PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots made a late push in the final inning, but the Washington Huskies ultimately came out on top 6-4 in Portland. The loss drops the Pilots to 16-15 on the season.
Jacob Dobmeier took the loss for Portland, his second this season. Dobmeier gave up three runs in the the first inning, putting the Pilots in a hole they couldn't climb out. He also gave up five hits and recorded two errors, but struck out three in as many innings. The Pilots also cycled through five pitchers on the day.
Portland had 10 hits against the Huskies, with four of those coming in the ninth inning. Ty Saunders was the top batter for the Pilots on Tuesday. The freshman followed up his walk-off performance in the series finale against BYU this past Sunday by going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI's, a triple and a home run. Ben Patacsil was the only other Pilot to collect multiple hits, batting 2-for-4 on the day.
The Huskies didn't wait long to get the scoring started, putting up three runs in the top of the first. Cole Miller hit a line drive down the left field line with the bases loaded, bringing all runners home and giving Washington an early 3-0 lead.
The bats went silent for the next six innings. Both teams racked up hits, but couldn't get batters back home. Portland in particular struggled to bring runners in, going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position through the first seven innings. Portland also dealt with errors on defense, committing four over the course of the game.
The scoring started back up in the seventh, but not in favor of the Pilots. Will Simpson hit a moonshot over the right field wall that extended Washington's lead to four.
Portland finally responded with a solo shot of their own in the bottom of the eighth. Saunders stepped up to the plate and hit a leadoff homer to put Portland within three. But the Huskies extended their lead yet again in the top of the ninth. Christian Jones brought in a run with a double turned three bases by another error from Portland, then Simpson brought Jones in on a sac fly to make it 6-1 Washington.
The Pilots gave themselves a shot in the final inning. They tallied three runs in the bottom of the ninth, scoring off a double from Sean Mulcare, a single from Nich Klemp and a triple from Ty Saunders to cut Washington's lead to two. But Jake Holcroft hit a grounder to second in the final at bat that led to the easy throw out at first, giving the Huskies a 6-4 win in Portland.
The Pilots will be back at Joe Etzel Field tomorrow for their rematch against the No. 15 Oregon Ducks. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. with live stats and video available at PortlandPilots.com.
