Miners pitcher falls just short of no-hit bid

PALMER — Mat-Su starting pitcher Jeremy Erben came up just two outs short of a no-hitter, but the University of Oklahoma right-hander wasn’t complaining after leading his team to a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Seals Sunday at Hermon Brothers Field.

“It’s a good first outing for me,” Erben said.

Miners shortstop Kevin Rodland’s solo home run down the left field line proved to be the difference-maker in a game that saw both team’s pitchers at the top of their game.

Erben said he was actually sweating his own team’s offense more than he was worried about giving up a hit.

“I was just glad we got that run in the eighth,” he said.

Fans attending the Father’s Day matinee were treated to an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, as both Erben and Seals starter Tim Woodward were nearly untouchable for the duration of the game, which took just one hour and 40 minutes.

Mat-Su got back-to-back singles from Kyle Jensen and Troy Scott in the fifth inning to break up Woodward’s no-hit bid, then didn’t get another runner aboard until Rodland’s timely blast.

“I was just looking fastball all day, and I saw one up and put a good swing on it,” Rodland said. “Good things happen when you do that.”

The University of Nevada junior-to-be said he was planning on using his big hit in place of a Father’s Day gift for his dad.

“I’ll call him and give him a happy Father’s Day home run call,” he said.

Both Woodward and Erben struck out six hitters each. Woodward didn’t walk a batter, while Erben issued just two free passes. He retired the first batter in the ninth before San Francisco leadoff hitter Andrew Law ripped a double into the gap. Miners head coach Conor Bird and pitching coach Ryan Heil were on the verge of removing Erben from the game at that point, but before they could do so, second baseman John Tommasini made a diving catch of Clayton Shaw’s line drive, flipping the ball to Rodland to end the game.

“With the gem we saw today, we knew one run was probably gonna do it,” Rodland said.

Making his first start with the Miners, Erben threw 96 pitches in his complete-game win, 67 of which went for strikes.

“All I wanted to do was make sure I threw strikes and let my defense work for me, and that’s what they did today,” Erben said.

Bird said he would have preferred not to have had to sweat the last couple innings.

“I was hoping we could score some more runs, but we’ll take it,” he said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth

@frontiersman.com