SEATTLE, Wash. – Despite a late ninth-inning push from the Washington Huskies (9-8, 1-2 Pac-12), the Portland Pilots (12-4) came to Seattle and earned a thrilling 5-4 victory. The win puts the Pilots at 12-4, tied for the best 16-game start of the Geoff Loomis era.

Joey Gartrell recorded the win for the Pilots, the first of his Pilot career. He pitched 1.2 innings of relief with two strikeouts and one run allowed. Five different Pilots saw the mound today for Portland. Peter Allegro earned the save after coming up big in the bottom of the ninth for Portland.

Several Pilots had big days at the plate, with four players earning multiple hits. Trace Tammaro went an impressive 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI's. His home run was his third of the season, the most of any Pilot. Jake Holcroft also went 3-for-4 with an RBI, his seventh multi-hit game of the season. Briley Knight and Nich Klemp also each went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Portland opened the scoring in the second inning. Tammaro got things started for Portland with an RBI double to bring home Knight. Klemp then brought Tammaro home with a big RBI single to put the Pilots up 2-0.

The Huskies responded in the third inning. McKay Barney hit an RBI single that brought Washington within one. Then the Huskies scored once more off the throwing error from Ty Saunders at shortstop. That made it 2-2 just three innings in.

Portland broke the tie with two more runs in the fourth and fifth inning. Tammaro once again put the Pilots on the board, this time with a solo home run in the top of the fourth. Knight followed that up in the next inning with an RBI triple that made it 4-2 Pilots halfway through the fifth.

But once again, the huskies responded, this time in the bottom of the fifth. Coby Morales hit an RBI double that brought the Huskies within one, then Will Simpson hit a double of his own to bring home Morales, making it 4-4.

The Pilots took back the lead two innings later off an RBI single from Jake Holcroft. After that, it was a matter of the Pilots doing what they can to fend off the Huskies and prevent a comeback. The Huskies did put multiple runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, but Allegro came up with a couple key defensive plays that prevented any runs from scoring. The Pilots would win 5-4.

Next up, the Pilots will open WCC play on Thursday, March 17 when they begin their three-game series against the BYU Cougars. Thursday's game will start at 6 p.m. with live stats and video available at PortlandPilots.com.