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PORTLAND PILOTS (8-4)
at UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (7-7)
Dates: Thursday-Sunday, March 10-13, 2016
Location: Orem, Utah
Field: Brent Brown Ballpark (5,000)
Video/Stats: WolverineGeen.com
Series: POR leads 8-7
Most Recent: UVU 7-6 (10), UVU 3-1, POR 7-3 (Feb. 23-24, 2013 @POR)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Thursday • March 10 • 5 PM
POR: RHP Jordan Wilcox (2-0, 2.87)
UVU: LHP Jackson Cofer (1-2, 3.86)
 
Friday • March 11 • 5 PM
POR: RHP Davis Tominaga (2-1, 3.10)
UVU: TBA
 
Saturday • March 12 • 5 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (1-0, 2.40)
UVU: TBA
 
Sunday • March 13 • 11 AM
POR: RHP Kevin Baker (0-2, 9.31)
UVU: RHP Danny Beddes (2-2, 3.32)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Portland Pilots travel to Orem, Utah, for a four-game, non-conference series with the Utah Valley Wolverines at Brent Brown Ballpark.
• The series begins with a 5 p.m. (Pacific) game on Thursday night, which is followed by 5 p.m. games on both Friday and Saturday as well.
• Sunday's series finale will begin at 11 a.m.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots won their second four-game series of the season by winning three of four over UC Riverside at Joe Etzel Field.
• During Friday's 10-6 win, Cody Hawken drove in three runs and Caleb Whalen belted a home run.
• Portland then claimed both ends of a double header, which began on Saturday and spilled into Sunday due to rain; the Pilots won 8-5 and 4-3, getting solid performances on this hill from starters Davis Tominaga and Jordan Horak.
• The Pilots swiped 10 bases during game one's 8-5 win and both Eric Sapp and Brady Kerr collected three hits.
• Horak took a no-hitter into the 5th inning in game two and Whalen had three RBI's en route to the 4-3 win.
• UC Riverside won the finale 4-1.
• Portland was 18 of 21 in stolen bases during the series, and Whalen hit .462 to pick up WCC Player of the Week honors.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Caleb Whalen is currently tied for second in the nation with eight doubles.
• The senior outfielder is also tied for the most career triples in program history with 14 after claiming a three-bagger at UC Davis on Feb. 20; Whalen is tied with Larry Farrell (1958-61) and needs just one more triple to become the program leader.
• Whalen is the reigning WCC Position Player of the Week after hitting .462 last weekend; he also had three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and five RBI's, was a perfect 2-for-2 in steals and was flawless in center field
• As a team, the Pilots are second in the country with 31 stolen bases; Portland swiped just 21 bases all of last season.
• Portland is also second nationally in sacrifice bunts (16).
• Senior closer Billy Sahlinger is tied for No. 2 in the country with five saves, while senior outfielder Eric Sapp is eighth in stolen bases per game (0.8).
• Freshman Cody Hawken joined the list of Portland baseball players to hit two home runs in a game when he left the yard during his first two at-bats at Joe Etzel Field vs. Oakland on Feb. 26; Hawken became the first Pilot to accomplish the feat since Cody Lenahan last May, and no Portland player has ever hit three home runs in a game.
• Cooper Hummel, a career .168 hitter entering the season, got off to a stellar start to his junior campaign, hitting .500 during the month of February; he's currently second on the team with a .378 batting average and he posted a team and career-best eight-game hitting streak earlier this season.
• University of Portland Athletics Hall of Fame member Geoff Loomis is in his first season as head coach of the Pilots.
• Loomis spent the past 13 seasons at the helm of the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, where he compiled an impressive 327-197-2 (.624) record; he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons during his tenure, including NCAA Regional appearances in 2007 and 2015 and Northwest Conference Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2015.
• Loomis, who starred on the diamond for the Pilots from 1990-92, still holds the program career record for batting average (.372) and he earned Pacific-10 North Division Player of the Year honors in 1992.
• Joining Loomis on the bench are first-year assistant coaches Gregg Swenson, Jake Valentine and Trey Watt.
• Swenson came to Portland after 10 years at Washington State, Valentine was at Santa Clara last season and Watt played for Loomis at Pacific Lutheran and was an assistant coach at George Fox for the past five years.
• Lights were installed at Joe Etzel Field during the off-season as the second phase of a planned three-phase project to upgrade Portland's home ballpark.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Wolverines are 7-7 and claim a win over No. 5 Oregon State earlier this season.
• Utah Valley is hitting .269 as a team, while opponents are batting .271; the staff ERA is 4.98.
• Senior Greyson Bogden (.355) is one of five Wolverines hitting better than .300, and he has a team-best three home runs.
• Eric Madsen is in his eighth year as head coach.