PORTLAND PILOTS (29-21, 17-10 WCC)
WCC TOURNAMENT
 
vs. Santa Clara Broncos (31-18, 17-10 WCC)
Date: Thursday, May 25
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Ballpark: Las Vegas Ballpark
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
WCC Tourney All-Time: 1-2
Last vs. SCU: @POR 10, SCU 21 (5/14/23)

PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 W-L, ERA)
Thursday • May 25 • 7:20 PM
POR: TBD
SCU: TBD

THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots have clinched the No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament and are set to play the Santa Clara Broncos.
• The Pilots play on Thursday, May 25 at 7:20 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Portland Pilots finished the regular season 29-21 overall and 17-10 in WCC play.
• Their conference win total matches a program record for WCC wins in a single season, a record they set last season.
• Most recently, they took two out of three games against San Francisco, with those two wins securing No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament. The win earned them a bye into the second round.
• All-WCC honors were announced on Tuesday, with five players making the first team and three making honorable mention. Five first team honorees are the most the Pilots have ever had in a single season.
• The five first-team honorees were Nick Brink, Nich Klemp, Jake Holcroft, Evan Scavotto and Zach Toglia. Peter Allegro, Briley Knight and Ben Patacsil all earned honorable mention.
• Brink was dominant on the mound this year, with a 1.90 ERA and a 5-0 record across  13 appearances and eight starts. He led the WCC in ERA and also posted the third-best of any Pilot with more than 50 innings pitched.
• Klemp set the school record for doubles in a season with 24, ranking first in the WCC and fifth nationally in the category. He batted .383 on the year, which was third in the WCC and also the best mark by any Pilot since 1992.
• Holcroft batted .338 on the season with 75 hits as well as seven home runs and 40 RBI's, all career-highs. He is the first Pilot since Turner Gill to earn multiple first team appearances.
• Scavotto and Toglia each provided power for the Pilots, becoming the first Pilot teammates since 1992 to post 10 home runs each in a single season.
• Along with that, Scavotto is the first Pilot since Danny Meier in 2008 to reach 10 home runs and 40 RBI's in a season.
• Toglia is the first Pilot since Turner Gill in 2011 to make the All-WCC first team in their first season.
• Allegro received WCC honors for the third time in his career after making 16 appearances with 11 starts. Allegro set career highs in innings pitched (69.2) and strikeouts (69).
• Knight earned honorable mention after batting .324 with four home runs and 39 RBI's. He is just the fifth Pilot in program history to record at least 20 doubles in a season.
• Patacsil batted .289 on the season and set career highs in runs scored (41), doubles (11), slugging percentage (.395), on-base percentage (.413) and RBI's (24)
• The Pilots have broken several records over the course of this season.
• They broke the team season records for doubles (120), RBI's (341) and total bases (832), and are just three home runs shy of breaking the home run record of 52, 12 hits shy of breaking the hits record of 561 and five runs shy of breaking the runs scored record.
• Portland currently leads the WCC in batting average (.305) and total hits (550) and ranks second in doubles (120), doubles per game (2.40), hits allowed per nine innings (8.95), on-base percentage (.388), runs (364) and runs per game (7.3).
• Among other conference leaders, Jacob Dobmeier leads the WCC in saves (8), Ben Patacsil ranks second in hit by pitch (28).
• The Pilots have eight qualified batters (at least 2 PA/G and 75% of games played) batting over .300: Klemp (.383), Holcroft (.338), Christian Cooney (.328), Knight (.324), Toglia (.324), Henry Muench (.316),  Jake Tsukada (.304) 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 172 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 Santa Clara Broncos are a WCC-best 32-18 on the year and 17-10 in WCC play.
• They defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first round to advance to play the Pilots.
• The Pilots won their series against the Broncos earlier this year.
• Rusty Filter is in his sixth season as head coach of the Broncos.

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