Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots (29-18, 15-8 WCC) clinched the series against the Saint Mary's Gaels (25-26, 9-17 WCC) with an 8-5 win. The win makes it eight in a row in WCC play, a record for the Pilots.

With their 15^th win in WCC play, the Pilots now own their best record against conference opponents since 2002, when they won 16 games in WCC play. They'll have a chance to match that record tomorrow.

Brock Gillis was stellar on the mound for the Pilots, going seven innings with just three hits and one unearned run allowed and nine strikeouts. His seven innings pitched and nine strikeouts recorded are both season and career highs for the sophomore. Nick Nygard and Peter Allegro cleaned things up for the Pilots, with Allegro earning his 12^th save of the season and his second of the series.

Christian Cooney was a star offensively, batting 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI's. Cooney was just a triple away from the cycle as well, which would've been the first cycle in program history. Sam Brown also went 1-for-3 with two RBI's while Tony Boetto was 1-for-2 with two RBI's.

The Gaels took advantage of an error by Jake Holcroft that put a runner on second in the first inning. With a runner in scoring position, Chris Santiago hit a sacrifice fly to give the Gaels an early 1-0 lead.

The Pilots tied things back up in the second inning. Tony Boetto stepped up to the plate and grounded out to third, but the ground out gave Gabe Skoro just enough time to get home and earn a run. The game was tied up at one.

It was poised to be all Pilots from that point on, with Portland scoring two runs in the third. Sam Brown hit a strong double to center field that brought in two runs and put the Pilots up 4-1. After a score in the following inning off a sacrifice bunt from Ty Saunders, the Pilots found themselves up 4-1 after four.

The Pilots scored two more runs in the sixth inning. For his third hit of the day, Cooney hit a bomb over the left field wall that just stayed fair to bring in two runs. The Pilots scored two more runs in the eighth inning – one off a big hit for Boetto and another off a wild pitch – to make it 8-1 Portland.

The Gaels threatened in the final inning. With the bases loaded, Javy Espinzoa hit a moonshot over the wall to cut Portland's lead to three with a grand slam. Allegro came in for the Pilots to get the final out and earn the save.

The Pilots and Gaels will play their series finale tomorrow at 1 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video.