PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Pilots scored three runs late, including two in the bottom of the ninth, to force extra innings, but the San Diego Toreros scored four in the 12th to claim a 9-5 win over Portland in the first game of a West Coast Conference double header on Friday. The Toreros then won the second game 9-1 at Joe Etzel Field.
 
During that first game, the Pilots (15-26, 2-15 WCC) entered the bottom of the eighth inning down 5-2 when Grant Taylor left the yard with a solo shot to right field. His third long fly of the year pulled the Pilots within two.
 
And then in the ninth inning, Ryan Barr led off with a double and Cooper Hummel drew a walk to put the potential game-tying run on base with no outs. Kevin Farley then laid down his second sacrifice bunt of the game, and Eric Sapp followed with an RBI ground out to second base to make it a one-run game.
 
Brady Kerr then stepped to the plate with two outs and Hummel 90 feet away, and the first baseman came through with an infield single, which scored Hummel and knotted the score at 5-5.
 
Neither team was able to break through during the first two extra innings until pinch hitter Troy Conyers belted a two-run double into the right-center gap in the 12th. The Toreros (22-24, 9-11 WCC) would add two more runs en route to the win.
 
Jackson Lockwood (1-2), who entered the game for the Pilots to begin the 12th, takes the loss. Starter Jordan Horak lasted 5.0 innings, scattering seven hits and surrendering three runs. Kevin Baker was solid in relief, fanning eight in 6.0 innings. He was charged with two runs on four hits.
 
San Diego reliever Nick Sprengel (3-7) earns the win after working 3.2 innings. Starter Gary Cornish worked into the ninth.
 
The Toreros opened the scoring with a tally in the top of the first inning, but the Pilots did well to limit the damage after San Diego got runners on second and third with no outs. After Horak recorded a strikeout, the Toreros could only produce one run on a sacrifice fly.
 
Portland then evened the score with a run in the bottom of the second after Hummel began the inning with a lead-off double to deep right-center field. Hummel then moved to third on a sac bunt by Farley, before Sapp picked up the RBI with a groundout.
 
The game remained tied 1-1 until the top of the fourth when Kevin Collard left the yard with a two-run homer to right field. His eighth home run of the year gave USD a 3-1 lead.
 
The Pilots got one back in the bottom of the sixth inning after taking advantage of another lead-off double, this one off the bat of Taylor. Michael Forgione sacrificed him to third, and Jason Rosen brought him home with a grounder to second, pulling the Pilots within 3-2.
 
San Diego then got a clutch single in the eighth inning with two runners in scoring position, stretching their lead to 5-2. With two outs, Jeff Houghtby came through with a line drive to center that plated two key insurance runs.
 
The second game began with the Toreros jumping out to a 4-0 lead. One run came in the top of the first inning, Daniel Gardner drove in two runs with a single to center during a three-run second inning.
 
The Pilots responded with a run in the bottom of the second when Hummel knocked in Sapp from second base with a single to center. The run made it a 4-1 game, which it would remain all the way until the seventh inning.
 
In the seventh, the Toreros took control of the game with three runs. Riley Adams, Gardner and Bryce Brigman each drove in a run, with Gardner's RBI coming on a double. Roman Garcia added a solo home run in the top of the ninth, which was followed by a sac fly by Houghtby.
 
The Pilots left two runners stranded in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and stranded 11 base runners total for the game. That included Brian Pozos in the ninth, who led off the inning with a triple to right-center field.
 
Troy Conyers, who knocked in the game-winning RBI's during game one, takes the win on the hill in game two. He worked into the eighth inning, allowing just four hits, while fanning 12.
 
Portland starter Davis Tominaga (3-8), who settled down after those first two innings, tossed 6.2 innings and was followed by a pair of relievers.
 
The Pilots and Toreros next conclude this three-game series with the finale tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.