PROVO, Utah – Thanks to a strong performance by the pitching staff and capitalizing on costly errors by BYU, the Portland Pilots defeated the Cougars 5-3 on Thursday night in a West Coast Conference series opener. The win improved the Pilots record to 15-13 overall, including 7-3 in WCC play. They also are now 6-1 in WCC road games.

The pitching staff for Portland was dealing on Thursday night, accumulating 15 strikeouts from three pitchers. Caleb Franzen earned the win after a stellar performance in relief. He had five strikeouts in three innings pitched with no runs allowed in that span. Eli Morse earned his WCC-leading eighth save and Brett Gillis was also solid as a starter, striking out eight in five innings.

Portland had a good night at the plate as well with five runs off nine hits. The Pilots did well to take advantage of BYU's four errors, scoring three runs off them. Seven of Portland's nine batters tallied hits on the night, with Jake Holcroft and Chad Stevens leading the way with 2-for-4 outings. Ben Patacsil and Sam Brown were the only batters to record RBI's on Thursday.

BYU started the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. After Cooper Vest got himself in scoring position with a double, Andrew Pintar stepped up to the plate and hit a single that brought home Vest, giving the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

Things looked geared towards a pitcher's duel before the fourth inning. BYU had three errors in the inning, allowing the Pilots to score twice and overtake the Cougars. BYU responded quickly, however, with a two-run homer from Joshua Cowden in the bottom of the fourth. The Cougars led 3-2.

The Pilots bounced back in the seventh inning with three runs in the top of the seventh. Portland got it started with a bunt from Henry Muench that turned into another error for BYU, allowing Ty Saunders to score from second. A sacrifice fly from Patacsil and an RBI single from Brown gave Portland two more runs, and the Pilots suddenly found themselves with a 5-3 lead.

Portland wouldn't score again, but the pitching held up. BYU tried to make a dent, but Franzen continued to bring the heat. Morse came in for Franzen in the final inning, striking out two BYU batters to secure the 5-3 win for Portland.

The Pilots and Cougars will play again tomorrow at 5 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stat and video options.