Box Score
SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots won their eighth straight game and are 3-0 in the West Coast Conference for the first time ever as they finished off a three-game sweep of the Santa Clara Broncos with an 11-2 win at Stephen Schott Stadium on Saturday. The Pilots (18-6) outscored the Broncos 26-10 during the series.
The eight straight wins are the most for a Portland squad since the Pilots also reeled off eight in a row in 1991.
It’s also the first WCC road sweep ever recorded by the Pilots and it’s the first sweep of a conference foe since taking three from Pepperdine at home in 2002. UP joined the WCC for baseball in 1996.
Portland pitching was borderline dominant against the Broncos (12-14, 0-3 WCC), who entered the weekend as the top offensive team in the WCC. UP hurlers held SCU to just 3.3 runs per game and a .275 batting average, well below their season marks of 8.3 and .344, respectively.
In his first start of the season, sophomore RHP Owen Jones (2-0) was masterful on Saturday, allowing just one run on three hits in 5.0 innings. Junior reliever Ben Panther pitched 1.1 hitless and scoreless innings, while sophomore Keeler Brynteson worked the final 2.2 innings, allowing a run on two hits.
Jones is holding opposing hitters to a .177 average this season, while boasting an earned run average of 0.48.
Every Portland position starter registered at least one hit as the Pilots touched Santa Clara starter Chris Mendoza (2-1) for seven runs on 11 hits. The bullpen didn’t fare much better as UP added four more runs during the later innings and finished with an overall 15-5 advantage in hits.
The Pilots took control of the game early, tallying runs during each of the first three innings. After scoring the first run of the game on an error in the first, the Pilots scored three in the top of the second inning to claim a 4-0 lead. Sophomore SS Kris Kauppila and junior OF Craig Smith each knocked in a run on a single, while senior 1B C.J. Cullen brought home a run with a sacrifice fly.
An inning later, the Pilots added two more runs on a squeeze play by senior C Rocky Gale and an RBI triple by junior 3B Matt Mardesich.
UP then scored another run in the seventh, three more in the eighth and another in the ninth. Junior OF Tyler Thompson did most of the damage in the eighth with a two-run triple, the Pilots’ fifth three-bagger of the series and league-high 12th on the year.
SCU’s runs came in the fourth and eighth innings.
Portland sophomore DH Beau Fraser had three hits in six at-bats, while Kauppila, junior 2B Riley Henricks, sophomore OF Garrett Queen and Gale each had two hits. Cullen, Henricks and Gale each scored twice.
Tommy Medica led the Broncos with two hits, one of which was a solo home run.
The Pilots will go after their ninth consecutive win against the 10th-ranked Oregon State Beavers on Tuesday. UP and OSU are set to play at 5:00 p.m. at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore.
