Zags Hold Off Late Portland State Rally

Troy Stoppa pitched six strong innings Friday then squirmed in the dugout as Gonzaga University held off Portland State 7-6 at the Guardian Heating and Air Conditioning baseball tournament in Lewiston.

Stoppa (3-0) entered the seventh with a 7-2 lead. He loaded the bases with no outs and exited for reliever Matt Siwek.

Darren Case, the next batter for the Vikings (10-10-1), greeted Siwek with a bases-clearing double down the right-field line. Four batters later, Graham Schetzsle’s fielder’s choice grounder scored Case and left runners on first and third with two outs. Siwek struck out Elliott Cox to preserve the win.

The Zags (6-20) scored four runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Dominic Prince, Donnie Murrell and Brendan Hare and Jason Uberuaga’s bases-loaded walk.

Uberuaga also had an RBI single in the first. GU’s other runs scored on wild pitches.

The Zags play Portland and Lewis-Clark State today.

Sam Fleming (2-2) struck out 12 and pitched a complete-game four-hitter as visiting Whitworth beat Pacific Lutheran 10-0 to avoid a double-header sweep at Tacoma.

The Lutes won the opener 4-2 on Dak Jordan’s two-run homer in the fifth.

Miguel Saldin and Ryan Swan of the Pirates (4-12 overall, 3-1 Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges) combined for five hits and six RBIs to back Fleming in the nightcap.

PLU is 3-5 in the NCIC.

College softball

Shannon Zahrowski went 4 for 5 in the second game as Community Colleges of Spokane swept visiting Highline 11-2, 16-8 in a doubleheader at Spokane Falls.

Zahrowski also scored two runs and had two RBIs. Holly Vanwert (2-3) pitched a five-hitter and struck out three for the Sasquatch in the opener. CCS is 4-4 overall, 2-0 in Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

Prep softball

Gonzaga Prep spoiled Janessa Karstens’ first start as a Mead pitcher during Friday’s Greater Spokane League slate.

Daria Toth, Kim McDonald, Anne McClain and Brooke Egger stroked four consecutive hits during a four-run sixth inning to lift G-Prep to a 7-1 win over visiting Mead (1-1) and pitcher Karstens (0-1).

Karstens transferred to Mead this year after earning first-team, all-league honors with North Central last season.

Katie Shrope (1-1) pitched a complete-game seven-hitter for the Bullpups (1-1). G-Prep scored two in the first after three Mead errors, then led 3-0 when the Panthers’ Rechelle Miller had a runscoring single in the sixth.

At Ferris, defending GSL champion University (2-0) beat the Saxons 10-6 with an eight-run fourth aided by four errors.

U-Hi had four hits in the fourth, including Megan Mertens’ two-run single.

At NC, Tori Mills (2-0) helped her cause with a bases-loaded triple in the sixth as Central Valley (2-0) snapped a 2-all tie and beat the Indians 12-5.

Jessica Sackmann had three of CV’s 14 hits. Jennifer Doughty of the Indians (0-2) had an RBI triple.

The Shadle Park-Lewis and Clark game scheduled for LC’s Jack Blair Memorial Field was postponed until 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Prep boys soccer

Nathan Gosse headed in a pair of goals in the first 28 minutes to start visiting Cheney (3-0-0) toward a 4-2 Frontier League win at Medical Lake (0-3-0).

Horse racing

A second public hearing on a bill the Spokane horse racing community says needs to be amended will be held Monday before the House Trade and Economic Development Committee in Olympia.

The bill, SB 5762, would allow the state’s tracks to simulcast races to other tracks across the country and also permit betting on racing cards from out of state.

But it would not allow simulcasting instate to off-track betting sites within 60 miles of any track conducting a live meet.

In 1995, 89 percent of Playfair’s off-track betting came from within 60 miles of Emerald Downs. Playfair would lose that access under the bill.

, DataTimes