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Opening the West Coast Conference season at home on Friday night, LMU (6-12, 0-1 WCC) found itself on the wrong side of a 3-1 tally in a pitcher's duel, as Portland's Jordan Wilcox topped J.D. Busfield to help the Pilots (11-6, 1-0 WCC) take the opener of a three-game series being played at LMU's Page Stadium.

Wilcox dealt 8.0 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts to move to 4-0 on the season. The right-hander allowed LMU's lone run in the bottom of the eighth, as LMU drew even at 1-1 on an RBI-single from Austin Miller with the infield drawn in. Ted Boeke had doubled off the wall in left field to start the inning before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt from Seaver Whalen.

Busfield was equally impressive for LMU, allowing just one run over his first eight innings of work, with the run coming in the second inning Cody Hawken RBI-single to put the Pilots on the board. Hawked finished the game 2-for-4.

After LMU drew even at 1-1 headed to the ninth, Busfield took the mound to try to keep it even, but the right-hander surrendered a leadoff triple to Eric Sapp as right fielder Sean Watkins slid but could not make the play. A sacrifice fly from Caleb Whalen pushed home the first run before back-to-back singles with two out kept the inning alive. With Busfield having been replaced by Harrison Simon, the Lions, who committed three errors on the night, handed Portland its third run, as Cassidy Brown fired a throw into left field on a double-steal attempt, allowing Ryan Barr to scamper home.

Cole Doherty entered in the bottom of the ninth looking to close out the Lions, and the lefty fired a perfect frame, including striking out Steven Chavez to end the game and seal the victory. For his efforts, Doherty was credited with his first save.

Busfield finished the game having thrown 8.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

LMU went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and was 0-for-9 hitting with two out. The Lions have now lost six straight games for the first time since dropping six straight from February 18 through March 1, 2014.

Prior to the game on Friday, former LMU head men's basketball coach, Paul Westhead, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Known as the Father of the "Run and Gun" offense, and the focus of ESPN 30-for-30's Guru of Go documentary, Westhead served as LMU's head coach for five seasons. His 1988 Lions played to a school record 28-4 mark, while his 1990 squad helped set the NCAA record for most points scored in a game. Under Westhead, the Lions made NCAA history by averaging 122 points per game, ending the 1990 season with a berth in the Elite Eight. Westhead most recently served as head coach of the women's program at Oregon, and has been a head coach for three NBA teams and an assistant for four others, and a head coach in the WNBA.

LMU will look to get even in the series tomorrow with game two scheduled for a 6 pm first pitch.