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PORTLAND PILOTS (15-27, 2-16 WCC)
vs. SAN FRANCISCO DONS (17-29, 11-10 WCC)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, May 6-8, 2016
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field (1,300)
Live Video: TheW.tv
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: USF leads 56-28
2015: USF 7-6, USF 1-0, USF 8-4 (April 10-12 @USF)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • May 6 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (1-5, 5.00)
USF: RHP Anthony Shew (3-6, 4.35)
 
Saturday • May 7 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Davis Tominaga (3-8, 4.57)
USF: RHP Thomas Ponticelli (3-4, 5.46)
 
Sunday • May 8 • 1 PM
POR: RHP Jordan Wilcox (4-2, 4.12)
USF: RHP James Kannenberg (5-4, 3.84)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots welcome the San Francisco Dons to The Bluff this weekend for a three-game West Coast Conference series at Joe Etzel Field.
• Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., while first pitch on Saturday is also set for 6 p.m.; Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m.
• Streaming for all three games will be available on TheW.tv, and Friday and Saturday night's games will feature the popular Diamond Club on the grass berm down the right field line.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth during last weekend's series opener against San Diego, but the Toreros prevailed 9-5 in 12 innings.
• Grant Taylor homered during Portland's comeback, and Eric Sapp and Brady Kerr came through with RBI's in the ninth to tie it.
• The Toreros then claimed the series with 9-1 and 7-3 wins.
• USD had to rally for the 7-3 win during the finale as the Pilots took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning; Cooper Hummel went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• On Thursday, March 31 the Pilots played the 600th game ever at Joe Etzel Field, which opened in 1989.
• The crowd of 1,092 for Portland's game with No. 3 Oregon State on Tuesday, March 22 was the largest in Joe Etzel Field history; the attendance surpassed the previous best of 1,002, which was also against Oregon State back in 2007.
• The Pilots, who only stole 21 bases all of last season, currently have 63 stolen bases, which leads the WCC.
• On March 5 the Pilots stole 10 bases against UC Riverside, which is a single-game high in the WCC this season.
• Michael Forgione is second in the league and 37th in the nation with 20 stolen bases; Cody Hawken is a perfect 10-for-10 in steals.
• Portland has already surpassed last year's win total of 12.
• Caleb Whalen, who is currently unavailable due to an injury, is 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 was named the WCC Position Player of the Week (Mar. 7) after hitting .462 to help lead the Pilots to a series win over UC Riverside; he also had three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and five RBI's.
• Cooper Hummel had a day on March 26 when the junior catcher went 4-for-4 with three doubles, three RBI's and three runs scored during a 7-3 win over CSUN at Joe Etzel Field; the three doubles match the program's single-game record, and he becomes the first Pilot since Rocky Gale in 2010 to accomplish the feat.
• Hummel has reached base safely during 39 of UP's 42 games and he's currently riding a career-best nine-game hitting streak; he also walked four times during a game earlier this season (at Utah Valley, March 12).
• 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 batting a team-best .343.
• 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.
• Freshman Grant Sutton, who had missed the entire season recovering from an injury, homered in his first collegiate at-bat at Oregon on Wednesday, April 6.
• Portland's game against the Oregon Ducks on April 13 at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro was suspended after eight innings by rain with the Ducks leading 3-1; the game will be concluded on May 17 in Eugene before a previously scheduled game between the two in-state rivals.
• UP Athletics Hall of Famer 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 (1990-92) still holds the program career record for batting average (.376) and he earned Pacific-10 North Division Player of the Year honors in 1992.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Dons have won six of their last nine games, which includes a recent three-game sweep of San Diego.
• USF is batting .261 as a team, has a staff ERA of 5.24 and is allowing an opponents' batting average of .307.
• Junior Allen Smoot is batting .353, has 11 doubles and 20 RBI's, while junior Matt Sinatro is hitting .319 and leads the league with 23 stolen bases.
• Nino Giarratano is in his 17th season as head coach of the Dons, and USF won three games over the Pilots in San Francisco last season.