May 7-9, 2010 • Portland, Ore. • Joe Etzel Field (1,000)
Series: USD leads 41-20 • Live Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, May 7 • 3:00 p.m.
POR - Kyle Kraus (R, So., 9-0, 3.55)*
USD - Kyle Blair (R, Jr., 5-3, 3.39)
Saturday, May 8 • 1:00 p.m.
POR - Owen Jones (R, So., 4-1, 2.29)
USD - Sammy Solis (L, So., 7-1, 2.79)
Sunday, May 9 • 1:00 p.m.
POR - Zach Varce (R, Jr., 5-1, 3.08)
USD - AJ Griffin (R, Sr., 4-3, 5.57)
*(R/L, Yr., W-L, ERA)
This Week in Pilots Baseball...
First place in the West Coast Conference will be on the line as the No. 22 Portland Pilots (31-9, 11-1 WCC), winners of 11 straight games, welcome the No. 23 San Diego Toreros (27-16, 12-0 WCC) to Joe Etzel Field for an epic three-game series this weekend. The series opener is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Friday, while first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, this series could go a long way in determining the WCC champion. The league champion receives the automatic berth into the NCAA postseason.
Portland will honor its seniors (C.J. Cullen, Rocky Gale, Kyle Haskin, Ben Panther, Austin Pearce, Tommy Renda, Ed Wakefield) with a ceremony prior to Sunday’s game, UP’s final home conference game.
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The Place to Be
Joe Etzel Field will be the place to be this weekend as UP is holding a number of promotions during the series with San Diego. Saturday is Kids Day at the ballpark, meaning free admission to all kids 13 and under. Sunday is Senior Day, Mother’s Day, Alumni Day and Dollar Day. Admission is just $1, as is ice cream, soda, popcorn and candy.
A Brief Look Back
The Pilots traveled to Eugene, Ore., on Tuesday and picked up a huge 3-1 win over the No. 15 Oregon Ducks at PK Park. Freshman starter Chris Johnson was dominant in his second straight midweek start, holding the Ducks scoreless while surrendering just four hits and striking out five during a career-high 7.0 innings of work. Chris Dennis finished Oregon off for his 13th save of the year. Portland put the Ducks in a quick hole, scoring two runs in the top of the first.
Last weekend, UP defeat the Seattle Redhawks twice and the BYU Cougars once in Bellevue, Wash. On Friday, the Pilots exploded for 16 runs during a 16-9 win over the Redhawks at Bannerwood Park. Four Pilots had at least two hits, while junior Matt Mardesich had a home run and knocked in five runs, a season-high for the Pilots. Saturday belonged to sophomore starter Kyle Kraus, who won his ninth straight game as the Pilots defeated BYU 5-1. Kraus improved to 9-0 after tossing 7.2 scoreless innings. He struck out eight, walked just one and allowed five hits. Mardesich had three hits and sophomore Beau Fraser knocked in a pair of runs. The Pilots then capped their visit with a 6-0 shutout of Seattle on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore starter Owen Jones allowed just three hits in 7.0 innings, while striking out three. Junior Riley Henricks notched his second three-hit game of the weekend and his seventh on the season.
About San Diego
The Toreros have won 13 of their last 15 games, dropping only non-league contests to nationally ranked UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. USD swept a thee-game series at San Francisco last weekend. USD is second in the league in team hitting and pitching, posting a batting average of .318 and a staff ERA of 4.39. Sophomore Zack Kometani leads the team with a .388 batting average, while senior James Meador is batting .375 with five HR’s and 52 RBI’s. Sophomore Sammy Solis anchors the staff with a 7-1 record and a 2.69 ERA. Senior Matt Hauser is 3-2, has eight saves and a 3.44 ERA. Rich Hill is in his 12 year as head coach at San Diego and has registered more than 400 wins. USD was 29-25 (11-10 WCC) last year and returned 24 letterwinners, eight position starters and four starting pitchers.
Pilots/Toreros Series
The Toreros took two of three from Portland in San Diego last season and lead the all-time series 41-20. USD has won 20 of the last 24 meetings with UP.
A Look Ahead
This weekend’s series against San Diego is the last WCC home series for the Pilots this season. Next Tuesday, May 11, UP will host the Washington State Cougars for a 3:00 p.m. game at Joe Etzel Field. Portland then returns to the road for a weekend conference series at San Francisco, which begins on Friday, May 14.
