PORTLAND PILOTS (22-17, 11-7 WCC)
WEEK 11 SERIES NOTES
 
vs. BYU Cougars
(17-21, 7-8 WCC)
Date: Thu-Sat, April 27-29
Location: Provo, Utah
Ballpark: Miller Park
Video: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series: BYU Leads 30-17-0
Last: POR 3, BYU 1 (3/19/22)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 W-L, ERA)
Thursday • April 27 • 5 PM
POR: RHP Joey Gartrell (4-3, 4.50)
BYU: LHP Mason Olson (3-3, 5.05)
 
Friday • April 28 • 3 PM
POR: RHP Peter Allegro (5-3, 4.66)
BYU: RHP Bryce Robison (5-2, 6.67)
 
Saturday • April 29 • 1 PM
POR: RHP Nick Brink (2-0, 2.03)
BYU: RHP Ben Hansen (0-1, 4.03)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots will travel to Provo for a three-game series against the BYU Cougars.
• The two teams will play on Thursday, April 27, Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29. They'll play on Thursday and Friday at 5 p.m. and on Saturday at 12 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live streams and stats as well.
 
NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots will rest up for the week before playing the Oregon State Beavers at Ron Tonkin Field.
• The two teams will play on Tuesday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. on Portland's CW.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats as well.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 22-17 overall and 11-7 in WCC play after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs this past weekend.
• The series win marked the first time the Pilots have beat the Zags in a three-game series since 2015.
• The Pilots are second in the WCC with the series win, tied with San Diego. The Pilots hold the tiebreaker over San Diego with their series win over the Toreros.
• Portland lost the series opener but followed that with a 7-4 win over the Zags and a 5-4 walk-off win in the finale. It was their second walk-off of the week.
• Zach Toglia was the batter who drove in the winning run for the Pilots on Sunday. He batted .429 over the week with two home runs as well.
• Toglia wasn't the only batter to impress at the plate, with three other batters hitting over .400 over the week: Briley Knight (.500), Jake Tsukada (.417) and Nich Klemp (.412).
• With their three homers last week, the Pilots are at 37 dingers for the year. That's the most they've hit in a season since 2019.
• On the mound, Nick Brink's stellar start helped him earn WCC Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in his career.
• Brink went a career-high six innings and allowed just one run, five hits and two walks while posting seven strikeouts, also a career high.
• Portland currently leads the WCC in batting average (.290) and total hits (398) and are second in doubles (86), doubles per game (2.21), ERA (4.88), hits allowed per nine innings (8.66), strikeouts per nine innings (8.8) and win-loss percentage (.564).
• The top batter by average has been Nich Klemp, who's batting .366 on the season to rank fourth in the WCC.
• Klemp leads the WCC currently in doubles at 16 (31st nationally) and doubles per game at 0.44. His 1.47 hits per game is also third in the conference.
• Jake Holcroft has also shined this season, batting .353 to rank seventh in the WCC. Holcroft is also second in the WCC in total hits (60) and hits per game (1.54). He has also been the toughest batter to strike out this year in the conference, doing so just once every 13.1 at-bats, an average that ranks 24th nationally.
• Holcroft also currently ranks fifth in program history batting average at .338 and also 10th in total runs scored (115), eighth in total hits (215) and 11th in total bases (309). His batting average is third among Pilots with more than 600 at-bats.
• Among conference leaders, Peter Allegro is second in wins (5) and fourth in strikeouts (63), Jacob Dobmeier leads the WCC and ranks 21st nationally in saves (7), Briley Knight ranks fourth in doubles (13) and third in doubles per game (0.37) and Ben Patacsil ranks second in the WCC and 18th nationally in hit by pitch (15).
• The Pilots have three qualified batters (at least 2 PA/G and 75% of games played) batting over .300: Klemp (.366), Holcroft (.353), and Knight (.317).
• 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, six return, including Holcroft, Allegro and Brock Gillis.
• 2023 marks the eighth year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 165 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.
• 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 BYU Cougars are 17-21 overall and 7-8 in WCC play.
• They hit .285 as a team and have a 7.08 staff ERA.
• The Cougars made the WCC Tournament last season, losing in the first round.
• Trent Pratt is in his first year as head coach of the Cougars.