PORTLAND PILOTS (8-27-1, 4-11 WCC)
WEEK 10 GAME NOTES
 
vs. GONZAGA BULLDOGS (21-14, 11-4 WCC)
Date: Friday-Sunday, April 21-23, 2017
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field (1,300)
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: GON leads 122-78
2016: GON 18-1, GON 3-0, GON 14-5 (April 8-10, 2016 @ Gonzaga)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA)
Friday • April 21 • 6 PM
POR: RHP Tate Budnick (1-7, 4.63)
GON: RHP Eli Morgan (6-1, 2.63)
 
Saturday • April 22 • 6 PM
POR: LHP Grady Miller (1-6, 5.44)
GON: RHP Justin Vernia (5-2, 2.39)
 
Sunday • April 23 • 1 PM
POR: RHP Kevin Baker (3-4, 3.53)
GON: TBA
 
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots host the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a three-game West Coast Conference series this weekend at Joe Etzel Field.
• First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, while Sunday's finale is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• Wednesday's game with the No. 25 Oregon Ducks at Joe Etzel Field was rained out.
• The Pilots salvaged a win last Saturday at San Francisco's Benedetti Field, capping a three-game West Coast Conference series with a 4-1 victory.
• Kevin Baker earned his third win of the year with another quality start, and relievers Jordan Horak and Marty Luckenbach were nearly flawless during the final 4.0 innings.
• Tate Budnick belted a solo home run in the top of the second, and the Pilots added the three go-ahead runs in the top of the third inning with RBI's coming from Devin Kopas, Kevin Wade and Cody Hawken.
• The Dons cruised to a 12-2 win on Friday after previously opening the series by blanking the Pilots 4-0 on Thursday.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The 16-inning game against Pepperdine at Joe Etzel Field on Sunday, April 9 was the longest game for the Pilots since also playing a 16-inning contest in 2008 against Northern Illinois; Portland won that game 9-6 in Tempe, Ariz.
• Portland's 10-10 tie at Seattle U on Wednesday, April 5 was the first tie for the Pilots since 2003, when a game at Saint Mary's ended even at 9-9.
• The capacity crowd of 1,300 to watch the Pilots and No. 1 Oregon State on April 4 was the largest in Joe Etzel Field history; the previous high was 1,092, which also came against Oregon State last season.
• Sophomore Kevin Baker struck out a career-best 11 during two recent starts and is averaging 11.42 K's per 9.0 innings, which is tops in the WCC; Baker fanned 11 Broncos in 6.1 innings against Santa Clara (April 2), and he struck out 11 more in 10.0 scoreless innings vs. Pepperdine on April 9.
• On March 9, freshman left-hander Grady Miller struck out 12 in 7.0 innings as the Pilots topped 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.
• Redshirt-freshman Beau Brundage is ninth in the nation in sacrifice bunts (9).
• Sophomore Matt Kelly is batting a team-best .319, which ranks ninth in the WCC; he's also fourth in the league in stolen bases (11) and fifth in hits (44).
• Against WCC foes Kelly is batting .344.
• Portland's game against Seattle on March 22 was the 600th in the coaching career of skipper Geoff Loomis; the UP alum and Athletics Hall of Fame member is in his second season at the helm of the Pilots after 13 seasons as head coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he led 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.
• The Pilots opened the season with 11 straight road games before finally playing at Joe Etzel Field on March 10; 15 of Portland's first 20 games are on the road.
• The new-look Pilots entered the season with 14 returning letterwinners, only two position starters and three starting pitchers.
• Portland welcomed 20 new players to the program this year, which includes 12 freshmen, two redshirt-freshmen and six JC transfers.
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games and are coming off a three-game sweep at Santa Clara last weekend.
• Gonzaga's pitching staff ranks 11th nationally in walks per nine innings (2.69), and is 23rd in shutouts (4), 24th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.82), and 25th in ERA (3.31).
• Junior righty Eli Morgan is ninth in the country in strikeouts (80) and has three complete games to his credit.
• The Bulldogs are batting .265 as a team, while holding opponents to a .255 average.
• Senior Sam Brown is batting a team-best .302, while junior Tyler Frost has team highs of seven home runs and 28 RBI's.
• Two-time WCC Coach of the Year Mark Machtolf is in his 14th year as head coach at Gonzaga.