LEWISTON, Idaho.- The struggles continue for the Portland Pilot baseball team. The Pilots opened their doubleheader on Mar. 4 by losing to Utah Valley State (1-4) , 5-4, at the Banana Belt Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho. Portland (0-8) then lost the second-half of the double dip, 9-4, to Lewis-Clark State (11-1), the reigning NAIA National Champions.

It was another strong outing on the mound for Pilot hurler Matthew Peters (0-2) as he went 8.2 innings in the loss to Utah Valley. Peters gave up five runs, three earned, stuck out eight while allowing 10 hits. Relief pitcher Kyle Corra recorded the last out for Portland.

Utah Valley got the scoring going in the second inning. After two Wolverines got aboard on singles, Canyon Vance knocked in both with a triple to right field. Vance then crossed the plate on a Jed Jensen infield single giving Utah Valley a 3-0 lead. Portland wasted little time responding. Nik Kosach walked to start the bottom half of the third inning. Kosach proceeded to steal second, then reached third on a Jesse Rodgers single. Kosach then crossed the dish on a balk by Utah Valley State pitcher Jason Ward.

The Pilots scored again in the fourth after Colton Homme doubled and scored on a Nik Kosach single. Trailing 3-2 in the seventh, Jesse Rodgers led off the inning with a base hit. Rodgers then took second on a wild pitch before heading for third on a Gustaf Little ground-out to the shortstop. Travis Vetters then tied the game up with an RBI single to right-center field.

Peters held the Wolverines scoreless until the ninth when he gave up a pair of unearned runs. The Pilots made things interesting in the bottom half of the ninth as Kosach again reached base with a single. Portland loaded the bases with no outs when Josh Goff brought Kosach home with a sacrifice fly to center. With two on and one out, Travis Vetters grounded into a double play to end the game.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Pilots got on the board first against the NAIA National Champion Lewis-Clark State Warriors. Gustaf Little led off the bottom of the first with a single. He then worked his way around to third before scoring on an error by Lewis-Clark second baseman, Jose Rodriguez. Portland’s offense then went stone cold as the Pilots didn’t score again until the sixth inning and managed only four hits in the game.

Lewis-Clark opened things up in the third against Pilot pitcher Jared Adams (0-2). Adams gave up three earned runs on a slew of Warrior hits. Adams then gave up a home run in the fourth to Brandon Morris before being replaced by Kyle Corra. Corra went 2.2 innings on the hill, giving up four more earned runs. Sean Sargent was next up on the mound for Portland and pitched three solid innings. Sargent gave up only one hit while striking out four.

The Pilots are still searching for their first win of the season and take on Washington State on Friday afternoon, Mar. 5.