Concordia Falls to Portland 5-3 in Crosstown Matchup
PORTLAND, Ore. –Behind six solids innings from starter Zac Varce, Portland defeated Concordia 5-3 in baseball action at Joe Etzel Field on Friday afternoon.
Five different Portland players drove in a run as the Pilots open the season at 1-0 while Concordia dropped to 1-4.
Varce (1-0) scattered six hits, struck out nine and allowed just two earned runs while walking one to pick up the win while Chris Dennis closed out the final three innings to pick up the save.
Concordia’s Tyson Kisselburg (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in 5.2 innings. Reliever Steven Taft allowed a run and a hit in 2.1 innings of work.
After two scoreless innings, the Cavaliers struck first with a run in the top of the third. With two outs and Tony Flanagan on second base, Curt Cosby smacked a bouncer up the middle to break the score-less tie.
Portland wasted little time to respond, plating two with two outs in the bottom half of the frame. After freshman outfielder Nick Armenta stole second base, junior outfielder Craig Smith blooped a base-hit to shallow center field, allowing Armenta to score easily and tie the game. The Pilots weren’t through as Riley Henricks followed Smith by driving a double deep to right-center field. Smith trotted home all the way from first, giving the Pilots their first lead of the season.
After Concordia’s Tim Reavis tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI in the top of the fourth, UP once again responded immediately. This time with Brian Fratalli following a lead-off double from Kyle Haskin with a single to set up a first and third situation, Matt Mardesich got the job done by lifting a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Haskin and giving Portland back the lead at 3-2.
The Pilots added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Cavs manufactured a run in the seventh on a Calvin Nagy single to allow Jon Houts to score.
CU out-hit the Pilots 8-7, but the Pilots were flawless in the field as the Cavaliers made two errors. Henricks was the only Pilot to tally more than one hit, finishing with two. Flanagan had a pair of hits for Concordia.
Concordia will next take the field on Saturday by facing George Fox at Joe Etzel Field. Opening pitch is set for 11 a.m.