Portland, Ore. — The University of Portland baseball team defeated the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, 5-1 on Fri., Apr. 4 at Pilot Stadium. The Pilots lead the series 1-0, and improve to 7-22 overall, 3-7 in West Coast Conference games. Gonzaga drops to 12-15-1 overall, 3-7 in the WCC.

Portland jumped out to an early lead on a bases loaded walk by Joe Watson in the bottom of the first inning. Gonzaga starter Errol Simonitsch hit Gustaf Little then gave up back to back singles to Kory Casto and Travis Vetters. Watson then walked on four pitches to give the pilots the 1-0 cushion. Simonitsch got out of the inning after inducing Rob Seffens into a double play.

Portland managed the lead from start to finish and got another great pitching performance out of freshmen starter Stephen Ball. He followed up his complete game win over San Francisco last week by giving up only one run (unearned) on seven hits and striking out four in seven innings. Trent Kristjanson cleaned up the eighth inning by getting out of a bases loaded jam set up by consecutive walks to Gordon Corder and Jeff Culpepper issued by Ball.

Kristjanson got David Johnson to line out to third and then snagged a come-backer off the bat of Sam Hess to start a 1-2-3 double play to end the Gonzaga threat. Kristjanson picked up his first save of the season after closing the Bulldogs out in the ninth.

Ball improves to 2-1 on the season while Simonitsch drops to 4-3 with the loss for Gonzaga. Danny Evans led the Bulldogs with three hits. No player for Gonzaga had an extra base hit against the pilot pitchers.

“What a difference pitching makes,” said Head Coach Chris Sperry. “Ball had excellent control on his change, found his fastball and kept them off balance. Our hitters did well and we were able to consistently score throughout the game. We limited a pretty good hitting team to seven hits. The fan excitement was awesome and the ROTC support was great.”

Portland had five players with multiple hits and finished the game with five runs on 13 hits and stranded 10 base runners. The Bulldogs could only convert one run on seven hits and left eight on base. Tyler Perkins was two for four with a RBI and stolen base in the leadoff spot for the Pilots. Casto finished two for five, and Brock Griffin went two for three with a double and two runs scored.

UP NEXT: The Pilots head to Oregon State on Tues., Apr. 8 for a 6:00 p.m. start. The Pilots will face Saint Mary’s in Moraga, CA from Fri.-Sun., Apr. 11-13.