Joe Jones tosses three scoreless innings of relief as Portland holds on for the win
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Matthew Peters and Cory Wiltshire hit home runs as Portland bounced back from an extra inning loss on Saturday to take the third and final game of a West Coast Conference baseball series with Santa Clara by an 8-6 margin Sunday afternoon at Schott Stadium.
Trailing 6-5 in the seventh inning, Wiltshire belted a three-run homer to right center scoring Jesse Rodgers and Justin Ehlers. Senior right hander Joe Jones came on and closed the door with three scoreless innings of relief for the Pilots, allowing just one hit.
Jones, who is 2-0 with a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings of work in his last five appearances, earned his first save of the season and third of his career.
Sophomore left hander Chris Siegfried (1-0) was the winning pitcher after recording the final out of the sixth inning in relief of starter Austin Dirkx. Dirkx went 5.2 innings and allowed six runs with five strikeouts.
Chris Stansberry (2-2) took the loss for Santa Clara (28-25, 9-12 WCC), surrendering eight runs (five earned) in 6.1 innings with eight strikeouts.
Peters got Portland (15-33, 3-15 WCC) on the board in the first inning with a two-run blast, his eighth of the season tying him with Danny Meier for the team lead.
Santa Clara put up three in the third highlighted by a two-run single by Dustin Realini. Portland countered with three in the fourth as Meier walked and Peters reached on an error. After a Travis Vetters sacrifice fly, the Pilots crossed another run on an error and the third on a passed ball for a 5-3 lead.
The resilient Broncos retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth with another three runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Daniel Nava drew a walk from Dirkx and Kris Watts followed with a two-run single for the short-lived 6-5 lead.
Wiltshire finished 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI for the Pilots, while Peters scored twice and drove in two. Rodgers also finished with two hits and a run scored.
Watts had three hits to lead the Broncos, while Nava, Realini, Kevin Drever and Carl Bacon also had two hits each.
Portland will end the season with a four-game homestand beginning on Tuesday, May 16 against the Washington Huskies at 3 p.m. The Pilots will host Loyola Marymount in a three-game series on May 19-21.