PROVO -- On a breezy Friday afternoon, the BYU baseball team struggled to gather momentum as it fell victim to the visiting Portland Pilots, 8-3, at Larry H. Miller Field.

“I was a bit disappointed in our offensive attack today,” said BYU head coach Vance Law. “We failed to take advantage of a few opportunities and we weren’t hitting the ball up the middle as we would have liked.”

Pilot left fielder Bryant Kraus enjoyed a solid outing, going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI. In the first inning he knocked in a runner on a double before hitting a two-run homer over the center field wall in the third inning. Beau Fraser also had an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Pilots an early 4-1 lead against BYU pitcher Blake Torgerson.

“Kraus is a good hitter,” Law said. “We didn’t keep the ball down on him, so that’s why he got those big hits on us.”

BYU third baseman Steve Parker scored the first two runs for the Cougars. In the second inning, he scored after a single by Michael Bowen and later in the fourth inning after a Brandon Relf sacrifice fly. Parker was on base after hitting a triple to left field with the Pilot outfielder losing sight of the ball in the sun.

Portland had a strong fifth inning as Fraser brought in a run off a single followed by Kraus knocking in another RBI, giving the Pilots a 6-2 lead. The Cougars cut the lead to 6-3 after Kent Walton came in on the second balk of the inning by pitcher Zach Varce.

The Pilots extended the lead to the final tally of 8-3 when right fielder Austin Pearce slammed a Jake Wortham pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homerun.

BYU was unable to capitalize on an Alex Wolfe double to left field in the eighth inning.

The loss also brought an end to BYU left fielder Sean McNaughton’s streak of having at least one hit in a game to seven, a streak which began the last game of last season.

BYU falls to 2-5 on the season while Portland improves to 3-2. The teams will square off once more Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. MT at Miller Park.

“It’s still early, but we need to turn things around right now and we have some work to do,” Law said. “We’re already an eighth of the way into the season, so if we want to reach the NCAA Tournament, we need to start playing better Saturday.”

