PORTLAND, Ore. (Interstat) — John Damozonio delivered a masterful performance on the mound, and the Saint Mary’s Gaels capitalized on a pair of fourth-inning runs to shut out the Portland Pilots 3-0 on Friday night at Joe Etzel Field.

The game’s decisive moment arrived in the top of the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless duel between starting pitchers. Saint Mary’s third baseman Brady Petit grounded out to shortstop, driving in Christian Kashimoto for the game’s first run. Diego Castellanos followed with an RBI single to third base, scoring Mak Sniffen to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead.

That was more than enough support for Damozonio. The Saint Mary’s starter was dominant, pitching six hitless innings. He struck out nine Pilots batters and walked two, facing minimal threat throughout his outing. His most critical escape came in the bottom of the sixth, his final inning, when Portland loaded the bases with two outs on a Jonas Salk double and two free passes. Damozonio induced a looking strikeout from pinch-hitter Alex Louis to end the threat and preserve both the no-hitter and the shutout.

Saint Mary’s added an insurance run in the eighth. Sniffen reached on an error by Portland shortstop Cole Katayama-Stall and later scored on another RBI single from Petit, whose two hits drove in two of the Gaels’ three runs.

Cam Staton relieved Damozonio to start the seventh and closed the door for the Gaels, pitching three perfect innings with three strikeouts to earn the save. The Pilots’ only hits were a first-inning single by Brady Bean and Salk’s sixth-inning double and eighth-inning single, all coming off Damozonio. The Saint Mary’s pitching duo combined for 12 strikeouts and allowed just five baserunners.

Portland starter Trey Newmann was solid in a losing effort, allowing two earned runs on five hits over six innings of work. Reliever Trey Swygart gave up one unearned run over the final three frames.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Pilots, who fell to 15-8 on the season. Saint Mary’s improved to 13-11, securing a victory that defied a pregame projection from Interstat’s simulator, which had forecast a 7-4 Portland win, though their ELO rating gave the Gaels a slight edge.

The three-game series between the West Coast Conference foes continues Saturday at Joe Etzel Field.