PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland was solid on the mound and received plenty of offense as the Pilots swept a double-header from the Saint Joseph's Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. The wins, by 6-1 and 9-2 margins, allow the Pilots to claim the four-game series from the Hawks, with the finale schedule for Sunday.
Portland (3-3) combined for four home runs on the day, with Daniel Lopez belting two during the second game. Lopez was 3-for-5 with five RBI's, with pair of runs scored during the 9-2 win.
Ryan Kim just missed hitting for the cycle during game two, coming up a single shy. He also homered, his second of the year, and he went 3-for-3 with four RBI's. He combined to hit 6-for-7 on the day, with four runs scored.
Meanwhile, Portland starters Eli Morse (1-1) and Camden Muller (1-0) were stellar on the mound, with Morse going 8.0 scoreless innings in the first game to notch his first collegiate win. He struck out eight, walked just one, and scattered seven hits.
Muller went 6.0 scoreless in the second game, fanned nine, didn't issue a walk, and yielded just four hits. The righty struck out the final five batters he face before giving way to the bullpen.
The first game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Pilots scored all six of their runs. With the bases loaded, Chad Stevens doubled down the left field line that brought in two. Beau Brundage then stepped to the plate and left the yard with a three-run homer to right-center field. It's his first home run of the season, and it gave the Pilots a 5-0 lead.
Jace McKinney would drive in the final run with a sacrifice fly.
The second game began with the Pilots scoring a run during both the bottom of the first and second innings. In the first, Kim tripled down the right field line before scoring on a single off the bat of Lopez. In the second, Travis Turney doubled for his first collegiate hit, and few batters later he'd make it a 2-0 game when he trotted home a sacrifice fly from Kim.
The lead would grow to 6-0 with a four-run sixth, and the Pilots scored three more in the bottom of the eighth. In the sixth, Kim and Lopez hit back-to-back home runs, with Kim's coming with two runners on base. Lopez's second home run, his fourth of the season, was a three-run, no-doubter that he crushed over the left field fence.
Saint Joseph's (0-3) starter Tim Brennan (0-1) took the loss in the first game, while Justin Aungst (0-1) was saddled with the L in the second.
Sunday's series finale is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. at Joe Etzel Field.
