Katie Dunn |
Joe Etzel Field will light up campus on Friday night, hosting the baseball home opener. The game will be the first ever night game under the newly lit field. The Pilots will take on Oakland University at 6 p.m.
The Pilots are the only baseball team playing in the Portland metropolitan area in the spring. Athletic Director Scott Leykam sees this as a great marketing opportunity for UP Athletics.
“Our evening games across all sports are better attended than those in the afternoon, so similar to the addition of lights at Merlo Field, we are optimistic that evening contests will be a welcome addition to campus life,” Leykam said in an email.
Friday’s game also marks the first of four baseball games that Comcast Sportsnet Northwest (CSNNW) will be airing this season. UP’s in-house video department, Portland Sports Network, will handle all production elements.
Newly appointed head coach Geoff Loomis also said that the addition of night games allows players to miss fewer classes. Loomis, a Portland alumnus, has led the Pilots to a 3-1 record in their first series of the season over UC Davis last weekend.
“We’re off to a good start and that is due to many factors, but ultimately it’s about the players on the team,” Loomis said in an email. “They have prepared very hard to find success this year.”
Coming off a disappointing 12-42 record in the 2015 season and a last-place finish in the 2016 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll, a strong opening series over UC Davis shows early-season hope of a winning season.
The Pilots are home through the first week of March and take on Oakland Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in a double header.
Katie Dunn is the Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon. She can be reached at dunn16@up.edu or on Twitter @Katie_dunn24.
