Pilots, BYU Split a Pair

Photo courtesy: portlandpilots.com

PORTLAND - Pinch hitter Adam Kerr knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Portland Pilots won the first game of a double-header 2-1 against the Brigham Young Cougars in non-conference baseball played on Saturday at Joe Etzel Field.

BYU won the second game 4-3.

The first game of the double dip was only seven innings.

Tied at 1-1 with one out, Kerr, a junior, knocked in junior Cory Wiltshire with a double to deep center field as the Pilots (1-3) prevailed.

Wiltshire led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman C.J. Cullen.

Senior Josh Roberts (1-0), who relieved starter Ari Ronick with one out in the top of the seventh, picked up his first win of the season.

Roberts struck out both batters he faced.

Ronick allowed just one unearned run, as he held the Cougars to four hits. He struck out six.

Jesse Craig (0-1) went the distance for BYU (3-2).

Craig gave up two runs on seven Pilot hits, while striking out three and walking two.

The Pilots got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the second inning.

With senior Justin Pierce on first base and nobody out, senior Jesse Rodgers smacked a base hit that sent Pierce to third.

After freshman Rocky Gale grounded out to the pitcher, Wiltshire brought home Pierce with a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Cougars tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the fourth.

With two outs and runners on second and third, Dan Vargas scored Mike McKeever with a single to left field.

Steve Parker tried to score from second on the play, but Pierce threw him out at the plate.

Rodgers had two hits for the Pilots.

Portland committed one error, while BYU was errorless.

The second game featured solid pitching performances for both teams, as Jordan Muir (2-0) picked up the win for the Cougars.

Muir scattered six hits and allowed three earned runs in 5.2 innings.

He struck out four and walked three. Brad Kidd pitched one-third of an inning before giving way to J.D. Stambaugh, who pitched three innings to pick up his second save this season. Stambaugh gave up only one hit and struck out four.

Portland starter Given Kutz (0-2), a junior, lasted eight innings.

He gave up six hits, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

At one point, Kutz retired 14 straight BYU hitters.

Reliever Chris Siegfried, pitched one inning of relief and gave up one hit.

BYU scored the game’s first four runs.

In the top of the first, Kent Walton gave BYU the 1-0 lead with an RBI double to left-center field.

The Cougars tallied three more in the top of the third inning.

Parker made it a 2-0 game with an RBI single to left.

Then with no outs and the bases loaded, Kasey Ko brought home two with a single to the left side of the infield.

Cullen was able to knock down the hard-hit ground ball, but two Cougars were able to score. Cullen did throw out Jonathan Cluff at second base for the first out.

Kutz then ended the threat with two strikeouts. The Cougars didn’t get another hit until the top of the ninth.

Portland responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth.

With one out and the bases loaded, sophomore Paul Crowder knocked home two with a single to right-center field.

Wiltshire then recorded his second sacrifice fly of the day that scored Rodgers from third and pulled the Pilots within 4-3.

In the sixth, Portland got two runners on with two outs, but Kidd struck out Wiltshire to end the inning.

The Pilots totaled eight hits in the second game, while BYU countered with seven. No errors were made.

Portland next hosts the Concordia Cavaliers at Joe Etzel Field on Monday at 2:00 PM.

The Pilots and Cavaliers are also scheduled to play at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, also at Joe Etzel Field.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports