Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. --- With the potential tying and go-ahead runs on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, BYU right fielder Kelton Caldwell made a diving catch on a hard hit ball by Colin Feldtman to help preserve a 7-6 win for the Cougars over the Portland Pilots at Joe Etzel Field on Tuesday afternoon. It’s the second straight 7-6 win for BYU over the Pilots, following Monday’s 12-inning marathon.

 

Portland drops to 6-4 with its fourth straight loss. BYU improves to 8-4 after sweeping the brief two-game series from the Pilots.

 

The Pilots looked on the verge of a big inning in the eighth when pinch hitter Beau Fraser led off with a single. After a single by senior 1B Kevin Armijo, junior C Ben Grubb greeted new pitcher Chunner Nyberg with a double to center field that scored Sam Westendorf, a pinch runner, from second to make it a one-run game.

 

Now with runners on second and third and no outs, Nyberg settled down to retire junior SS Kris Kauppila on a ground out and senior CF Craig Smith with a ‘K’.

 

Jared Miller then replaced Nyberg on the hill to face Feldtman, who pinch hit for redshirt-freshman LF Chet Thompson. Feldtman drilled a 2-2 pitch that appeared destined to fall in over the head of Caldwell, but the outfielder was somehow able sprint back, dive and make the game-saving catch.

 

BYU’s Desmond Poulson (1-0) gets his first win of the season after the Cougars spotted him an early 6-1 lead. Poulson worked 5.1 innings, held the Pilots to five runs on eight hits and struck out four. Four relievers followed, including Miller who gets the save, his first. Miller retired the Pilots in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.

 

UP starter J.R. Bunda (0-1) takes the loss. He tossed 4.1 innings, allowed six runs on nine hits and struck out four. Neither starter issued a walk.

 

Relievers Scott Burris, Tyler Thompson and Keeler Brynteson also saw action for Portland, with Brynteson pitching a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Thompson struck out four in 3.1 innings, allowing just a solo home run in top of the eighth.

 

Both teams finished with 12 hits, while the Cougars committed all four of the game’s errors.

 

Thompson had three hits to lead the Pilots.

 

Trailing 1-0 after one, BYU scored three in the second and three more in the fifth to claim a 6-1 lead. The big hit in the fifth was a two-run single by Caldwell off of Burris, who had replaced Bunda with two on and one out.

 

UP cut into the lead with a four-run sixth, which was fueled by a two-run single to right field by Armijo. Thompson also had an RBI single during the frame, while junior RF Kramer Scott drilled a run-scoring double to left that helped the Pilots pull within 6-5.

 

The Cougars then pushed the lead back to two runs on a solo home run by Ryan Bernal in the top of the seventh inning that made it 7-5 in BYU’s favor.

 

Portland next hits the road for a four-game, four-day series against the Hawai’i Rainbows in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The series begins with a 9:35 p.m. (Pacific) game on Thursday night.