PORTLAND PILOTS (27-20, 15-9 WCC)
WEEK 14 SERIES NOTES
 
at San Francisco Dons
(17-27, 7-17 WCC)
Date: Thu-Sat, May 18-20
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Ballpark: Benedetti Diamond
Video: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Series: USF Leads 66-33
Last: @POR 8, USF 2 (3/27/22)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 W-L, ERA)
Thursday • May 18 • 1:00 PM
POR: RHP Nick Brink (4-0, 1.80)
USF: RHP Max Jones (0-2, 6.53)
 
Friday • May 19 • 1:00 PM
POR: RHP Joey Gartrell (5-4, 4.56)
USF: RHP Adam Shew (3-3, 4.63)
 
Saturday • May 20 • 1:00 PM
POR: TBD
USF: RHP Jesse Barron (4-4, 4.73)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots finish the regular season this weekend against the San Francisco Dons down in the Bay Area.
• The two teams will play Thursday through Saturday, with all three games starting at 1 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for a live stream and stats as well.
 
NEXT UP IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots have clinched their spot in the WCC Tournament, with only the seeding to be determined.
• The tourney takes place from May 24-27.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for more information.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 27-20 overall and 15-9 in WCC play after winning their series against the Santa Clara Broncos and defeating the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers on Tuesday.
• The series win was the sixth of the season for the Pilots over a WCC team. They have now reached at least 15 wins in WCC play for the fourth time in program history.
• With the series win, the Pilots secured their spot in the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas next week. This is just the second time in program history the Pilots have made the WCC Tournament.
• If the Pilots win two of three games against San Francisco, they will secure second place in the conference and earn a bye in the WCC Tournament.
• Nich Klemp (.538), Evan Scavotto (.429) and Briley Knight (.333) were the only Pilots to bat over .300 over the Santa Clara series with at least 10 at-bats. Christian Cooney batted .714 with seven at-bats.
• Klemp hit three doubles in Sunday's loss against the Broncos, tying the school record for doubles in a game. He had four hits in that game as well.
• With three home runs in four games, Evan Scavotto became the first Pilot since 2008 to record at least 10 home runs and 40 RBI's in a season.
• Zach Toglia also hit two home runs over the weekend, making Toglia and Scavotto the first Pilot teammates since 2006 to each have at least nine home runs in a season.
• Nick Brink was dominant again on the mound, pitching seven innings with just one run allowed and a career-high nine strikeouts last Sunday.
• Brink's 1.80 ERA this year is the seventh best of any Pilot in program history with at least 45 innings pitched in a season.
• Against the Beavers, the Pilots dominated 14-8 to earn their first road win against the Beavers since 2006.
• It was the fourth win over a ranked opponent this year and the third against a top-10 team.
• As a team, the Pilots have crept into the season record books in several categories.
• They broke the record for doubles in a season with 111 against OSU and also tied the record for most RBI's in a season with 321. They currently hold their best slugging percentage ever in a season where they've posted at least 1,000 at-bats (.462).
• Along with this, they've recorded the second-most saves in a season (15), scored the third-most runs in a season (344), posted the fourth best batting avearge (.305), the fifth most home runs (48) and total bases (782) and the seventh most hits (515).
• Portland currently leads the WCC in batting average (.305), total hits (515) and runs per game (7.3) and ranks second in doubles (111), doubles per game (2.36), runs (344) and on-base percentage (.385).
• The top batter by average has been Nich Klemp, who's batting .374 on the season to rank third in the WCC.
• Klemp leads the WCC in doubles and ranks 16th nationally with 21. He is also second conference-wise in doubles per game (0.48) and fourth in total hits (68) and hits per game (1.55).
• Klemp's doubles total is the second most of any Pilot ever over the course of a season. He is two away from breaking the record. His batting average also ranks 10th.
• Jake Holcroft has starred at the plate as well, batting .349 and ranking second in the WCC in hits (73). He is also third in hits per game (1.55).
• Holcroft and Klemp currently rank fifth and eight in career batting average at .338 and .332. Holcroft is third among Pilots with 600 or more at-bats.
• Among other conference leaders, Jacob Dobmeier leads the WCC in saves (8), Ben Patacsil ranks second in hit by pitch (17), and Briley Knight is third in doubles (20). Knight is just the fifth Pilot ever to reach 20 doubles in a season.
• The Pilots have five qualified batters (at least 2 PA/G and 75% of games played) batting over .300: Klemp (.374), Holcroft (.349), Knight (.335), Henry Muench (.321), Toglia (.316) and Scavotto (.313).
• 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 170 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 coach 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 San Francisco Dons are 17-27 and 7-17 in WCC play
• They hit .260 as a team and have a 6.27 staff ERA.
• Rob DiToma is in his first season as coach of the Don

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