PORTLAND, Ore. --- Four Pilots homered and starting pitcher Corbin Powers was stellar on the mound as Portland claimed an 8-0 shutout over the Saint Joseph's Hawks on a chilly Friday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. Ryan Kim was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI's to help fuel the Portland offense.
Powers (1-1) held the Hawks (0-1) scoreless during 7.2 innings, which marks the longest outing of the redshirt-senior's career. He yielded four hits and fanned a career-best eight.
The Pilots (1-3) gave Powers all the offense he would need when the home team plated four in the bottom of the third inning to break open a 0-0 game. With one out and the bases empty, Dutton Elske drove his first homer of the year over the left field fence. Few batters later, Beau Brundage reached base on a single, moved all the way to third courtesy a pair of wild pitches, and trotted home on an infield single off the bat of Kim.
The Pilots weren't done as Daniel Lopez followed Kim with a 2-run homer to left field that handed Portland a 4-0 cushion. It's the second home run of the year for Lopez, who also left the yard last weekend against No. 13 UCLA.
Portland added two more runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to cap the day's scoring. In the fourth, it was Kim's turn to clear the fence with his first homer of the year, which came with Elske on base. And then in the fifth, Cody Hawken crushed a no-doubter down the left field line for a solo shot.
Jace McKinney followed with a triple, and Collin Runge brought him home with an RBI ground-out.
Reliever Cameron Richman finished off the shutout for the Pilots when he replaced Powers with one on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Richman retired all four batters he faced, which included a game-ending strikeout.
Saint Joseph's starter Hayden Seig (0-1) is saddled with the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 3.0 innings. He was followed by three relievers out of the bullpen.
Friday's contest was the first of a scheduled four-game series between the Pilots and Hawks, who will next play a double header on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday's finale is set for 12 p.m., but please check on PortlandPilots.com or follow the Pilots (@PortlandPilots) on Twitter for any weather related updates.
