Pilots start season 15-6, look to begin conference play this weekend against Santa Clara
By Nicholas Slepnikoff
Following a 2-1 series versus Utah Valley last week, Pilots baseball, now 15-6 for the season, swept a three-game series this past weekend.
Playing one game on Friday and a double-header Saturday, the Pilots won the games 10-0, 7-2 and 3-2, respectively. Although the last game was a battle between two tired squads, the Pilots exhibited some improved pitching, according to head baseball coach Chris Sperry.
"That's five in a row for us," Sperry said. "I felt the reason we played as well as we did is because our pitching performed wonderfully."
In their game on Friday, the Pilots started off slow with no runs in the first. In the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, however, the Pilots recorded 10 runs on 10 RBIs.
With three straight hits to start off the second, junior infielder Riley Henricks helped the Pilots draw first blood. Henricks hit an RBI single, allowing sophomore Beau Fraser to score.
Then, a single from sophomore outfielder Garrett Queen pushed the Pilots to a 3-0 lead, with 2 more RBIs. In the third inning, Fraser smashed a two-run single into center field, outpacing the struggling Southern Utah squad. Following the rash of scoring in the second and third innings, the Pilots scored four runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth to push the Pilots to the 10-0 victory.
Fraser thought the game allowed the team to build confidence going into the Saturday doubleheader.
"It was good to come in and set the tone," Fraser said. "But, we probably would have liked to beat them by more in the other two games."
On Saturday, the Pilots played the Thunderbirds twice. Improving from a brief stumble in the Arkansas State and Memphis series three weeks ago, sophomore pitcher Kyle Kraus proved to be an invaluable player in these games.
Following an impressive seventh inning, nine strikeout showing from junior pitcher Zach Varce on Friday (four hits allowed), Kraus entered Saturday's game confident. Striking out 14 players on Saturday, Kraus's pitching allowed two runs and nine hits. Kraus never walked a batter.
Kraus's 14 strikeouts place him among baseball's elite in program history, where he is now tied for second in highest number of strikeouts in a single game.
Teammate Varce accomplished a similar feat at a Feb. 27 win over Seattle. Although Kraus mentioned a sluggish start to the Saturday double header, he thought the team did a great job rallying behind him.
Although some early runs left the team behind, Kraus said, "They always come through like they do."
Holding Utah to two points, the Pilots handled the second game with relative ease, winning the match-up 7-2 with seven runs on six RBIs.
In the third game, the Pilots started off sluggishly. Junior starter Scotty Burris uncharacteristically struggled early in the game, allowing two runs. After several innings, sophomore Owen Jones came into to pitch a 4.2 scoreless inning streak.
While the Pilots continued to shut down the Thunderbirds defensively, three RBIs from junior outfielder Craig Smith in the third inning, junior catcher Rocky Gale in the fourth inning, and Fraser in the fifth inning gave the Pilots three runs. Narrowly beating the Thunderbirds, who had two runs, junior pitcher Chris Dennis closed out the final 1.2 innings securing his league high sixth save of the year. Kraus was glad to see the Pilots close out the double header strong.
"Two wins is good for a day," Kraus said.
With this three-win series in the past, the Pilots now look to start their conference play on April 1 in Santa Clara. Sperry is excited to begin the season and thinks the wins will help the Pilots against the 11-11 Broncos.
"This will give us a little steam going into the start of conference next weekend," Sperry said.
With a team batting average of .343, the Broncos may outhit the Pilots (.285) in the three game series. With superior pitching from Varce and Kraus, the Pilots defense may be able to shut down the Santa Clara offense. The Pilots' solid hitting, from Fraser, Queen and senior C.J. Cullen, may also help push the Pilots ahead of Santa Clara.
With improved pitching and consistent performances, the Pilots may be able to discourage the Broncos, who will host Portland off of a three-win series versus Princeton and win against the University at Albany-SUNY.
The official conference opener will be at Santa Clara, with the first pitch slated for 7:00 p.m.
