Pilots on a Roll!

Scorching Offense Propels Pilots to Victory as Varce Cruises on the Mound

Portland, Ore. --- Junior 2B Riley Henricks fell a triple shy of the cycle as the Portland Pilots offense set new season-highs in hits and runs Friday afternoon. Portland starter Zach Varce cruised through 8.0 innings, striking out 11 batters to give the Pilots (21-9, 6-1 WCC) a 17-2 West Coast Conference win over the Loyola Marymount Lions (16-16, 0-4 WCC) at Joe Etzel Field.

All but one Portland starter had a hit and seven Pilots recorded multiple hits. Portland had a season-high 21 hits in the victory. Portland scored nine runs with two outs on the afternoon. Senior 1B C.J. Cullen, sophomore DH Beau Fraser, and Henricks all notched four RBI for the Pilots as eleven different players crossed the plate in the blowout.

Varce (5-1) got all the support he needed early in the game before finally allowing LMU’s first hit with two outs in the top of the fifth. With his 11 strikeout performance, Varce has now recorded nine or more strikeouts in five of his nine starts this year. He has also thrown at least 7.0 innings in each of his last four starts. Senior Ed Wakefield tossed a scoreless ninth to finish the game.

The Lions managed just six hits on the afternoon. Sophomore CF Ryan Hawthorne knocked in both runs for LMU. He was also the only Lion to record more than one hit, finishing with two. LMU used three relievers after the Pilots chased Ramiro Carreon (2-4) in the fourth inning.
Portland improves to 12-3 at home, snapping a two game skid. The Pilots are all alone in second place in the WCC standings with a 6-1 record, just one year removed from posting a 7-14 record against WCC foes.

Sophomore Kyle Kraus (6-0, 4.28 ERA) toes the rubber tomorrow for the Pilots while the Lions counter with sophomore southpaw John Lally (3-0, 4.23 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm.

• a Pilot player being tagged out on a hidden-ball trick
  
• a wickedly bad infield bounce leading to (what turned out to be) a crucial run for the Pilots
  
• a player being ejected for using the f-word after a called third strike
  
• 7 free passes by Pilot pitchers (4 BB's and 3 HBP's), 6 of which ended up resulting in scored runs--a large part of LMU continually getting back into the game
  
• the LMU right fielder dropping a seemingly easy foul fly ball off Haskin's bat that would have ended the 9th inning; this kept the at-bat alive, leading to Haskin's walk-off homer

Cardiac Kids Sweep Lions with Walk-off Haskin Blast

Senior C Rocky Gale went 5-5 with 3 Doubles, 3 runs, and 2 RBI

Portland, Ore. --- Junior RF Kyle Haskin launched his first career home run to straight away center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Portland Pilots a thrilling 13-12 West Coast Conference victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions Sunday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. Sophomores Garrett Queen and Beau Fraser each knocked in four runs, while senior Rocky Gale scored three times on five hits.

Portland (23-9, 8-1 WCC) led on five separate occasions but the pesky Lions (16-18, 0-6 WCC) just would not back down. Gale roped his third double of the game down the left field line to give the Pilots an 11-10 lead in the eighth and would come around to score on a Queen single making it 12-10 Pilots.

With junior closer Chris Dennis (4-0) on the mound, the Pilots looked poised to close the game out in the top of the ninth inning. After loading the bases with one out, Dennis surrendered a sacrifice fly before Hawthorne sent a ground ball up the middle. It seemed the Pilots had escaped with the victory but junior Jonathan Johnson slid into second just ahead of the throw as the tying run crossed the plate.

Haskin, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, sent a 3-1 fastball from Xavier Esquivel (0-2) into the trees behind center field to give the Cardiac Kids their fourth walk-off win of the season. Haskin also becomes the second Pilot this year to have his first career home run be of the walk-off variety. Senior 1B C.J. Cullen achieved the feat February 28th against Seattle.

Cullen finished with four hits and four runs scored on Sunday. LMU sophomore Ryan Hawthorne knocked in five runs with a five hit performance. Three other Lions finished with three hits apiece.

LMU finished with 15 hits while stranding 10 runners. Portland recorded 19 base-knocks but left eight runners stranded. The lone Pilot error in the game allowed an unearned run to tie the game in the fourth. LMU committed two errors on the afternoon.

Fraser, with three hits including a home run and four RBI on Sunday, finished the series 8-12 with a home run and eight RBI. Gale had eight hits in 10 at-bats for Portland as well. Portland outscored LMU 35-15 en route to their second WCC series sweep of the season. The Pilots also hit a healthy .420 (50-119) this weekend, while holding LMU to .257 (26-101) despite Sunday’s offensive outburst.

With an 8-1 conference record, the Pilots have won their most WCC games since 2002 when Head Coach Chris Sperry led the Pilots to 16 wins against WCC foes. Portland went 5-2 this home stand to improve to 13-3 at Joe Etzel Field this season.

The Pilots play the Washington Huskies in a nonconference road game on Tuesday at 6:00pm before travelling for a three game WCC series against the Pepperdine Waves on Friday.