PORTLAND PILOTS (1-2) at CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS (2-2)
Dates: Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 23-25, 2017
Location: Bakersfield, Calif.
Ballpark: Hardt Field (2,000)
Video (Friday Game 1)/Stats: GoRunners.com
Series: CSUB leads 4-3
Last: POR 5-1, POR 1-0 (March 7-8, 2014 @POR)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Thursday • Feb. 23 • 2 PM
POR: RHP Kevin Baker (0-0, 27.00)
CSUB: RHP Max Carter (0-0, 6.75)
 
Friday • Feb. 24 • Game 1 • 2 PM
POR: LHP Grady Miller (0-1, 5.40)
CSUB: RHP Mahlik Jones (0-0, 4.50)
 
Friday • Feb. 24 • Game 2 • 5:30 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (0-0, 4.76)
CSUB: RHP Andrew Hansen (0-0, 0.00)
 
Saturday • Feb. 25 • 12 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (0-0, 4.15)
CSUB: RHP Garrett Nimmo (0-1, 7.36)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots continue the 2017 season with their second of three straight road trips to California, this time going to Bakersfield to face the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners for a four-game series at Hardt Field.
• The Pilots and Roadrunners open the series on Thursday at 2 p.m. before playing a double header on Friday, which is also set to begin at 2 p.m.; Saturday's finale is slated for 12 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots opened the season with a rain-shortened series at CSUN, which the Matadors took two games to one.
• In Saturday's opener, CSUN scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to a 6-0 win.
• CSUN then looked on its way to a win in the first game of Sunday's double header, but the Pilots scored four runs during the final three frames to claim a 4-3 10-inning win.
• With the Pilots down 3-1 in the ninth, Mike Hicks drove in a run with a single, before Devin Kopas came through with a two-out, game-tying RBI double to send it to extras.
• That's when Justin Thaxton led off the top of the 10th with a game-deciding solo home run.
• Down 3-0 in the top of the ninth of game two, the Pilots again brought the potential tying run to the plate, but this time CSUN held on 3-0.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots open the season with three consecutive trips to California, playing at CSUN (Feb. 18-19), at CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 23-25) and at UC Irvine (March 3-5); the Pilots also play single games at Seattle (Feb. 28) and at Oregon State (March 7) and don't play at home until hosting Northwestern for a four-game series, beginning on March 9.
• The 2017 Diamond Dinner, which has become Portland Baseball's premier event and fund-raiser will take place on Saturday night, March 11 at the Beauchamp Recreation Wellness Center.
• The featured guests at this year's Diamond Dinner are UP baseball alums Gus Little and Travis Vetters; the former teammates and lifelong friends will forever be connected as Vetters donated one of his kidneys to Little a few years ago.
• The new-look Pilots entered the season with 14 returning letterwinners, only two position starters and three starting pitchers.
• New to The Bluff is a sizable group of newcomers as the Pilots welcomed 20 new players to the program; that includes 12 freshmen, two redshirt-freshmen and six JC transfers.
• The crowd of 1,092 for Portland's game with No. 3 Oregon State on March 22, 2016, 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.
• On March 31 of last season, the Pilots played the 600th game ever at Joe Etzel Field, which opened in 1989.
• On May 10 in Keizer, Ore., the Pilots defeated the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers for Portland's first win over OSU since a 20-13 victory in Corvallis, back in 2006; OSU had won 25 straight against the Pilots.
• It was also Portland's first win over a ranked opponent since opening the 2014 campaign with a victory over No. 12 and reigning national champion UCLA in Los Angeles.
• The Pilots led the WCC last season with 71 stolen bases, which came after swiping only 21 the year before.
• One of Portland's returners is sophomore Cody Hawken, who joined the list of Portland baseball players to hit two home runs in a game when he homered in his first two career at-bats at Joe Etzel Field vs. Oakland (Feb. 26); no UP player has ever hit three home runs in the same game.
• Then-freshman Grant Sutton, who had missed the entire season recovering from an injury, homered in his first collegiate at-bat at Oregon (April 6).
• UP Athletics Hall of Famer Geoff Loomis is in his second season as head coach of the Pilots; he spent the previous 13 seasons at the helm of the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, leading the Lutes to 11 winning seasons and two NCAA Regional appearances.
• Loomis (1990-92) still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376) and he earned Pacific-10 North Division Player of the Year honors in 1992.
• Returning to the Portland bench are second-year assistants Gregg Swenson and Jake Valentine, while David Tufo, Jr., is in his first year on the staff.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Utah Utes won two of three against the Roadrunners last weekend in Bakersfield, but the Roadrunners recovered to defeat No. 24 UCSB 2-1 at home on Tuesday.
• CSUB is batting .290 and have a staff ERA of 5.00, while opponents are batting .298.
• Andrew Penner and Ryan Grotjohn are both batting .500 (7-for-14) on the year, while Mark Pena is hitting .357 with a team-high five RBI's.
• Former Portland assistant Jeremy Beard is in his first season as interim head coach.