SPOKANE, Wash. --- Portland's Tate Budnick hit a clutch, two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Pilots got the potential game-tying run to third base, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs held on for a 9-8 win to conclude a three-game West Coast Conference series at Washington Trust Field on Sunday afternoon. The Pilots finished the day with a season-high 17 hits, but left 14 stranded on the base paths.
After the Bulldogs (16-14, 7-5 WCC) scored two key insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 9-6 edge to the final frame, Portland's (10-19, 4-8 WCC) Collin Runge reached base with a single to begin the ninth.