The University of Portland baseball team has started the 2012 season 4-0 with a nail biting extra inning pitchers’ duo Friday afternoon at Joe Etzel Stadium.
For eight innings, the game was dictated by great pitching between two solid pitchers: right hander Kyle Kraus (Portland) and left hander Ty Blach (Creighton). Kraus worked 8 innings and gave up 2 earned runs, both hits by the Blue Jays with runners on base. He struck out 2 and gave up 9 hits. Blach pitched a little bit better and threw a harder fastball. Kraus was hitting 84-85 mph consistently while Blach was hitting 88-89 mph. Blach finished with a good line of 8 innings pitched on 2 hits and no earned runs.
Blach also walked two batters he faced. After the junior left hander from Colorado got replaced on the hill, it became a brand new ball game. This is when Portland seized its opportunities against Creighton relievers with timely hitting and getting on base. Until this point, the Pilots were having a hard time offensively as was Creighton, but after being down 2-0 in the 9th, preseason all -WCC right fielder Turner Gill stepped up to the plate with 2 outs and hit a bomb over the 390 ft. mark in right field. Clutch defined.
The game was tied 2-2 in the 10th until senior lead-off hitter Kris Kauppila laced a single with a runner on second that ended with an attempted play at the plate that ended up being an off throw, letting the runner score to end the 3-2 Pilots victory. “We played great tonight, Kyle pitched awesome, and we had hits when we needed them most, and we got the win,” assistant coach Tucker Brack said. “If we play our game, we have a chance to beat anyone we play.” The pilots play Saturday and Sunday to finish the 3 game series with the Blue Jays, then will travel to Eugene to play the Ducks on Feb. 28th at PK Stadium.
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