PORTLAND PILOTS (0-3, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 2 GAME NOTES
vs. Saint Joseph's Hawks
(0-0, 0-0 A-10)
Date: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25, 2018
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field (1,300)
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: Portland.com
Series: 0-0
Last Meeting: N/A
PROBABLE STARTERS (W-L, ERA); *2017
Friday • Feb. 23 • 1 PM
POR: LHP Corbin Powers (0-1, 18.00)
SJU: RHP Hayden Seig (2-2, 6.05)*
Saturday • Feb. 24 • Game 1 • 11 AM
POR: RHP Camden Muller (0-0, 20.25)
SJU: RHP Tim Brennan (4-4. 2.85)*
Saturday • Feb. 24 • Game 2 • Appx. 2:30 PM
POR: RHP Eli Morse (0-1, 27.00)
SJU: RHP Justin Aungst (2-3, 5.22)*
Sunday • Feb. 25 • 12 PM
POR: LHP Jordan Horak (0-1, 12.00)
SJU: TBA
THIS WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The Pilots begin an eight-game homestand when they host the Saint Joseph's Hawks this weekend for non-conference series at Joe Etzel Field.
• The four-game series begins on Friday with a single game at 1 p.m.
• The Pilots and Hawks will then play a double header on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m., and Sunday's finale is scheduled for 12 p.m.
• All four games will be streamed live on TheW.tv.
• Due to the inclement forecast, the weekend schedule may change, so please visit PortlandPilots.com for the most up-to-date information, or follow the Pilots (@PortlandPilots) on Twitter.
LAST WEEK IN PILOTS BASEBALL
• The No. 13 UCLA Bruins took all three games from the Pilots last weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.
• The Bruins won by margins of 7-2, 13-0, and 15-3.
• Cody Hawken went 4-for-8 during the weekend, and both he and Daniel Lopez homered during Sunday's series finale.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland plays 20 of their first 24 games of 2018 at the friendly confines of Joe Etzel Field.
• 2018 marks the third year for head coach Geoff Loomis, a Portland baseball alum and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member who still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376).
• Portland's game against Seattle on March 22 last season was the 600th in the coaching career of Loomis, who previously spent 13 seasons as head coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he led the Lutes to 11 winning seasons and two NCAA Regional appearances.
• The Pilots return 20 letterwinners from last year, seven position starters and three starting pitchers.
• Headlining the returners is junior infielder Matt Kelly, who led the team with a .292 batting average last season.
• Joining Kelly is outfielder Beau Brundage, a sophomore coming off a year that saw him bat .283.
• Also back is Portland's leader in RBI's in junior outfielder Cody Hawken, who brought in 27 runs as a sophomore, and senior Ryan Hoogerwerf returns after leading the squad with seven homers last spring.
• Hoogerwerf joined a long list of Pilots to hit two homers in the same game when he left the yard twice at BYU on May 11; no Pilot has ever homered three times in the same game.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Baker, who earned Second Team All-West Coast Conference in 2017, was voted to the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team.
• Last spring Baker ranked 27th nationally and was third in the WCC in K's per 9.0 innings (11.41); he also had the Pilots' lone complete game of the season, and his 3.03 ERA was fifth in the conference.
• His career-high 13 K's at Pacific (April 30) tied for the third most in a game ever for the Pilots.
• New to The Bluff this year are 14 newcomers, which includes four transfers, two redshirts, and eight true freshmen.
• Some tidbits from last year:
- The 16-inning game against Pepperdine at Joe Etzel Field on April 9 was the longest game for the Pilots since also playing a 16-inning contest in 2008 vs. Northern Illinois.
- Portland's 10-10 tie at Seattle U on April 5 was the first tie for the Pilots since 2003.
- 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 in 2016.
- The 23-19 loss at BYU on May 11 featured the most combined runs in one game in the 94-year history of the UP baseball program, and it's the most runs ever scored by the Pilots during a loss.
• Joining Loomis on the bench this year is assistant coach Jake Valentine, who is also in his third year on Portland's staff; volunteer assistant coach David Tufo is back for his second year with the Pilots.
• Pitching coach Connor Lambert, who spent the past seven seasons as the associate head coach/pitching coach for the Corvallis Knights, is in his first year at Portland.
• Lambert pitched collegiately at Washington State, and he came to North Portland from the University of Utah, were he was the director of operations.
ABOUT THE HAWKS
• The Saint Joseph's Hawks have yet to play a game this season, but they went 21-25 overall last year.
• They hit .254 as a team, held the opponents to a .268 average, and combined for a staff ERA of 4.41.
• Senior Matt Maul hit a team-best .328 last year, and senior Dominic Cuoci led the Hawks with 10 home runs and 31 RBI's.
• Fritz Hamburg, who is in his 10th year at the helm of the Hawks, is the program's all-time winningest coach.
