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While the 60-degree weather was one indication that spring was on its way, the true sign of spring was the weekend full of baseball.
The University of Portland baseball team opened the season with a weekend sweep of NAIA Concordia and Division III George Fox.
The Pilots started the season off with a 5-3 win over Concordia Friday afternoon.
Junior Zach Varce pitched six solid innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs to secure his first win of the season. Varce, who was one of 40 players named to the Preseason Stopper of the Year watch list, led the West Coast Conference last season with a 2.69 ERA.
After giving up the first run in the top of the third on a single by Concordia's Curt Cosby that scored junior Tony Flanagan, the Pilots responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning with juniors Craig Smith and Riley Henricks recording RBI's.
The Cavs responded to tie the game at two apiece in the fourth but the Pilots took the lead for good when junior Kyle Haskin scored on junior Matt Mardesich's sacrifice fly to deep center field.
The two insurance runs from the junior infielder turned out to be plenty for junior closer Chris Dennis, who pitched three innings. He gave up one run and recording two strikeouts and his first save of the season.
The Pilots followed up the win with an 11-7 victory over George Fox. Sophomore Kyle Kraus pitched into the eighth inning, giving up five runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. Three of the five runs came in the eighth inning when the Pilots already had an 11-4 lead.
Portland broke the game open with a five run sixth inning. Junior Tyler Thompson opened the rally with a single to left field. He then stole second to move into scoring position. Five hits, one hits batsman and one Bruin error later, the Pilots had an 8-2 lead. Thompson finished the weekend going 7-8 with four RBIs.
Sunday, Portland completed the perfect weekend with an 8-5 victory over Concordia. After scoring two runs in the home half of the first inning, the Pilots gave up one run in the second and third and another two runs in the fourth leading to a 2-4 deficit. Portland then scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth on two costly errors by the Cavs.
The finished off Concordia behind the stout pitching of senior Ed Davis and junior Chris Dennis. The two combined for three innings, three hits and one run to secure the Pilots' third straight win.
The Pilots continue their season with a home series against Seattle University starting Friday at 2 p.m. at Joe Etzel Field.
