DAVIS, Calif. – The Portland Pilots and UC Davis split a series opening doubleheader Sunday doubleheader at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. The Pilots won the opener 7-4, but the Aggies bounced back for a 1-0 victory in the late game. The rubber match will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m. will live video and stats linked at PortlandPilots.com.
GAME 1 RECAP
Portland put together another strong offensive performance to take Game 1 by a 7-4 margin. The Pilots were propelled by a strong fourth inning where they scored four runs, taking the lead and never looking back.
Portland's offense got the job done with seven runs off 10 hits. Catcher Hunter Montgomery hit his third home run of the season in the top of the sixth and was 1-for-3 on the day. Freshman designated hitter Sam Brown also went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the fourth in his collegiate debut.
Christian Peters (1-1) got the win for the Pilots with only two runs allowed and five strikeouts in six innings pitched. Eli Morse picked up his first career save after coming in at the bottom of the eighth and recording the final five outs.
The scoring started in the third for both teams, with Portland getting on the board first. With Brown on third, Jake Holcroft hit a grounder to shortstop to bring Brown home. UC Davis responded with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs to make it a 2-1 Aggies lead.
The lead didn't last long as the Pilots responded with a two-out rally of their own in the fourth inning. Christian Cooney got it started for Portland with his first hit of the season bringing in Montgomery. Brown then doubled down the right field line to bring in both Cooney and Jake Tsukada. With Brown now on third thanks to a fielding error, Ben Patacsil singled anther ball to left field to bring him in and make it 5-2 Portland.
The Pilots extended their lead in the sixth inning with a lead-off solo homer from Montgomery. The dinger was Montgomery's third of the young season. An RBI double from Chad Stevens put the Pilots up 7-2 going into the seventh inning stretch.
The Aggies started to rally back in the bottom of the eighth, but Morse replaced Peter Allegro on the mound with the bases loaded and got the Pilots out of a tough situation. Morse struck out Michael Campagna for the final out and the victory.
GAME 2 RECAP
The late game featured a pitcher's duel as the Aggies held on for the 1-0 win to even the series. Pilot sophomore right-hander Brett Gillis and Aggies' righty Jake Spillane kept both lineups scoreless through the first five frames.
Gillis was cruising and only allowed three hits and a walk before getting in trouble in the sixth. Michael Campagna hit a leadoff double to right center and Jake Brandel singled through the left side to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Ben Griffin deposited an RBI single to right for the first score of the game to chase Gillis.
Bradley McVay came on in relief for the Pilots and induced a ground ball double play and then struck out Daniel Carrion to limit the damage and end the inning. McVay went three total innings of relief, allowing just one hit and a walk with a strikeout.
Unfortunately, one run was all the Aggies would need as relievers Kaden Riccomini and Nathan Peng each tossed two scoreless innings to secure the win. Riccomini (1-1) earned the win, while Peng picked up his first save of the season.
Gillis (1-1) was saddled with the tough-luck loss despite allowing just one run on six hits in 5.0 innings while striking out five. It is the only run the Everett, Wash. native has allowed through two starts and 10.0 innings of work this season.
Jake Tsukada picked up three hits in the game for Portland to raise his season batting average to an even .500. Brown continued to swing a hot stick and picked up two more hits in four at bats.
Both teams had seven hits and one error for the game.