Univ. of Portland at BYU
Feb 27, 2009 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Univ. of Portland 8 (3-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KAUPPILA, Kris ss........  4  2  2  0   0  0  0  1   0
SMITH, Craig cf..........  3  1  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
FRASER, Beau dh..........  3  1  1  2   0  1  0  0   0
KRAUS, Bryant lf.........  4  1  3  4   0  0  0  0   0
 QUEEN, Garrett lf.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
POWELL, Chase 1b.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  7  1   2
HENRICKS, Riley 2b.......  3  1  0  0   1  2  1  1   0
PEARCE, Austin rf........  4  1  2  2   0  0  5  0   0
GALE, Rocky c............  4  0  1  0   0  0  8  2   0
MARDESICH, Matt 3b.......  4  1  1  0   0  0  1  1   0
BURRIS, Scott p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 VARCE, Zach p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 33  8 12  8   1  3 27  7   2
BYU 3 (2-5)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WALTON, Kent dh..........  5  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  5  0  3  0   0  1  3  3   1
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  0  0  0   0  2  4  0   1
WOLFE, Alex c/1b.........  4  0  1  0   0  1  5  1   1
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  2  1  0   1  1  1  2   1
RELF, Brandon ss.........  2  0  0  1   1  1  3  3   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  1  0  0  0   2  0  6  0   0
 AYOSO, Bryce pr/c.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   1
BOWEN, Michael rf........  4  0  1  1   0  1  1  0   0
BANKS, Stetson cf........  3  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   3
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 WORTHAM, Jake p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  3  7  2   5  9 27 11   8
Score by Innings                      R  H  E
---------------------------------------------
Univ. of Portland... 103 022 000 0 -  8 12  1
BYU................. 010 110 000 X -  3  7  0
---------------------------------------------
E - GALE, R(1). DP - POR 1; Cougars 2. LOB - POR 2; Cougars 8. 2B -
KAUPPILA, K(3); KRAUS, B 2(3); LAW, An.(5); WOLFE(3). 3B - PARKER(1). HR -
KRAUS, B(2); PEARCE, A(1). SH - KAUPPILA, K(1); SMITH, C(2). SF - FRASER,
B(1); RELF(2). SB - LAW, An.(3). CS - POWELL, C(1).
Univ. of Portland      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BURRIS, Scott.......  6.0  5  3  3  4  6 21 26
VARCE, Zach.........  3.0  2  0  0  1  3 11 12
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  5.0 10  6  6  0  1 20 23
WORTHAM, Jake.......  4.0  2  2  2  1  2 13 14
Win - BURRIS, S (2-0).  Loss - TORGERSON (0-2).  Save - VARCE, Z (1).
BK - BURRIS, S 2(2). PB - GALE, R(1).
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Jeff Richardson  3B: Ray Belfiore
Start: 3:01 pm   Time: 2:11   Attendance: 384
Weather: Sunny, 32 degrees
Game notes:
Game Two of Three
Play-by-Play
Univ. of Portland 1st - KAUPPILA, K singled to left field. SMITH, C
grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; KAUPPILA, K advanced to second. FRASER, B lined
out to 3b. KRAUS, B doubled to center field, RBI; KAUPPILA, K scored. POWELL, C
flied out to lf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 1st - WALTON flied out to rf. LAW, An. struck out swinging.
McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 2nd - Hi drew how is it going. Hi drew, how is it
doing?. HENRICKS, R grounded out to ss. PEARCE, A singled to right center.
GALE, R grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; PEARCE, A out on the play.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - WOLFE flied out to cf. PARKER walked. RELF walked; PARKER
advanced to second. RELF advanced to second; PARKER advanced to third on a
passed ball. KO walked. BOWEN grounded out to 3b, RBI; KO advanced to second;
RELF advanced to third; PARKER scored. BANKS out at first 1b to p. 1 run, 0
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 3rd - MARDESICH, M fouled out to rf. KAUPPILA, K
doubled through the left side. SMITH, C singled to third base; KAUPPILA, K
advanced to third. FRASER, B fouled out to lf, SF, RBI; KAUPPILA, K scored.
KRAUS, B homered to left center, 2 RBI; SMITH, C scored. POWELL, C singled to
third base. POWELL, C out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 3 runs, 4
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - drew, can you read this. WALTON struck out looking. LAW, An.
singled to right center. LAW, An. stole second, advanced to third on a throwing
error by c. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. WOLFE lined
out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 4th - HENRICKS, R struck out swinging. PEARCE, A lined
out to ss. GALE, R lined out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - PARKER tripled to left field. RELF fouled out to rf, SF, RBI;
PARKER scored. KO grounded out to c. BOWEN singled to second base. BANKS
grounded out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 5th - MARDESICH, M singled to right field. KAUPPILA, K
grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; MARDESICH, M advanced to second. SMITH, C
grounded out to ss; MARDESICH, M advanced to third. FRASER, B singled down the
rf line, RBI; MARDESICH, M scored. KRAUS, B doubled to right center, RBI;
FRASER, B scored. POWELL, C flied out to cf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
BYU 5th - WALTON singled up the middle. WALTON advanced to second on a
balk. LAW, An. singled to pitcher, bunt; WALTON advanced to third. LAW, An.
advanced to second on a balk; WALTON scored. McNAUGHTON flied out to rf. WOLFE
struck out swinging. PARKER flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Univ. of Portland 6th - WORTHAM to p for TORGERSON. HENRICKS, R walked.
PEARCE, A homered to left field, 2 RBI; HENRICKS, R scored. GALE, R singled to
right field. MARDESICH, M grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; GALE, R out
on the play. KAUPPILA, K flied out to lf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 6th - RELF struck out swinging. KO walked. AYOSO pinch ran for KO.
BOWEN lined into double play 2b to 1b; AYOSO out on the play. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 7th - WOLFE to 1b. AYOSO to c. SMITH, C fouled out to
1b. FRASER, B struck out swinging. KRAUS, B popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - VARCE, Z to p for BURRIS, S. BANKS fouled out to 1b. WALTON
grounded out to p. LAW, An. doubled to right field. McNAUGHTON flied out to rf.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 8th - POWELL, C flied out to lf. HENRICKS, R struck
out swinging. PEARCE, A fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 8th - QUEEN, G to lf for KRAUS, B. WOLFE doubled down the lf line.
PARKER struck out swinging. RELF flied out to rf; WOLFE advanced to third.
AYOSO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 9th - GALE, R grounded out to 2b. MARDESICH, M flied
out to cf. KAUPPILA, K grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 9th - BOWEN struck out swinging. BANKS walked. WALTON flied out to
lf. LAW, An. flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Portland 10th - Hello drew. hello drew. is this new. Howdy.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

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Thursday’s home opener between BYU and the University of Portland at Larry H. Miller Field is the earliest start in school history.

The Cougars, 1-4, host the Pilots, 2-1, in a three-game series with games Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. There is no admission charge for BYU baseball games until it hosts perennial power St. John’s on March 6.

Scheduled to start on the mound for BYU is JC transfer Jeremy Toole (0-1, 9.64) on Thursday, followed by fellow junior righthander Blake Torgerson (0-1, 1.59) on Friday and freshman Adam Miller (0-0, 3.20) on Saturday.

“It’s nice to be at home and we think the weather will cooperate,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We think we are going to be very good. We played a few good games on our trip to Oklahoma and Texas. We are a fun team to watch and I think we will be in contention for the upper spots in our league.”

Another bit of news that has Coach Law excited is the recent clearance of senior Kent Walton from his shoulder surgery last Fall. Walton should be available to take a few at-bats in games.

The earliest start prior to this season was in 1980 when BYU won a doubleheader on March 7 against the Colorado School of Mines.

Following the three-game series with Portland, BYU readies to travel for a two-game series starting Monday at Wichita State.

For more information, please download the multi-page PDF document at the top of this page.