PORTLAND, Ore.- The Portland Pilots led 25th-ranked Washington early, but fell to the Huskies 8-5 Tuesday afternoon at Pilot Stadium. The Pilots (4-25, 1-8 WCC) held a 3-2 lead after three innings, but Taylor Johnson’s RBI double in the fourth put the Huskies (18-8-1) on top for good. Nik Kosach went 3-for-4 for Portland and Joe Watson drove in two runs, but a balanced Washington attack saw six different Huskies drive in runs.

Freshman reliever Ricky Lentz improved to 3-2 on the season after pitching four scoreless innings for the Huskies. Junior closer Will Fenton tallied his fifth save of the season by recording the final out, after Portland crossed two runs in the bottom of the ninth off of left-hander Jamie Hawkins.

Pilot lefty Jared Adams (1-5), who pitched 2.2 innings to get the win on Sunday at Santa Clara, took the loss after allowing five runs and six hits in five innings of work.

Washington started the scoring in the first with a two-out RBI double from Zach Clem. Ben Johnson then singled home Clem to make it 2-0. Portland matched the Huskies with Watson’s two-out double down the right field line, scoring Jeffrey Crinklaw and Kosach. The Pilots took the lead in the second on a Kosach sacrifice fly, scoring Jesse Rodgers who singled to center field.

Taylor Johnson’s double in the fourth followed a sacrifice fly by Nick Batkoski to make it a 4-3 edge for the Huskies. Lentz came on in relief for freshman starter Jordan Ponzoha and shut Portland down over the next four frames. Josh Conover pitched two more scoreless innings as Washington added four more runs to gain an 8-3 cushion.

The Pilots battled in the ninth to make it interesting as pinch hitter Adam Kerr singled up the middle to leadoff the inning. Billy Krause then hit a bloop double down the right field line advancing Kerr to third. Mike McRae brought home Kerr with a pinch hit flyout to Taylor Johnson in center field and Johnson’s throw to third sailed into the Pilot dugout as no Husky was covering the bag, allowing Krause to score, making it an 8-5 game. After a groundout for the second out, Kosach tallied his third knock of the game forcing Washington to bring in Fenton who struck out Travis Vetters to end the contest.

Washington had 11 hits, committed two errors and left nine runners on base, while Portland stroked 10 hits, had no errors and stranded seven runners.

Rodgers was 2-for-3 with a run scored for Portland. Sean Sargent recorded the final four outs on 12 pitches with a strikeout for the Pilots.

Clem reached base four times for the Huskies, with a double two walks and a hit by pitch. Ben Johnson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Kyle Larsen also drove in a pair of runs for Washington.

Portland returns to West Coast Conference play with a three-game series versus Loyola Marymount starting on Thurs., Apr. 8 at 3:00 p.m.