammaro was one game short of meeting the criteria to qualify as a statistical leader for the WCC. If he had qualified, he would have ranked first in OBP (.457), second in OPS, third in slugging percentage (.562) and seventh in batting average among WCC players. He was also tied for ninth in walks despite playing nine games less than the next closest player in games played.
• Ben Patacsil, who earned All-WCC Honorable Mention last year, was a solid third baseman for the Pilots, batting a career-best .290 with a home run and 21 RBI's.
• Patacsil earned five hits in the season opener against the Creighton Bluejays. He was just one shy of matching the single-game record for the Pilots in that category.
• A player who did hit that coveted six-hit mark was Jake Tsukada, the Pilots' returning second baseman who did so back in 2021 against the Pacific Tigers.
• Tsukada batted .274 with 20 RBI's and seven stolen bases.
• Gartrell rounds out the returning All-WCC players for the Pilots, having made the freshman team last season.
• The Oregon native had the most appearances of any Pilot pitcher with 26 (three starts). He posted a 4-1 record as well as a 4.46 ERA.
• Morse, now a volunteer assistant cooach for Portland, is the all-time leader in strikeouts for the Pilots at 297. He went 8-2 in 16 appearances for Portland last year, posting a 3.91 ERA with 96 strikeouts.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies are 3-1 to start the season and are one of the top teams in the nation.
• They hit .244 as a team with a staff ERA of 3.60.
• They were picked in the top 10 nationally of each primary preseason college baseball poll. 
• Jim Schlossnagle is in his 2nd season as head coach of the Aggies.

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