STOCKTON, Calif. – Propelled by a historic night from freshman second baseman Jake Tsukada and an impressive overall offensive display, the Portland Pilots beat the Pacific Tigers 12-2 in the first game of their weekend series. The win improves Portland's record to 8-8 on the year and 1-0 to open West Coast Conference play.
Portland put on one of their best offensive displays of the season, tallying 12 runs off 21 hits, both being season highs. Every batter in the lineup registered a hit and five batters had two or more on the day.
Tsukada had an incredible night at the plate, going 6-for-6 with runs scored and two RBIs. His six hits tied the program record set by Len Farrell back in 1954. Tsukada becomes the first Pilot to record six hits in a game against a Division I opponent.
Christian Peters – who earned his third win of the season – put together another stellar pitching display in his fifth start of the year. The senior allowed only two runs and three hits in 6.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts. Caleb Franzen also had a solid night in relief, allowing no hits or runs and striking out four in 2.2 innings of work.
The Pilots got the bats going early in this one, racking up four runs in the first three innings. They got the scoring started in the first with an RBI single from Sam Brown to make it 1-0. Portland followed that up the very next inning with two runs scored off an RBI double from Chad Stevens. The double made it three straight games where Stevens has recorded an RBI and gave Portland a 3-0 lead.
Henry Muench made it 4-0 Portland in the third with a shallow shot to left field that brought in Brown. The single marked Muench's first hit of the season and first RBI. The designated hitter was 2-for-5 on the day.
The sixth inning saw three more runs from the Pilots. Ben Patacsil scored on a balk while Tsukada collected his two RBIs with a single through the gap to right-center field. That moved the score to a 7-0 lead, but Pacific finally responded. With a runner on second, Ben Nemivant ripped a line drive to center field that cut Portland's lead to six.
The Tigers tacked on one more run in the seventh, but the Pilots made their lead insurmountable in the eighth and ninth innings. They piled up five more insurance runs in the final two innings to get themselves to a double-digit lead. Pacific's Hunter Schilperoort's groundout in bottom of the ninth officially gave the Pilots the 12-2 win.
The Pilots and Tigers will play again tomorrow at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PortlandPilots.com.
