PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland's Hunter Montgomery left the yard twice in game one of a double header against Seattle U and Jake Holcroft belted a grand slam in game two as the Pilots and Redhawks opened the season by splitting a double header at a renovated Joe Etzel Field on Sunday afternoon. Seattle won the opener 5-4, but the Pilots recovered to claim a 7-0 shutout in the second game.
 
Montgomery's first homer came in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Redhawks (1-1) leading 3-0. With the bases empty, he sent one over the wall down the left field line, and the Pilots (1-1) were on the board.
 
In the sixth, Montgomery homered again with nobody on base, this time belting the first pitch he saw deep to left. It easily cleared the wall, and his second dinger of the game made it a 3-2 game.
 
The Redhawks responded in the top of the seventh when Julian Kodama brought in a pair of runs with a bloop single.
 
The Pilots got those two runs back in the bottom half of the frame to make it a one-run game once again. With Gabe Skoro and Ben Patacsil on base, Briley Knight hit a single to right, bringing both runners home.
 
But that's all the offense the Pilots could put together as Seattle U secured the victory.
 
Portland starter Christian Peters (0-1) did well to recover after allowing three runs during the first two innings. He only yielded four hits and struck out five in 6.0 total innings of work. Reliever Bradley McVay allowed two runs in 2.0 innings, and Eli Morse tossed a flawless top of the ninth, fanning one.
 
Seattle starter Alex Jemal (1-0) pitched 6.0 innings to record the win, and Lucas Ford retired the Pilots in order in the bottom of the ninth to notch the save. Reliever Peter Chronowski surrendered Knight's two-run single in the seventh.
 
The second game began as a pitchers' duel, with Portland starter Brett Gillis dealing on the mound. In 5.0 innings, Gillis didn't a allow a hit, while striking out nine.
 
At the plate, Jake Tsukada and Ethan Smith produced all the run support Gillis would need. With the game scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning, Tsukada led off by tripling down the right field line. Smith then stepped up the plate and slapped a single to left that scored Tsukada and gave the Pilots a 1-0 edge.
 
The Pilots added a few unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh before Holcroft broke the game open. With the bases loaded, Holcroft lifted a high pop fly that cleared the right field wall and gave Portland a 7-0 lead.
 
Gillis (1-0) earns the win, and Jacob Dobmeier and Morse were solid in relief.
 
Morgan White (0-1) gave up just the one run in 4.0 innings, and he was followed by three Seattle relievers. Mason Hoover gave up the grand slam to Holcroft.
 
The finale of this three-game series is set for Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
The game was the first to be played on the UP campus for the Pilots since May of 2019. Last season the Pilots were forced to play away from campus as the University concluded a three-phase, long-term renovation project of Joe Etzel Field, the home of Portland baseball since 1988. The final and most recent phase of the project features the addition of new seating, concourse, press box, ticketing office, dugouts, and a refreshed plaza surrounding the stadium.
 
Phase one in 2014 included the installation of AstroTurf, new fencing, bullpens, a scoreboard, and a grass berm for seating down the right field line, and the addition of new lights to the facility were phase two in 2016.