PORTLAND, Ore. – Despite stellar nights from Briley Knight at the plate and Christian Peters on the mound, the Portland Pilots fell to the Loyola Marymount Lions 8-5 after giving up three runs in the final two innings. The loss drops the Pilots under .500 at 16-17 and puts their WCC record at 8-5.
It was a mixed bag for Portland's pitching staff as they struck out 14 but also allowed eight runs off 16 hits. The defense did them no favors tonight, recording six errors. Christian Peters was one shy of his career high for strikeouts with 10 on the night in five innings, but allowed three runs and eight hits in his outing. Peter Allegro took the loss after allowing four runs in 1.1 innings.
Portland had a solid night at the plate, driving in five runs off 10 hits. Briley Knight was electric at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI's. Knight was responsible for all of Portland's runs on the day.
The Pilots got on the board first with Knight's three-run homer in the bottom of the second. With runners on first and second, Knight stepped up to the plate and hit one over the right field wall to make it 3-0 Portland.
Knight added another run to Portland's total in the bottom of the fourth off a double to left-center field. But the Lions finally responded in the fifth, adding three runs after taking advantage of costly errors by Portland. Loyola's strong top inning made it 4-3 Portland.
The bottom of the fifth was a familiar sight, as Knight hit a ground-rule double over the center field wall that brought in a run. But more errors in the top of the sixth hurt the Pilots. They had three in just the sixth inning, putting runners on base and allowing Andrew Cargin to drive in a run off a single. Three of LMU's eight runs on the day were unearned. The Pilots led 5-4 after six.
The Lions tied things up in the top of the eighth. Diego Baqueiro drove a run in off a single to right field to bring home another run, putting the Pilots in a precarious position. Portland couldn't match them on offense with Holden Christian dominating on the mound. In 3.1 innings Christian allowed no hits or runs with 10 strikeouts.
With momentum on their side, LMU was able to drive in three runs in the final inning to make it 8-5 and give Portland the loss.
The Pilots and Lions will be back at it tomorrow at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PortlandPilots.com.
