PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland's Cody Hawken belted his team-leading eighth home run of the season and the Pilots led San Diego early, but the Toreros recovered to claim a 9-4 win in the opener of a three-game West Coast Conference series at Joe Etzel Field on Friday night. Hunter Montgomery also had a two-run double for the Pilots.
 
Both of Hawken's and Montgomery's extra base hits came in the top of the second inning as the Pilots (19-27, 9-13 WCC) erased a 1-0 deficit. Hawken led off the frame by hammering a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left-center field.
 
Ryan Hoogerwerf and Chad Stevens followed with singles to give Portland runners on first and second, and Montgomery brought both in with a double down the left-field line to hand the Pilots a 3-1 lead. But San Diego (22-29, 11-14 WCC) starter Paul Richan would retire the next three batters to end the inning.
 
Richan settled into a groove from there as he held the Pilots to just three hits during the next six innings.
 
The Toreros responded to Portland's three-run second with two in the top of the third to level the score 3-3. Brhet Bewley was responsible for both runs as his single up the middle scored Connor Doyle and Paul Kunst.
 
San Diego then took control of the game with a run in the top of the fifth inning, four more in the sixth, and another in the seventh. During that sixth inning, Dan Gardner sent a two-run single up the middle, Kunst collected an RBI with a double to left-center, and Jay Schuyler provided an RBI double with a shot off the left-field wall, making it an 8-3 game.
 
The Pilots got one back in the bottom of the sixth after Beau Brundage led off with a triple. A few batters later, Chad Stevens tallied his second hit of the game, which was a single to right field that scored Brundage.
 
But that's all the offense the Pilots could produce as Richan (4-6) gets his fourth win of the year. His final line included four runs on seven hits in 8.0 innings, and the righty struck out 10. Reliever Nate Kuchta pitched a scoreless and hitless ninth, fanning two of the three batters he faced.
 
Portland starter Eli Morse (3-7) tossed five innings, and he was charged with seven runs on nine hits. He K'd five and walked two. Reliever Christian Peters came out of the bullpen to work the final 4.0 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, while fanning two and walking one.
 
The Pilots and Toreros next play the second game of the series Saturday night, with first pitch slated for 6:05 p.m. at Joe Etzel Field. The game will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Northwest in the Portland area.