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Gage Bruce rips a base hit in a home game against the Saint Mary's Gaels on March 29, 2026.
Ryan Reynolds
1
Saint Mary's SMC 14-13, 2-4 WCC
6
Winner Portland POR 17-8, 5-1 WCC
Saint Mary's SMC
14-13, 2-4 WCC
1
Final
6
Portland POR
17-8, 5-1 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Saint Mary's SMC 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0
Portland POR 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 X 6 7 0

W: Labonte, Will (2-0) L: Hilton, Jake (3-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Pilots Claim Series with 6-1 Win Versus Saint Mary’s

PORTLAND, Ore. – Freshman right hander Will Labonte continued his stellar start to the season as the Portland Pilots won the series against Saint Mary's with Sunday's 6-1 victory in West Coast Conference action at Joe Etzel Field.

Labonte tossed six effective innings to improve to 2-0 on the season for the Pilots (17-8, 5-1 WCC), while Gage Bruce and Cole Katayama Stall provided the production at the plate. Bruce was 3-for-4 with three RBI and Katayama Stall was 2-for-3 with three runs, two batted in and his team-leading fifth home run of the year.

Labonte limited one of the nation's top hitting lineups to just seven hits and no walks while striking out five. The Gaels (14-13, 2-4) came into the weekend ranked No. 6 nationally in batting average (.340), but Portland held them to .248 over the three games.

The Pilot bullpen did its job Sunday as Grady Keljo tossed a scoreless seventh inning and Ky Hoskinson finished the last two frames allowing just one hit.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Portland started fast with a three-run first inning after loading the bases with no outs. Cole Katayama stall delivered an RBI single scoring Brady Bean and then Gage Bruce came through with a two-out, two-run single to right field.

The Gaels plated their only run of the game in the second inning, but the Pilots would collect some insurance runs.

Dakota Chun scored Bruce with a single in the fourth and then Bruce again came up big with a run-scoring single to plate Katayama Stall in the sixth.

Katayama Stall's homered over the center field fence in the eighth to cap the scoring.

GAME NOTES
  • Will Labonte lowered his ERA to 1.98 on the season and threw 96 total pitches.
  • Portland's pitching staff now carries a WCC-leading 3.23 ERA this year.
  • Jake Hilton (3-2) took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 3.2 innings.
  • The Pilots struck out just four times on the day.
  • Portland finished with seven hits and stranded six runners.
  • Saint Mary's had nine hits and left seven runners on base.
  • Neither team committed an error.

UP NEXT
The Pilots will visit No. 20 Oregon on Tuesday with a 5 p.m. first pitch at PK Park. Portland returns to WCC action with a three-game series at Seattle U Thursday through Saturday. Visit PortlandPilots.com for links to tickets, live scoring and the ESPN+ broadcast.
 
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