WCC Baseball: Pilots Fall to No. 21 San Diego

The Toreros jumped out early and didn’t look back.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

SAN DIEGO - No. 21 San Diego completed a three-game sweep of the Portland baseball team, topping the Pilots 10-2 on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, Portland drops to 14-20 overall (2-7 West Coast Conference) while the Toreros go to 29-13 (7-2 WCC).

San Diego pitching stymied the Pilots for much of the game, with Matt Couch (6-2) picking up the win, allowing five hits and two runs over six innings.

Aaron Slama recorded a save, tossing three shutout innings and striking out four. Junior southpaw David Gruener (1-3) took the loss for Portland.

The Toreros jumped out early and didn’t look back, plating three runs in the first inning on back-to-back two-out home runs by right fielder Shane Buschini and catcher Logan Gelbrich.

San Diego pushed the lead to 8-0 by the fourth inning, putting the game out of reach.

The Pilots scored both of their runs in the sixth inning, with junior right fielder Cory Wiltshire and sophomore first baseman Chase Powell leading off the inning with consecutive doubles to score Portland's first run.

The Pilots tacked on another run when freshman second baseman Clayton Shaw singled in Powell.

For the game, Shaw went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Powell went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Wiltshire and junior center fielder Billy Krause also collected a hit apiece.

For San Diego, Buschini was the offensive star, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and 5 RBI.

Designated hitter Jordan Abruzzo went 5-for-5 with an RBI, while Gelbrich finished 2-for-4 with a home run. Second baseman Justin Snyder and center fielder Josh Romanski each had two hits and an RBI.

The Pilots return to the friendly confines of Joe Etzel Field on Tuesday, for a non-conference game against the Washington Huskies before hosting WCC opponent San Francisco for a three-game set on April 20th-22nd.

The opening pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM on Friday and at 1:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday.

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