PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland freshman starter Blaine Hardy pitched eight innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced before reliever Austin Dirkx closed the book on the Washington Huskies in an 8-5 non-conference win on Tuesday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. It’s the seventh straight win for the Pilots (10-13), who improve their home record to a perfect 5-0 this season. Washington drops to 18-10.

It’s the longest winning streak for Portland since the Pilots won eight in a row in 1991.

Hardy (2-0) gave up five runs, while scattering seven hits and striking out six. After giving up the second of two Husky home runs in the fifth inning, Hardy retired the last 10 batters he faced for his second collegiate win. Dirkx struck out two in the top of the ninth to pick up his sixth save this season.

With Portland leading 4-1 in the top of the fifth, the Washington bats showed off their power with the team’s 44th and 45th home runs of the season. With two runners on and one out, Matt Lane hit his sixth home run over the right field fence to tie the game at 4-4. Two batters later, Zach Clem hit a solo shot to left field giving Washington a 5-4 lead.

The lead was short-lived as the resilient Pilots responded in the bottom half of the inning. After junior Just Ehlers singled and stole second, sophomore Pat Geraghty tied the game with an RBI single to left-center field. Senior Travis Vetters followed Geraghty with his third home run of the season that gave the lead back to the Pilots. The opposite field blast was the first dinger for Vetters since he hit two in game at Dallas Baptist on Feb. 13.

The Pilots added another run in the eighth when sophomore Cory Wiltshire scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-5.

UW scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning, but Portland quickly tied it with a run in the bottom half. With one out, Ehlers extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single up the middle. After advancing to third on a Geraghty ground out, Ehlers scored on a UW passed ball.

Portland added a second run in the third. With runners on first and second, Geraghty knocked in freshman Sean Nicol with a shot down the left field line.

Up 2-1 with a runner on in the bottom of the fourth, freshman catcher Paul Crowder hit his first collegiate home run to make it a 4-1 Portland lead. Four of Crowder’s five hits this season have been extra base hits.

The Pilots had 11 hits for the game, while the Huskies tallied nine. Nicol finished 2-for-4 with a run, Ehlers went 2-for-4 with two runs, Geraghty also had two hits in four at bats with two RBI’s, while Wiltshire went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

Washington committed three errors, while Portland went errorless for the eighth time this season.

The Pilots next host George Fox at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to close out their six-game homestand. Portland then travels to Gonzaga for the WCC opener on Friday.