FRESNO, Calif.- The University of Portland baseball team lost to tournament host Fresno State, 12-2 at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic Tuesday night. A day after posting 14 runs and 21 hits, the Pilots were put in check by the Bulldogs pitching, tallying just six hits while striking out 14 times. Jeffrey Crinklaw and Rhett Parker each had two hits for Portland (1-11), but Fresno State freshman starter Eddie Romero rang up 11 Pilots in six innings of work and the Bulldogs scored each of the first five innings to put the game out of reach.

Fresno State (9-12) jumped on Pilot starter Jared Adams early, spotting five runs in the first two innings. Richie Robnett hit a two-run triple in the first then scored on Kent Sakamoto’s RBI-groundout for a 3-0 lead.

In the second inning, Adams recorded a leadoff flyout then walked Mike Pierce and Nick Moresi doubled hard down the left field line. Pilot head coach Chris Sperry went to the bullpen, bringing in freshman Brian Cox who gave up a two-run single to Brandon Miller before inducing pop-fly double play to end the inning.

After another Bulldog run in the third, Portland put one on the board in the top of the fourth after loading the bases with nobody out for Nik Kosach. The sophomore did his part with a sacrifice fly scoring Mike McRae, but Portland was unable to take further advantage of the opportunity.

Fresno State got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, then scored four more in the fifth making it an 11-1 score. Ryan Haag’s three-run homer to deep right was the big blow in the inning.

Pilot sophomore Travis Vetters extended his hitting streak to six games with a double in the seventh. He would eventual score on a balk for Portland’s second and final run of the ball game. The Bulldogs answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh for the 12-2 final.

Adams (0-3) was the losing pitcher of record after going 1.1 innings, giving up three hits and five runs. Romero (1-0) tossed 6.0 impressive innings, striking out 11 batters and allowing just one run on three hits. Joe Jones went the final three innings for the Pilots, yielding one run on one hit and ringing up four Bulldogs.

Crinklaw was 2-for-3 on the night and Parker went 2-for-4 marking the third straight game with a hit for the sophomore. Robnett was 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI to lead Fresno State. Moresi went 3-for-4 in the nine-spot of the lineup, scoring two runs and driving in two more.

Portland continues the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic on Wednesday as they play Dallas Baptist. DBU fell to BYU 6-4 in their first outing of the tourney, then dealt Monmouth a 13-3 loss on Tuesday.