Radke’s Gem Worth 11K and a Pilot Victory
Box Score
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- Freshman southpaw Travis Radke turned in a masterful appearance in just his third career start as the Portland Pilots defeated the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners Saturday night at Hardt Field by a score of 3-0. This marks the second shutout of the season for the Pilots, who also shutout Stephen F. Austin in the season opener.
Backed by a solo home run by redshirt-junior Beau Fraser, Radke(2-0) held the Roadrunners scoreless in 7.0 innings of work while fanning 11 and issuing one walk. All four hits allowed by Radke were singles, two of them of the infield variety.
Scott Brattvet (1-2) provided CSU Bakersfield (5-6) with its second quality start in as many days against the Pilots (6-1), going 8.0 innings and allowing three runs, one earned, on seven hits.
Redshirt-sophomore Chet Thompson put the Pilots on the board in the second inning with an RBI single down the left field line. Sophomore Turner Gill led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second when senior Sam Westendorf reached on the first of three CSU Bakersfield errors on the night.
With two on and two outs, Thompson roped a 3-1 pitch the other way, scoring Gill easily and advancing Westendorf to third. An errant throw on the play allowed Westendorf to score as well, giving the Pilots a 2-0 lead.
Radke and Brattvett exchanged scoreless innings from that point until the seventh inning when Fraser homered for the first time since March 5 of last year. Fraser hit seven home runs as a sophomore in 2010 before injuries limited him to just 12 appearances last season.
Junior RHP JR Bunda, senior LHP Keeler Brynteson, and senior RHP Owen Jones pitched the final 2.0 innings to finish the five hit shutout. Brynteson needed just seven pitches in his inning of work, inducing a 5-4-3 double play to end the eighth before striking out the leadoff man in the ninth.
Portland and CSU Bakersfield will be the rubber game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. as junior RHP Chris Johnson (1-0, 6.35) faces off against Taylor Aikenhead (2-0, 1.50).
