PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots struggled to contain the bats of the Gonzaga Bulldogs as they dropped the opener 12-4. The loss puts the Pilots back at .500 at 22-22. They hold a WCC record of 13-9
The pitching staff struggled for the Pilots today, allowing 12 runs off 19 hits. Brett Gillis was given the loss, striking out nine but allowing four runs and 11 hits. Caleb Franzen allowed another four runs in one inning of work while Nick Nygard had four runs scored on him in two innings.
Portland had 11 hits on the day, and drove in three runs. Chad Stevens impressed yet again with a 2-for-5 outing and a home run in the first inning. Sam Brown was also 2-for-4 on the day while Jake Holcroft extended his hitting streak to 14 with a 1-for-5 night.
Gonzaga got the scoring started early with one run in the first. Mason Marenco hit an single that brought home Brett Harris for a two-out RBI hit. But the Pilots responded right back, with Chad Stevens hitting the solo leadoff shot to tie things back off. It's the second straight game where Stevens has hit a leadoff homer and his eight long shot of the season. Things were tied 1-1 after one.
The Bulldogs retook the lead the very next inning. Tyler Stone stepped to the plate with two outs and launched a solo shot over the right field wall to make it 2-1 Gonzaga.
The Zags added two more runs in the top of the fifth. Harris – the top batter in the WCC – hit a moonshot over the right field wall to get the inning started, then Grayson Sterling hit a liner right up the middle to make it 4-1 Gonzaga after five.
Portland closed the gap to one run in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Tsukada extended his hitting streak with an RBI double down the right field line, scoring one runner. Ty Saunders brought in another off the pinch hit, hitting the sacrifice fly to right field to bring in another run. That made it only 4-3 Gonzaga.
Right as the Pilots started chipping away at the lead, the Bulldogs blew it open. Gonzaga scored four runs in the top of the seventh. Marenco struck first with an RBI bunt, then one more run got home thanks to an errant throw by Brown to home. Ryan Sullivan brought in two more runs off the single to left center to make it 8-3 Gonzaga.
Sullivan struck again in the top of the ninth, bringing in two runs with a home run to start things off. Harris then brought in two more runs with a homer of his own, his second of the day. Holcroft had an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, but the damage was done. The Zags won 12-4.
The Pilots and Bulldogs will be back at it tomorrow at 3 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video streaming options.
