PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Pilots clinched their series against Santa Clara today with an 8-4 win over the Broncos. The win also secured their spot in the 2023 WCC Tournament, marking the second straight year the Pilots have qualified for the tourney.
Joey Gartrell (5-4) started on the mound and picked up the win for Portland (26-19, 15-8). The right-hander went seven innings, giving up three runs, one earned, on eight hits, allowing no walks and striking out four. Peter Allegro also made an impact on the mound for the Pilots, throwing two innings, giving up one run on two hits, with no walks and two strikeouts in the save.
Offensively, the Pilots were led by Ben Patacsil, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double, a walk and two RBI's. Evan Scavotto put together a noteworthy performance as well, going 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Nich Klemp also contributed for Portland, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding an RBI.
How it Happened
Costly errors and an early score saw the Pilots trailing 3-0 early, but the Pilots took advantage of Santa Clara's mistakes in the fourth to score two runs. They scored twice off RBI hits from Briley Knight and Christian Cooney to make it just 3-2 Santa Clara.
The Pilots kept the deficit at 3-2 before taking the lead in the fifth. Portland scored three runs in the frame, buoyed by a two-run single off the bat of Zach Toglia and an RBI single from Klemp, which brought the Pilots lead to 5-3.
Portland kept Santa Clara without a run before building their lead to 6-3 in the seventh inning. The Pilots picked up a run on Scavotto's leadoff home run off Blake Hammond, his eighth of the year.
Portland held the Broncos scoreless before their offense got things moving the next inning. The Pilots pushed two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Patacsil, bringing the score to 8-3 in favor of Portland. Santa Clara put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Pilots still coasted to the 8-4 win.
Game Notes
» Portland's highest scoring inning was the fifth, when it pushed three runs across.
» Portland went 5-for-13 (.385) with runners in scoring position.
» Portland pitchers limited Santa Clara to just 2-for-10 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Portland pitchers faced 36 Santa Clara hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out six.
» Patacsil led the Pilots at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
» Santa Clara was led offensively by senior Coleman Brigman, who went 3-for-4 with a double.
» Cade Pilchard led the Broncos pitching staff, throwing 4.1 innings of four-run ball.
» The win secured Portland's spot in the WCC Tournament for the second season in a row. The Pilots had not made it to the tournament prior to last seasonl.
» This is the just the fourth time the Pilots have won at least 15 WCC games in a season.
Up Next
The Pilots and Broncos will finish up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Tomorrow is Senior Day as well, with the Pilots honoring nine seniors on the team. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
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