FRESNO, Calif.- The University of Portland baseball team recorded their first shutout of the season, dealing Dallas Baptist a 4-0 defeat behind the superb pitching of sophomore starter Matthew Peters. Portland (2-11) won their second game in three days at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic as Peters allowed the Patriots (13-7) just four hits as he went the distance for the Pilots. Junior Mike McRae belted his fourth home run of the season, while freshman Jesse Rodgers knocked in another two runs for the rejuvenated Pilots.
The battery of Peters and catcher Jeffrey Crinklaw was the story, with Peters scattering four hits and one walk for the game while striking out one Patriot batter. He forced 10 groundouts and 14 flyouts as Crinklaw registered the other two outs by throwing out a pair of Patriots attempting to steal in the second and third innings.
Portland broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning as Rhett Parker hit a leadoff single and advanced to third on a sacrifice and error. Rodger’s then hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Parker.
In the sixth, McRae went yard to deep left field for his fourth home run in the last six games. He is batting .333 over that span with six runs batted in. The Pilots put two more on the board an inning later as freshman Colton Homme doubled to right and scored on a Rodgers single. Sophomore second baseman Gustaf Little then singled home Rodgers for the 4-0 lead.
Peters got out of his only jam of the game in the sixth inning as the Patriots had runners at second and third with two outs, but he forced a weak popout to second ending the threat.
The sophomore transfer lowered his ERA to 1.97 in earning his first win of the season. DBU starter Randall Taylor (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season after going 6.2 innings and allowing all four runs.
All nine Pilot starters had at least one hit on the afternoon as McRae was 3-for-5. Little and Nik Kosach each had two hits, while Rodgers drove in his first two runs of the season. Travis Vetters extended his hitting-streak to seven games with a single in the sixth.
Portland had 13 hits and did not commit an error, while Dallas Baptist was limited to four hits and had two errors.
The Pilots look to improve to 3-1 at the tourney as they take on Chicago State (0-11) on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Portland then takes on BYU Friday at 1:00 p.m., with a pair of wins the Pilots will compete for the tournament title on Saturday afternoon.