Co-Pilots
C.J. Cullen and Chris Dennis were named the WCC Co-Player and Co-Pitcher of the Month, respectively, following a superb April. The Pilots were 13-3 overall during April, while Cullen hit .429 and Dennis went 2-0 with six saves. Cullen, who was named the WCC’s Player of the Week on April 26, was 27-for-63 with 17 RBI’s, 18 runs, a homer, a triple and two doubles. Cullen was clutch as he hit .529 with runners in scoring position, batted .444 with two outs and drove in eight runs with two outs. He also committed only one error in 155 chances for an impressive fielding percentage of .994. Dennis, who earned the league’s pitcher of the week (April 26) honor the same week as Cullen, struck out 14 in 13.0 innings, posted an ERA of 2.08 and became Portland’s all-time career saves leader, while setting a new mark for most saves in a season. Dennis, a native of Bothell, Wash., was also named the regional pitcher of the week after saving four straight Portland wins (April 20-25).
Both Cullen and Dennis earned the conference player and pitcher of the week honors after the Pilots ended an eight-game losing streak to Washington and swept a three-game series at Pepperdine, where Portland was previously 1-31 all-time.
Making History
Portland is enjoying one of its finest seasons in program history. At 31-9, the Pilots have won the most games since Portland also won 31 during the 1991 season. It’s also the fifth 30-win season in program history. The Pilots are quickly approaching the program record for wins in a season, which was accomplished in 1980 when UP went 36-12. UP has also assured itself of its first winning season since going 26-23-1 in 1992.
Portland is an unprecedented 11-1 in the WCC. The 11 league wins are the most WCC wins since tallying 16 in 2002, when the Pilots played a 30-game league schedule.
The Pilots have won 11 straight games to match the program’s second longest winning streak, which also occurred in 1980. The 1958 team set the program record with 14 straight victories.
Portland’s three-game sweep at Santa Clara (April 1-3) was the first WCC road sweep ever recorded by the Pilots and it was the first sweep of a conference foe since taking three from Pepperdine at home in 2002. The Pilots are also fresh off a three-game sweep over Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., where UP was previously 1-31.
Portland’s 10-2 start to the season matched the best recorded start to a season in program history. The 1958 Pilots also went 10-2.
Taking Notice
Portland’s success has not gone un-noticed as the Pilots are in the rankings for the first time since 1980. After entering the polls for the first time last week, the Pilots are currently ranked No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. UP is also receiving votes in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ and the NCBWA Polls. The Pilots were last in the rankings when they were No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball’s final poll of the 1980 season.
Dennis the Menace
Junior transfer Chris Dennis, a right-handed reliever, is proving to be quite menacing for opposing hitters during his first season as a Pilot. Dennis, a native of Bothell, Wash., who transferred to UP from Edmonds CC last summer, has stepped into the closer role for the Pilots and has already registered a league-best and now program-best 13 saves, which is tied for the most in the nation. He’s also 4-0, has miniscule ERA of 1.30 and is holding opposing hitters to a .210 batting average. He has 42 K’s in 34.2 innings, for an average of 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
With a save against Pepperdine on April 25, Dennis topped John Nichols’ previous program record of 11 career saves. The 13 saves are also a new single-season record at UP.
He was named the WCC’s Pitcher of the Week (April 26) and College Baseball Insider’s Regional Pitcher of the Week after saving all four of Portland’s wins during the previous week.
Leaving on a High Note
Portland senior C.J. Cullen is making the most of his final season on The Bluff, hitting a robust .378 at the plate, which leads the team and ranks third in the WCC. Cullen, who began his career as a shortstop and mostly saw action as a pinch runner during his junior campaign, became Portland’s starting first baseman this year and he’s taken his game to a new level. A career .195 hitter entering the season, Cullen has exploded at the plate with 31 RBI’s, 33 runs, five doubles, a triple and three home runs, one of which was a walk-off, three-run blast to give UP a 7-5 win over Seattle on Feb. 28. He’s also been clutch as 17 of his RBI’s have come with two outs.
Cullen, who has three four-hit games this spring, was the named WCC Player of the Week (April 26) after going 10-for-16 (.625) at the plate with a home run, a triple, six RBI’s and four runs scored as the Pilots won at Washington and swept Pepperdine in Malibu.
