University of Washington
Portland
Huskies Fall To Pilots, 8-5, In Portland
March 28, 2006 | Baseball
March 28, 2006
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland freshman Blaine Hardy threw eight innings as the Pilots handed the Washington baseball team an 8-5 loss in a non-conference game Tuesday at Joe Etzel Field.
Hardy (2-0), from Edmonds-Woodway High north of Seattle, allowed seven hits, five runs and two walks while striking out six over his eight innings. After a fifth inning homer, he retired 10 straight Husky hitters to end his outing. Closer Austin Dirkx gave up two singles in the ninth, but hung on for his sixth save. Portland improved to 10-13.
Husky sophomore Nick Hagadone (1-2) suffered the loss for the Huskies (18-10). Hagadone gave up seven runs (five earned) on nine hits over four and one-third innings.
The Huskies scored one in the first when Bradley Boyer singled, stole second and scored on a single from Curt Rindal. In the bottom of the first, Portland pulled into a 1-1 tie when Cody Ehlers singled and eventually scored on a passed ball.
In the third, Portland took a lead on an RBI single from DH Pat Geraghty. The Pilots made it a 4-1 lead in the fourth when freshman catcher Paul Crowder belted a two-run homer the first of his career.
In the fifth, the Huskies used a pair of home runs to take the lead. After a double from Boyer and a walk to Matt Hague, junior Matt Lane lined his seventh homer of the year to right to tie it at 4-4. After an out, Zach Clem homered to left, his conference-leading 10th of the year.
However, it wasn't long before the Pilots were back on top. In the bottom of the fifth, another RBI single from Geraghty tied it and then, later in the inning, right fielder Travis Vetters homered to right, his third, to give Portland a 7-5 lead.
In the eighth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Ehlers swung and missed a pitch in the dirt for a third strike, but the ball bounced to the backstop, allowing the Pilots' eighth run to score.
UW freshman reliever Bryce Mooney, who came on in the fifth, saw a string of 10 consecutive innings of no-hit relief come to an end on an one-out single in the eighth. Rindal, the Husky first baseman, extended his hitting streak to 17 games with his first- inning RBI single.
This weekend, the Huskies play their first home conference series as UCLA visits Husky Ballpark Friday through Sunday. Friday night's radio broadcast has been pre-empted by Seattle Thunderbirds playoff hockey, but Saturday's 2:00 p.m. game and Sunday's 1:00 p.m. finale will both air on KKNW AM-1150.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Game Portland 8, Washington 5 Washington 100 040 000 -- 5 9 3 Portland 101 230 01x -- 8 11 0 Nick Hagadone, Bryce Mooney (5), Nick Haughian (8) and Joey Dunn. Blaine Hardy, Austin Dirkx (9) and Paul Crowder. W - Hardy (2-0). L - Hagadone (1-2). Sv - Dirkx (6). 2B - UW, Bradley Boyer; UP, Matthew Peters. HR - UW, Matt Lane (7), Zach Clem (10); UP, Crowder (1), Travis Vetters (3). T - 2:23. A - 232.
