Portland jumped out to an early lead on the way to a 6 to 5 victory over Middle Tennessee.

The first run came with two outs in the top of the first inning when Portland’s Riley Henricks was able to advance to third on a throwing error by Raider catcher Tyler Acker. Henricks was driven in by an RBI single from Beau Fraser.

Middle was down three to nothing in the top of the fourth when pitcher Eric Gilley took a hard hit ball of the shin. With the bases loaded and two outs Gilley stayed in the game to finish out the inning. He was taken out after the inning as a precaution.

The Raiders finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when designated hitter Matthew Drake hit a double to put Tyler Acker on third where he was driven in on a sacrifice fly by centerfielder Ryan Stephens, a freshman out of Riverdale High School.

Portland extended their lead in the following inning after relief pitcher Jud Stoltz gave up a triple to the first batter he faced. The runner scored on a sacrifice RBI, but then Stoltz was able to settle down.

In the bottom of the fifth inning the Raiders were able to pull within one when Acker hit a two-RBI single that dropped in just over the head of the second baseman with the bases loaded, putting the score at four to three.

After a sixth inning with no base-runners allowed, striking out two, Stoltz got into a jam in the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Raider head coach Steve Peterson visited the mound to have a talk with his pitcher. Peterson chose to leave Stoltz in and he was able to force a double-play ball.

Middle tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single from Drake.

Freshman pitcher Keaton Baker pitched a scoreless eighth inning and took the mound in the ninth with the game tied at four.

“As a freshman you never really know what he’s going to give you,” Peterson said. “I could easily second-guess myself that I took him out one hitter too late, but if he could have just located his fastball a little bit better he could have got out of that inning with no trouble at all.”

Baker got the first two batters of the ninth out before giving up a triple. Portland pinch-hitter Kramer Scott then drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI double.

Two batters later, Portland’s Craig Smith drove in another run to put the deficit for Middle Tennessee at two.

Middle had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth and right fielder Will Skinner started off with a home run out over the left field fence.

The next batter, first baseman Jay Morris, hit a deep shot into right, but the ball fell short. The next batter popped the ball up to the second baseman, and with two outs and a full count Drake Matthews went down swinging.

“What really cut down on the power was the wind change,” Peterson said. “Late in the game we scorched some balls that were fly balls that would have gotten out, but that’s baseball.”

MTSU will continue the series against Portland Saturday at 2 P.M. before finishing up Sunday at noon.

“We’ve got to do the same thing we did today but a little bit better,” Peterson said. “Play good solid defense. We’ve just got to have a little more timely hitting.”