PORTLAND PILOTS (2-13, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 5 GAME NOTES
 
at San Diego Toreros (10-4, 0-0 WCC)
Dates: Friday-Sunday, March 17-19, 2017
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Ballpark: Fowler Park (1,700)
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: USDToreros.com
Series: USD leads 57-25
2016: USD 9-5 (12), USD 9-1, USD 7-3 - April 29-30, 2016 at Portland
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • March 17 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Grady Miller (1-3, 4.35)
USD: LHP Nick Sprengel (4-0, 3.43)
 
Saturday • March 18 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (0-1, 6.48)
USD: LHP Chris Murphy (0-0, 4.15)
 
Sunday • March 19 • 1 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (0-3, 7.40)
USD: RHP Paul Richan (1-0, 0.55)
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots open play in the West Coast Conference when they travel to San Diego, Calif., for a three-game series with the San Diego Toreros at Fowler Park.
• The opener for the Pilots and Toreros is set for 6 p.m. on Friday night.
• Saturday's game is also scheduled for 6 p.m., while Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m.
• Video for all three games will be streamed at TheW.tv.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• Air Force took both games of a two-game series with the Pilots by scores of 11-3 and 11-10 on Tuesday and Wednesday in Colorado.
• The 10 runs are a season-high for the Pilots, and the game ended with the tying run 90 feet away on third base.
• Portland also had three triples during the loss, and Beau Brundage belted his first career home run.
• The Pilots opened their first home series of 2017 last weekend with a 5-2 win over the Northwestern Wildcats in game one of a double header Friday at Joe Etzel Field.
• Freshman lefty starter Grady Miller struck out 12 in 7.0 innings, while allowing the two runs on just four hits.
• Sophomore Matt Kelly went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, the first of his career.
• The Wildcats bounced back to take the next two, claiming the three-game series.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Ryan Hoogerwerf is riding a team season-high seven game hitting streak, while Cody Hawken has a hit in six straight games.
• On Friday, March 9, Portland freshman left-handed starter Grady Miller struck out 12 in 7.0 innings of work as the Pilots defeated Northwestern 5-2; the 12 K's are tied for the fourth most in a game ever for the Pilots, and it's the most strikeouts since Travis Radke fanned 14 in 2013.
• The Pilots opened the 2017 season with 11 straight road games before finally playing at the friendly confines of Joe Etzel Field last Friday; 16 of Portland's first 19 games are on the road.
• The Pilots began 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).
• Statistically, sophomore Cody Hawken leads the Pilots in batting average (.316), home runs (3) and RBI's (12).
• Ryan Hoogerwerf, a junior transfer, has a team-best five doubles and is tied for the team high with three homers; he ranks second in batting average (.308) and RBI's (10), and he's fifth in the WCC with a .615 slugging percentage.
• Sophomore shortstop Matt Kelly went 6-for-12 last weekend against Northwestern, with a home run, two doubles, three RBI's and three runs scored
• On Feb. 24 at CSU Bakersfield, Hoogerwerf and Hawken went back-to-back with home runs in the first inning.
• 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.
• 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.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Toreros sit in first place in the WCC and they're ranked No. 25 in the NCBWA Poll.
• USD is batting .255, while holding opponents to a .238 average; their staff ERA is 3.94.
• Sophomore Jay Schuyler is hitting a team-best .347, while senior Roman Garcia is batting .318 and has a team-high four homers.
• Rich Hill is in his 19th year as head coach at USD and has compiled more than 600 wins; the Toreros were picked to win the WCC.