PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots (13-5, 1-1 WCC) bounced back in a big way against the BYU Cougars (10-6, 1-1 WCC), taking the win 11-1 at Joe Etzel Field. The win is Portland's first in WCC play.

Brett Gillis earned the win after yet another impressive outing for Portland. He pitched seven innings with only one run and three hits allowed, throwing 12 strikeouts in the process. Those 12 strikeouts matches both a career and season-high. Janzen Keisel took the loss.

The Pilots were dominant at the plate, racking up 11 runs on 13 hits. Four Pilots – Jake Holcroft, Briley Knight, Ty Saunders and Ben Patacsil – had at least two hits on the day. Knight was the top batter, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Sam Brown went 1-for-5 but had a three-run homer, his second of the series and third of the year. He's now tied for the team lead in bombs for the year.

Portland scored their first run in the bottom of the first. With a runner on third, Patacsil hit a ground ball that gave Holcroft enough time to get home. It was quickly 1-0 in Portland.

The second inning saw the Pilots bury the Cougars early, with eight runs. Nich Klemp, Saunders, Jake Tsukada and Patacsil each had RBI hits, with a Saunders double bringing in two. Then  Brown hit a moonshot over the wall in left center field that gave Portland three more. Suddenly, Portland found themselves with a 9-0 lead.

The Pilots added one more run off an RBI single from Knight in the bottom of the fourth before BYU responded. In the top of the sixth, Andrew Pintar had an RBI double that brought the score within single digits. But the Pilots added one more run in the bottom of the seventh off an error by Brock Watkins to put the score at its final.

Portland and BYU will play the rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video for the finale.