By Jillian Williams
The BYU baseball team split a doubleheader with the University of Portland on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007, losing the first game 2-1 and winning the second 4-3.
The Cougars were scheduled to play a four-game series, but games on Thursday and Friday were rained out.
Sophomore Jordan Muir picked up the win in the second game after throwing 5.2 innings and giving up three earned runs to the Pilots.
Center fielder Leon Johnson started off the first inning by getting on base with a bunt. Second baseman Kent Walton doubled to center field to bring Johnson in for the first run scored in the game.
Third baseman Steve Parker drove in Walton in the top of the fourth, and first baseman Kasey Ko”s single to short stop managed to bring in both designated hitter Apana Nakayama and Parker, bringing BYU”s run total to four.
The Pilots answered back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs.
Brad Kidd relieved Muir with two outs in the sixth inning and struck out Cory Wiltshire to end the inning, keeping the Pilots from scoring by leaving two men on base.
J.D. Stambaugh came in to pitch after one out in the seventh; he only gave up one hit as he earned the save.
Nakayama singled with a hit to right field in the top of the ninth, which was the only Cougar hit for the remainder of the game. He was caught stealing to end the inning.
The game was a pitching duel as both team”s pitchers controlled the game. Portland held the Cougars to seven hits the entire game. The loss went to Given Kutz, who went eight innings, giving up six hits to the 30 batters he faced.
The first game, a seven inning outing, was fought hard as the Pilots pulled ahead in the seventh. The loss went to senior Jesse Craig, who pitched all seven innings.
The Pilots scored the first run of the day in the second inning. The Cougars answered back in the fourth when short stop Dan Vargas singled to left field to bring in first baseman Mike McKeever, who got on with a single to left field.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when Craig gave up a hit to Wiltshire, and pinch hitter Adam Kerr doubled to center to bring in the winning run.
The team will travel to Millington, Tenn. this week, where they will face Memphis, Missouri and Akron.
