Box Scores:  Game One  Game Two

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Gonzaga Bulldogs overcame the Pilots 5-4 in a game that was continued from Friday before holding the Portland bats at bay in the second to claim a 4-1 victory in West Coast Conference baseball action on Saturday at Joe Etzel Field. The Pilots drop to 12-19 (4-4 WCC) on the season, while the Bulldogs improve to 19-10-1 (6-4 WCC).
 
The Pilots will look to avoid the sweep with the series finale on Sunday, which is set to begin at 1 p.m.
 
The first game picked up in the top of the fourth inning after rain halted the opener yesterday with the score tied 3-3. The Pilots briefly claimed a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ben Grubb led off with a single before working his way around the bases. Grubb moved over to second after Colin Sowers was plunked, he took third base on a wild pitch and he crossed home plate courtesy a throwing error by Gonzaga catcher Travis Forbes.
 
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Bulldogs were able to push a pair across in the top of the seventh inning. The tying run scored on a Portland error, while pinch hitter Clayton Eslick knocked in the go-ahead run with a single to center field.
 
The Pilots were able to get the tying run to second base during both the eighth and ninth innings, but GU pitcher Arturo Reyes was able to get out of both innings unscathed.
 
Reyes (4-1) earns the win after replacing Friday’s starter Marco Gonzales. Reyes worked 6.0 innings surrendering the one unearned run on four hits. He K’d nine and didn’t issue a walk.
 
Portland’s Bill Sahlinger (1-2), who began the day on the mound in relief of Friday’s starter Travis Radke, takes the loss. He was charged with two runs in 3.1 innings and he yielded just two hits. Sahlinger did strike out a pair before giving way to the UP bullpen.
 
Brandon Snyder fanned the only better he faced in the seventh and Colin Feldtman allowed a hit in 2.1 innings. Radke finished with six strikeouts in 3.0 innings.
 
Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead on Friday, scoring twice in the top of the first inning without registering a hit. After two hit batters and a sacrifice bunt, GU’s first run scored on a grounder from Steven Halcomb. Caleb Wood then trotted home with the second run on a pick-off play.
 
The Bulldogs then got a pair of doubles from Cory Lebrum and Marco Gonzales in the top of the third to claim a 3-0 lead.
 
The Pilots got on the board in the bottom of the third when Caleb Whalen drilled a two-run single to left field that pulled Portland within 3-2. Whalen advanced to second base on the throw home before scoring the tying run on a double off the bat of Kramer Scott.
 
Gonzales was then able to get out of the inning before the tarp went on the field and the game was suspended.
 
The second game was a pitchers’ duel as runs were scarce. The Bulldogs scored one run in the sixth inning before adding three insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Lebrum brought home the first run in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
 
Cabe Reiten had the big hit in the seventh when his double scored two Bulldogs. GU then made it a 4-0 game on a suicide squeeze play executed by Alex Bonczyk.
 
Tyler Olson (5-2) went the distance on the mound to pick up the complete-game win. He registered 11 strikeouts, allowed just five hits and walked one.
 
Portland’s Kurt Yinger (2-2) was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs, three earned, in 7.0 innings. He struck out two and walked one. Snyder and Jeremy Burright combined to hold the Bulldogs scoreless during the final two innings.
 
Portland’s run came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Beau Fraser led off the frame with a single before pinch runner Grant Taylor took his spot on the bases. Taylor would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Grubb. After a Gonzaga error extended the inning and brought the tying run to the plate, Olson was able to end the threat on a fielder’s choice.
 
The Bulldogs out-hit the Pilots 9-5 in the second game, while Portland held a 10-5 advantage during game number one.