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PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning which included a two-run, go-ahead double by Jeff Melby as the Pilots rallied past the Loyola Marymount Lions 3-2 in a thrilling West Coast Conference baseball game played on Saturday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. Portland starter Kurt Yinger went the distance on the hill to register his second complete-game win this season.
 
The Pilots (15-28, 7-10 WCC) struggled to get their bats going all game long until the seventh and eighth innings. LMU (21-21, 9-8 WCC) starter Aaron Griffin escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lions weren’t as fortunate in the eighth.
 
With the Pilots trailing 2-0, Cody Lenahan led off the frame with a single. Pinch hitter Colin Sowers then came through by belting a double to deep left field that allowed Lenahan to come all the way around to score, pulling Portland within a run.
 
Griffin then K’d Nick Armenta before reliever Sean Buckle walked Kramer Scott, the only hitter Buckle faced, to give the Pilots runners on first and second with two outs. And on a 0-1 pitch from new pitcher Bret Dahlson, Melby sent a hard grounder down the third base line that scored Sowers from second with the tying run and Scott from first with the go-ahead run.
 
Yinger then trotted back out to the mound in the top of the ninth and retired the Lions in order to secure the win.
 
Yinger surrendered eight hits on the day, but he allowed just two hits following the fourth inning. He struck out three and walked only one.
 
Buckle (1-2) takes the loss after facing just one batter. Griffin didn’t allow a hit until that seventh inning and he ended up yielding four hits total. He fanned 11 and walked two.
 
LMU scored its first run in the fourth inning on a single by Matt Lowenstein, and the Lions made it a 2-0 game in the seventh when Zac Fujimoto scored on a safety squeeze.
 
The Lions finished with an 8-5 edge in hits and neither team committed an error. Melby finished with a pair of hits and the senior has reached base safely in 22 straight games.
 
The Pilots will go after the series sweep tomorrow with the finale scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Portland won Friday’s opener 8-3.