Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland starter Kyle Kraus had another solid outing and freshman Nick Armenta drilled a three-run double to help the Pilots defeat the Loyola Marymount Lions 5-1 in a West Coast Conference baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field. Kraus, a sophomore right-hander, struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter as he improves his record to a perfect 7-0 on the season.
The Pilots, who won Friday’s game against LMU 17-2, are now 22-9 overall and 7-1 in the WCC. LMU drops to 16-17 and 0-5 in the conference.
Kraus was in the zone from the opening pitch, facing the minimum number of batters through 6.0 innings. He did allow a single in the top of the second inning, but the runner was eventually wiped out when Matt Koch lined into a double play. Kraus then retired the next nine batters in order.
He worked 7.2 innings, surrendering just one run on four hits.
The Pilots registered their first run in the bottom of the second inning after junior 2B Riley Henricks put himself in scoring position by stealing second base with two outs. Sophomore OF Garrett Queen followed with an RBI single up the middle, making it a 1-0 game.
Queen then knocked in Portland’s second run in the bottom of the fourth inning with another run-scoring single. After sophomore C Beau Fraser had been cut down at home trying to score on a double by Henricks the previous play, Queen hit a single just behind the bag at third that scored Henricks with two outs.
The scored remained 2-0 until the Pilots loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Armenta then followed another out at the plate with a bases-clearing double that rolled to the fence in right-center field. Armenta, an outfielder, took a 0-2 pitch deep into the gap for Portland’s third, fourth and fifth two-out RBI’s of the day.
All five of UP’s runs came with two outs, giving the Pilots 14 two-out runs during their two wins.
Kraus did run into a spot of trouble in the top of the seventh inning with the Pilots leading 5-0. After LMU had loaded the bases with no outs, Koch grounded out to third, scoring the Lions first and only run. Then with one out and runners on second and third, Kraus rung up both Matt Lowenstein and Shon Roe looking to end the threat.
Portland reliever Chris Dennis spelled Kraus with two outs and two on in the top of the eighth inning. Dennis struck out pinch hitter Nick Devian to end the eighth, recorded a strikeout in the ninth and induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play for his league-high eighth save of the year.
LMU’s John Lally (3-1) takes the loss, his first of the season. He was charged with four of Portland’s five runs in 5.1 innings of work. He struck out two, walked one and allowed six hits. Chris Eusebio pitched the final 2.2 innings.
Portland out-hit LMU 10-5, with both Fraser and Henricks registering three hits. Ryan Hawthorne had two hits for the Lions.
The game was clean as neither team committed an error.
The Pilots, who have already claimed the three-game series against the Lions, will go after their second WCC series sweep of the season at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow at Joe Etzel Field. Sophomore RHP Owen Jones (2-1, 1.96 ERA) is scheduled to go for Portland, while the Lions will counter with sophomore RHP Martin Viramontes (2-4, 6.57 ERA).
