Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Sophomore SS Kris Kauppila had four hits and junior OF Craig Smith registered four RBI’s as the Portland Pilots defeated the George Fox Bruins 11-7 in a non-conference baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. The Pilots totaled 17 hits as a team.
Right-handed starter Kyle Kraus (1-0) worked 7.1 innings to picks up the first win of his sophomore campaign. Kraus struck out two, didn’t walk a batter and allowed five runs on nine hits. Three relievers followed Kraus on the hill.
Jeremy Cheney (1-0) gets the loss for the Bruins after surrendering eight runs on 13 hits in 5.2 innings of work. Reliever Travis Schroeder gave up three runs on four hits in 2.1 innings.
The Bruins started the scoring with a tally in the top of the first. Josh Rapacz knocked in Josh Burch, who got hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a double by Seth Anderson. But Kraus would get out of the first-and-third with one out situation by inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
The Pilots responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the first. Kauppila led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by junior 2B Riley Henricks. Then following a single by sophomore C Beau Fraser, junior OF Kyle Haskin drove in two with a double down the left-field line, making it 3-1 in UP’s favor.
After the Bruins scored another run in the top of the second, the score would remain 3-2 until the bottom of the sixth. That’s when the Pilots took control of the game with five runs. Kauppila drove in two with a single, while freshman 1B Brian Fratalli, Henricks and Smith each drove in a run. Portland then piled on three more runs in the bottom of the seventh on a three-run double by Smith.
George Fox scored three in the eighth and two more in the ninth before Portland was able to nail down the win.
Kauppila finished 4-for-4 with three runs and two RBI’s. Junior DH Tyler Thompson was 3-for-4 with two runs in his first action this season. Henricks had two hits and two RBI’s, as did Haskin.
Stahl and Anderson both finished with three hits for the Bruins, while Michael Woo picked up a pair of RBI’s.
The Pilots cap the weekend with a home game on Sunday against the Concordia Cavaliers at 2:00 p.m. at Joe Etzel Field.
