The University of Portland baseball team was scheduled to play a 3-game series at home against Creighton University, but the weather came into play and forced the series to go 2 games and relocate to Longview Community College. “They had the most playable field available,” assistant coach Tucker Brack commented. The Pilots got the 5-2 win, raising their record to 5-0 before their major contest Tuesday night in Eugene vs. Oregon at P.K Park in Eugene.
Freshman left hander Travis Radke, out of Thousand Oaks, California (Oaks Christian H.S), went 5 innings for the Pilots and gave up no runs. Vancouver native freshman infielder Caleb Whalen hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning to give the Pilots early momentum. Still in the 2nd, senior shortstop Kris Kauppila added a 2-run shot to make it 3-0 to completely swing the momentum.
Creighton played like they had a hangover from the unexpected game 1 loss to U of P, and seemed off for the day. Portland took advantage of it.
In the 5th, Brian Frattali added another 2-run home run to give the Pilots a 5-2 lead and senior closer Owen Jones took the save from there.
“Again, we hit the ball well and were able to play our game because of our pitching. If we continue to hold teams to 1-2 runs a game, we have a good chance of winning a lot of games and contend in the WCC,” assistant coach Tucker Brack said after the game, not at all looking ahead to Tuesday ‘s big in state rivalry match up with the (7-1) Oregon Ducks.
The Pilots are 5-0 themselves and want to continue on the path of gaining momentum through pitching, timely hitting, and great defense. Tuesday night should be a great game between two teams who I think will be playing in the NCAA tournament this year.
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