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University of Portland Athletics

Schedule

The Pilots dropped the opener against BYU 6-2.
5
Winner Portland POR 31-19
4
Pepperdine PEPP 22-26
Winner
Portland POR
31-19
5
Final
4
Pepperdine PEPP
22-26
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Portland POR 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 10 2
Pepperdine PEPP 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 7 2

W: Gartrell, Joey (4-1) L: CHRISTY (0-2) S: Allegro, Peter (13)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Pilots Win 10th Straight WCC Game with Series-Opening Victory at Pepperdine

MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Portland extended its program record by winning a 10th consecutive West Coast Conference baseball game with a 5-4 win over the Pepperdine Waves Friday at Eddy D. Field. The team also took one step closer to securing a first-round bye at next week's WCC Tournament with the series-opening victory. Three first inning runs and excellent pitching was a recipe for success on Friday for the red hot Pilots (31-19, 17-9 WCC) who now sit alone in second place in the WCC standings with two games remaining. Portland moved closer to securing no worse than the No. 2 seed and opening round bye in the six-team conference tournament hosted next week in Stockton, Calif. Portland can still secure a share of the WCC regular season title with Gonzaga. Portland's 17 WCC wins are already the most for the program since joining the league for baseball in 1996. Freshman Joey Gartrell (4-1) was excellent in relief striking out two and allowing just one walk in two innings of work to pick up the win. Peter Allegro shut the door with two more scoreless innings for his 13th save of the season. Sophomore right-hander Brett Gillis, who was named a semifinalist for National Pitcher of the Year this week, went 5.0 innings and struck out nine batters while allowing just two earned runs. Gillis also moved into a tie for third-place on the single season strikeouts list (111). Portland wasted little time in lighting up the scoreboard with three runs in the opening frame. The first three batters drew walks to load the bases and then Christian Cooney brought home the first run with an infield single. Nich Klemp brought in two more runs with a single through the left side. Pepperdine pulled back an unearned run in the first, but the Pilots answered in the third after Jake Holcroft doubled and later scored on a wild pitch. The Waves scored two more in the third and tied the game with another unearned run in the fifth inning, but the Pilots scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. Cooney and Klemp led off with back-to-back singles and then Holcroft brought home Cooney with a sacrifice fly for the eventual game-winning run. Holcroft raised his season average to .335 with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, while Cooney continued his hot-hitting by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and RBI. Since getting healthy, Cooney is batting a sizzling .448 this Spring. Klemp finished 2-for-4 with two RBI's and raised his batting average to .309. Brandon Llewellyn started for the Waves (22-26) but lasted just one inning after surrendering three runs.  Bobby Christy (0-2) took the loss in relief despite pitching 5.1 innings and allowing just two runs. The series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and will conclude Sunday at 1 p.m. Live scoring and video links are available at PortlandPilots.com. 


 
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