PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland senior Michael Lucarelli belted a solo home run in the eighth inning and the Pilots loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but the Oregon Ducks escaped Joe Etzel Field with a 5-2 win on Wednesday afternoon. The long fly is Lucarelli's second homer of the season.
 
Lucarelli's blast came with two outs and nobody on base and easily cleared the wall in left field, trimming Portland's (7-32) deficit to three runs. Cooper Hummel followed Lucarelli's home run with a double to left field and Turner Gill gave the Pilots their third consecutive two-out hit with a single to right. Now with runners on the corners, Kevin Wade sent a hard grounder to second base, but it was handled by Mitchell Tolman to end the inning.
 
The score was still 5-2 in the ninth when Oregon (22-16) turned to its star closer Garrett Cleavinger, who promptly walked the bases loaded, while also fanning a pair. Lucarelli then came to the plate with two outs, but this time the senior went down swinging as Cleavinger registers his fifth save of the year.
 
The Ducks' runs came in the first and sixth innings and all five were charged to Portland starter Cole Doherty (1-4). Only three of the runs were earned as Oregon capitalized on Portland's one error. Tolman knocked in the game's first run with a double in the first, and Phil Craig-St. Louis made it a 2-0 game with a sacrifice fly. Austin Grebeck brought home two runs in the sixth with a double down the left field line.
 
Doherty scattered nine hits in 5.1 innings, struck out two and walked three. Reliever Jake Hawken inherited two runners in the sixth, one which scored, and struck out four in 2.2 innings, while Kody Kuhlman worked a scoreless ninth.
 
Oregon used seven pitchers on the day and starter Kohl Hostert (1-0) earns the win.
 
Brady Kerr, who went 2-for-3, drove in Portland's first run with an RBI single in the second.
 
The Pilots next return to the West Coast Conference with a three-game series at home against Gonzaga this weekend. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday at Joe Etzel Field, while Saturday and Sunday's games will both begin at 1 p.m.