MORAGA, Calif. – After four hours of baseball, freshman Ty Saunders delivered the game-winning RBI single in the top of the 13th inning to give the Portland Pilots a 4-3 win in their series opener against the Saint Mary's Gaels at Louis Guisto Field. The win snaps Portland's three-game losing streak, improving their record to 12-12 overall and 5-2 in WCC play.
The pitching and defense was excellent from start-to-finish for Portland on Thursday. Peter Allegro earned the win with a stellar relief performance in extra innings. He pitched four innings, struck out five and allowed no runs or hits. Caleb Franzen also impressed with five strikeouts and only one hit and no runs allowed in six innings out of the bullpen.
The Pilots racked up 12 hits on the day but struggled to bring runners home, stranding 15 on base. Four batters collected two or more hits on the day for Portland, with Briley Knight standing out. He was 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Portland got on the board first thanks to a sacrifice fly from Gabe Skoro with the bases loaded in the second inning. Saint Mary's responded in the next inning with two runs of their own. Portland starter Eli Morse struggled in the third, walking two batters and allowing two hits. The first run came in off a wild pitch while the next run came on a sac fly from Nick Mistone. The Gaels took the lead, 2-1.
Saint Mary's added another run in the bottom of the fourth. With two runners in scoring position, JC Santini hit an RBI-groundout shortstop to make it a 3-1 advantage.
The Pilots struck back, however, in the next two innings. In the top of the fifth, Ben Patacsil hit a ground ball to shortstop that allowed Jake Holcroft to scurry in for a score. Portland evened the score in the sixth ater Jake Tsukada took advantage of an error by the Gaels and made it to third. Knight stepped to the plate and dropped a single into right field scoring Tsukada.
The next two and a half innings saw little action at the plate. Franzen did an excellent job in relief for the Pilots, but Portland couldn't bring in runners on offense. With the game still tied at three in the bottom of the ninth, Franzen struck out the side to take the game into extra innings.
The teams would play three more innings before the end was in sight. In top of the 13th inning, Saunders stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second. Saunders ripped a ball into left field and Ethan Smith turned on the jets and beat the throw home. Allegro retired the side himself in the bottom of the inning and the Pilots secured a big, series-opening win.
The Pilots and Gaels will be back at it tomorrow at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PortlandPilots.com.
