SPOKANE, Wash. --- Trailing by two in the top of the ninth inning, the Portland Pilots got two runners on base with only one out, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs escaped with a 6-4 win on Friday night in a back-and-forth game to open a West Coast Conference series at Washington Trust Field. The Pilots out-hit the Bulldogs 13-7 on the night, and Beau Brundage and Daniel Lopez each finished with four hits.
 
It was the Pilots (10-17, 4-6 WCC) who struck first with a run in the top of the first inning after Brundage and Lopez reached with a pair of two-out singles. Cody Hawken was then hit by a pitch before Chad Stevens earned a bases loaded walk, forcing in Brundage with the game's first run.
 
The Bulldogs (14-14, 5-5 WCC) matched the Pilots with a run in the bottom of the first, which scored on a wild pitch, before adding two more in the second to surge ahead 3-1. It was Branson Trube who gave the Bulldogs the lead with a two-run single off of Portland starter Eli Morse.
 
The Pilots responded with two runs in the top of the third to even the score. Brundage and Lopez again fueled the offense with a single and double, respectively, and this time Brundage scored courtesy a sac fly off the bat of Hawken. Lopez then tied the score 3-3 when he trotted home on a wild pitch.
 
The game remained tied for the next few innings as Morse settled in, holding the Zags scoreless while retiring nine straight. Portland then jumped ahead in the top of the sixth when Stevens singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, headed to third on a base hit from Jace McKinney and scored on a sacrifice fly by Collin Runge.
 
The lead was short-lived as Gonzaga scored two in the home half of the sixth, with both runs coming in on a single by Jace VanDeBrake. The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the seventh and took a two-run lead to the final inning.
 
That's where Brundage and Lopez both reached base for the fourth time on the night, giving the Pilots runners on the corners with only one out. But Gonzaga closer Casey Legumina closed the door with consecutive strikeouts to end the game.
 
Morse (2-4), a freshman righty, is saddled with the loss after working 5.2 innings. He scattered six hits, allowed five runs, and K'd two. Relievers Jake Hawken, Jordan Horak, and Jordan Morris followed Morse on the hill.
 
Gonzaga reliever Calvin LeBrun (3-3) takes the win after pitching just two-thirds of an inning. He replaced starter Daniel Bies in the sixth after Bies tossed 5.2 innings, yielding four runs on nine hits. Legumina pitched the final 2.2 innings to earn his seventh save of the year.
 
The Pilots will next look to even the series with the Bulldogs on Saturday, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.