In Pilot’s sports since Feb. 8, the women’s basketball team picked up a win at home and two losses on the road, finishing with a win on the road. The men’s basketball team picked up three wins at home in Chiles. The track and field teams competed at the UW Husky classic and back home for the Portland Indoor four. They also competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships. Women’s tennis competed in Eugene, OR against Eastern Washington University and the University of Oregon. Men’s tennis beat cross-town rivals Portland State, and Men’s baseball opened up their season with a win against Creighton University.
Here’s everything you need to know about what happened in Pilots sports since the last Roundup.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team sits fourthin the WCC standings. They are currently 7-6 in league play.
The Pilots took on Saint Mary’s at home on Feb. 10. They won 73-63 with guard Maisie Burnham scoring 19 points and forward Alex Fowler scoring 14.
The Pilots then hit the road to take on Pacific University on Feb. 12 where they were unable to pull off the win. They lost 74-79. Forward Liana Kaitu’u and Burnham had the most points for the Pilots with 13. Maddie Muhlheim made Pilot history once more, as this was her 134th game for UP, the most games played by a Pilot in program history. Earlier this year Muhlheim also became the 30th Pilot to score 1,000 career points, and she is also the program leader in made threes with 261.
The Pilots lost their first game on their three-game road trip against San Fransisco on Feb. 17. They lost 72-80 with the most points coming from Burnham with 24. Fowler followed with 14 points.
The Pilots next took on Santa Clara in the second game on Feb. 19. They lost 66-76 with the points coming from Burnham (17), guard Rose Pflug (16), and Fowler (14).
The Pilots finished their three-game road trip with a win against Saint Mary’s. They won 89-84 with points coming from Fowler (26), Muhlheim (19) and Pflug who had 16 points which matched her career high.
The Pilots return home for their last two games of conference play. The first will be on Feb. 24 against San Diego.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team sits 7th in the WCC conference and is also 6-6 in conference play.
The Pilots took on LMU on Feb. 12 where they won 86-76. This game marked the second triple-double in Pilot's history with guard/forward Tyler Robertson putting up 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. His teammate Mike Meadows was the first pilot with a triple-double earlier this year against Willamette University. Forward Kristian Sjolund and forward Moses Wood had 15 points each as well.
The Pilots stayed at home on Feb. 15 playing a non-conference exhibition game against Bushnell University. They won 84-39 with points coming from guard/ forward Tyler Robertson, forward Kristian Sjolund and forward Chika Nduka all had 11 points on the night. It is the third double-double of the season for Nduka. Sjolund reached double figures for the third straight game.
The Pilots beat San Diego 92-60 on Feb. 17 at home. The most points came from redshirt sophomore Chris Austin with 26. Wood and Sjolund followed with 19 points each. This 32-point margin is the largest victory over a WCC opponent since a 79-39 victory over Loyola Marymount on Jan. 21, 2010. The five league victories mark the most since the 2015-16 team picked up six conference wins.
The Pilots finished their play at home against Pepperdine on Feb. 19. It was their senior night, they honored seniors; Jack Perry, Miles Turner, Wyatt Watson and team manager Andrew Bitrous. The points on the night came from Wood (24) and Robertson (22).
The Pilots next hit the road to take on Pacific University on Feb. 24.
Track and Field
Feb. 11 and 12 the track teams competed in Seattle, in the UW Husky Classic.
On the first day of the UW Husky Classic, redshirt senior Veerle Bakker claimed a new school record of 9:11.90 in the women's 3000-meter race. Senior Jacob Klemz then achieved the second-best all-time program finish in the men's 3000m, getting a 7:51.95
On the second day of the classic, sophomore Laura Pellicoro set a new school record of 4:34.45 in the women's indoor mile.
At the Portland Indoor Four, sophomore Lauren Block claimed an individual win in the women's 800m with a time of 2:22.29. Junior Emma Jenkins got second-place overall in the women's mile with a time of 4:59.57. Portland's 4x400 relay team of sophomore Ella Parker, sophomore Avery Gill, junior Ellie Erikson and junior Tara Fuiten beat Lewis & Clark (their only opponents) with a time of 3:58.80. On the men's side, all three Pilots who competed in the 3000m achieved new personal bests. Sophomore AJ Reyes took fifth with 8:47.96, sophomore Kai Vickers got sixth with 8:50.85 and sophomore Luke Knoblich placed seventh with 8:53.15.
The Pilots track team went to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships in Spokane, Washington on Feb. 18. Bakker and Klemz took first place in the mile run on the final day of the MPSF championships. Other podium finishes included runner-up junior Konnor Hathaway and Pellicoro in the men's and women's 800-meter run.
The track teams next compete at the NCAA championships on March 11 & 12 in Birmingham Alabama.
Women’s Tennis
On Feb. 12 the women’s tennis team beat Eastern Washington 6-1 with individual victories from junior Iva Zelic, freshman Sally Pethybridge, junior Neli Sunjic, sophomore Rimona Rouf and freshman Aleksandra Dimitrijevic.
Then on Feb. 13, the tennis team fell to the University of Oregon 1-6. Zelic picked up the lone win for the Pilots.
The Pilots competed at home on Feb. 19 against the University of Colorado, they fell to 2-4. Zelic and Rouf took home the two wins for UP.
The Pilots travel to Montana on Feb. 25 to take on Montana University.
Men’s Tennis
On Feb. 15 men’s tennis competed against USC in Seattle.
The team lost 3-4, their three wins came from freshman Julien Penzlin and sophomore Nicolas Ocana, and the Pilot’s doubles team of senior Sema Pankin and senior Eleftherios Neos beat the No. 4-ranked team in the country.
The Pilots competed on Feb. 20 at home against Portland State. They won all six singles matches, with wins coming from Pankin, Penzlin, sophomore Nikolas Tvedt, sophomore Oscar Brown, senior Nicklas Oberg and senior Leo Hibi.
The Pilots next host Montana State at home on Mar. 11.
Baseball
The baseball team opened their season in a series against Creighton. They swept the series, winning all four games.
They won the first game 12-2 with the most hits coming from sophomore Ben Patacsil (5), sophomore Ty Saunders (4) and junior Nich Klemp (4).
The second game and third game in the series were a doubleheader. The Pilots won the first game 12-1 and the second 4-3 with the most hits coming from senior Gabe Skoro (4), sophomore Evan Scavotto (4), and graduate student Tony Boetto (3).
The Pilots won the final game in the series 6-5. The most hits at-bat came from redshirt sophomore Jake Holcroft (5), sophomore Sam Brown (5) and sophomore Jake Tsukada (4).
The baseball team travels to Texas to take on San Jose State on Feb. 25-27 for their next series.
Wilder Isom is a sports reporter for the Beacon. She can be reached at isomw24@up.edu.
