OREM, Utah --- Starting pitcher Jordan Wilcox worked a solid seven innings and the Portland bats provided all the offense he would need as the Pilots opened a four-game series at Utah Valley with a convincing 10-3 win over the Wolverines at Brent Brown Ballpark on Thursday night. Cooper Hummel went 3-for-5 at the plate with a home run, and both Ryan Barr and Eric Sapp tallied RBI triples.
 
After the Wolverines (7-8) claimed an unearned run in the bottom of the first, the Pilots (9-4) responded with a big seven-run second inning to surge ahead and take control of the game. Five different Pilots drove in a run during the outburst, and Jason Rosen provided perhaps the biggest hit when he sent a two-run double into left field. Matt Kelly and Cooper Hummel both had RBI singles, Caleb Whalen added a sacrifice fly, and Barr returned to the line-up to cap the scoring with an RBI triple.


The 7-1 lead was more than enough for Wilcox (3-0), who yielded just four hits on the night. The senior right-hander didn't allow an earned run, struck out six and walked just one to stay perfect on the year. He'd give way to reliever Jackson Lockwood to begin the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
The Pilots added three more runs in the top of the ninth after the Wolverines had scored another unearned run in the eighth. This time it was Sapp who came through with an RBI triple, Portland's second of the game. Hummel then followed Whalen's second sac fly with his first home run of the year that sailed over the right-field fence and made it a 10-2 ballgame.
 
Utah Valley scored the game's final run in the last half of the final frame, but it was too little too late.
 
The Pilots out-hit Utah Valley 13-5, and two of the Wolverines three runs were unearned. Seven Pilots recorded at least one hit, and Rosen, Hummel and Whalen each knocked in a pair.
 
Utah Valley starting pitcher Jackson Cofer (1-3) didn't make it out of that deciding second inning, and he is saddled with the loss. Logan Hold pitched 5.1 scoreless innings of relief, and Jason Jourdan was charged with Portland's three runs in the ninth.
 
The Pilots and Wolverines next play the second game of the series on Friday night, with first pitch set for 5 p.m. (Pacific).