The Catcher Can Hit Too
Portland sophomore C/DH Beau Fraser, who had a string of eight consecutive at-bats with a hit earlier this season, has been the team’s most consistent hitter this season and he currently leads the Pilots in a plethora of categories. Fraser, who was named the WCC’s Player of the Week on April 19, is fourth in the league with a .374 batting average and he leads the team with 13 multi-RBI games, four four-RBI games, six home runs, 43 RBI’s, a .557 slugging percentage and a .428 on-base percentage. He’s third in the league in RBI’s.
The Catcher Can Hit Too, Take Two
Senior C Rocky Gale, most known for his work behind the plate, has been on an absolute tear at the plate lately and has raised his season average to .343. Gale, who was a career .239 hitter entering the season and batted just .194 last year, went 8-for-10 with three RBI’s and five runs scored during the three-game sweep of LMU (April 16-18). Against the Lions on Sunday, April 18, he had his first career five-game hit, which included three doubles. Gale is batting .469 during WCC games.
Meanwhile it’s been business as usual behind the plate for Gale, who has thrown out 13 of 16 attempted base stealers this season, for a ridiculous percentage of .800.
K Kraus
Sophomore right-handed starter Kyle Kraus, Portland’s Friday starter as a freshman a year ago, has flourished and then some in his new role as the team’s Saturday starter. Kraus is perfect on the season with a 9-0 record and is on the verge of setting a program record for most wins in a season. Ted Devore currently holds the record with 10 W’s, which was set in 1989. Kraus, a native of West Linn, Ore., easily leads the league in wins and is tied for the second most victories in the country. His 3.55 ERA ranks ninth in the WCC, he has two complete games, is holding opposing hitters to a .255 batting average and recently went 20.2 innings without issuing a walk.
During a win at home against Southern Utah on March 26, sophomore right-hander Kyle Kraus became the second UP pitcher this season to record 14 strikeouts during a game. The 14 strikeouts are tied for the second most by a single pitcher during a game in program history. Two pitchers have previously registered 16 K’s, most recently in 1970.
K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K
Zach Varce and Chris Dennis recently combined in what will go down as one of the best pitching performances in program history. During a 2-1, 10-inning win over Seattle at Joe Etzel Field on Feb. 27, the starter and the reliever combined to strikeout a program record 19 batters.
Varce, who was named the WCC’s Co-Pitcher of the Week following the performance, struck out 14 during 8.0 innings of work. The right-handed Varce, who didn’t factor into the decision, retired the final 18 hitters he faced in order, including striking out the final six. Dennis, also a righty, spelled Varce to begin the ninth inning and promptly struck out five of the seven hitters he faced.
The previous program record of 16 K’s had been accomplished three times, most recently in 1990.
Zac-K Varce
Varce hasn’t slowed down since that 14-strikeout performance as he is currently second in the WCC and 20th nationally in strikeouts with 84. He’s averaging 10.4 K’s per game, while also posting a 5-1 record and a 3.08 ERA, good for fourth in the conference. The junior is tied for sixth in the league in wins.
Kings of the Hill
Portland is once again getting solid production from its pitching staff as the Pilots currently rank first in the WCC and sixth in the country with a staff ERA of 3.18, while also leading the league in opponents batting average (.252). Sophomore Kyle Kraus leads the conference with a 9-0 record, junior Chris Dennis easily leads the league and is tied for first nationally with 13 saves and junior Zach Varce is second in the WCC with 84 strikeouts and is fourth in ERA (3.08). Dennis has been nearly unhittable and would league the lead in both ERA (1.30) and opponents batting average (.210) if he had enough innings to qualify. Instead, that distinction goes to sophomore Owen Jones, who missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. His 2.29 ERA and opponents batting average of .225 are both league-bests. Jones is also 4-1, while Dennis is 4-0. Portland is a allowing just 8.5 hits per game, which ranks 15th nationally.
Kraus, who has tossed two complete-game wins, notched 14 strikeouts against Southern Utah on March 28. Varce did the same against Seattle on Feb. 28, while combining with Dennis to fan a program-high 19 Redhawks total.
WCC Pre-Season Poll and All-WCC
Portland’s middle infield tandem of junior 2B Riley Henricks and sophomore SS Kris Kauppila was selected to the 2010 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team and San Diego was picked as the favorite to win this year’s WCC regular season title in the preseason baseball poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. The Pilots were selected to finish eighth.
