GU’s Powell closes door on Pilots

Bobby Carlson went 2 for 3 with two RBIs as Gonzaga got a clutch performance from Cory Powell to beat Portland 5-3 in West Coast Conference baseball action Saturday at Avista Stadium.

Powell came into the game in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out and the Bulldogs (19-10, 2-0) up 4-3.

He struck out Justin Ehlers and then got Jesse Rodgers to bounce into a double play to pick up his second save of the season.

Portland fell to 10-16, 0-2.

•Dustin Frank went 3 for 4 and Ryne Webb 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs as Whitworth won the opening game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader 6-4 over Whitman (0-22, 0-13) at Merkel Field.

The second game was postponed in the top of the second inning with Whitworth (12-12, 6-4) leading the Pirates 10-1. The teams will resume play at 11 a.m. today.

•Eric Taylor Jr.’s two-out single in the top of the 11th led UCLA (16-12, 1-1) to a 3-2 win over Washington (19-11, 2-3) in Pac-10 action in Seattle.

•Community Colleges of Spokane’s doubleheader at Wenatchee Valley was postponed until today because of rain. The teams will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m.

Softball

Justine Williams was 5 for 7 on the day and finished with five RBIs as North Idaho (28-9, 16-6) swept Colorado Northwestern 9-1 and 13-0 in a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader in Rangely, Colo.

Melodee Mildenberger (13-4) earned the win in the opener, allowing three hits and one run while striking out seven. Kelcey Cavan (10-5) got the win in the second game, allowing just one hit and striking out 11. Both games were called after five innings.

•Kristin Hanson was 2 for 3 with five RBIs in the first game and 3 for 4 with five RBIs in the second as Whitworth (12-8, 7-3) swept George Fox 11-0 and 10-1 in a Northwest Conference doubleheader in Newberg, Ore.

Jo Sonnett (9-4) earned the win in the first game, allowing just one hit and striking out six while walking none. Jennifer Eckhoff (3-3) earned the win in the second game, allowing two hits and striking out seven. Both games were shortened to five innings.

•Lacey Parry (Mead High) was 3 for 4 and scored three runs, and Morgan Thomsen (West Valley) was 3 for 4 with four RBIs as CC Spokane (10-4, 4-1 NWAACC) registered a 10-3 win over Columbia Basin (4-5, 1-4) at Spokane Falls.The second game was postponed in the top of the third with CCS up 7-0. It will be resumed when Spokane travels to CBC later in the season.

Track and field

Washington State senior Tamara Diles won the pole vault with an NCAA regional qualifying mark of 12 feet, 113/4 inches at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif.

Davis’ teammate Tiffany Maskulinsky cleared an NCAA RQ height of 12-6 to tie for fourth place.

Meghan Leonard scored an NCAA RQ mark in the 300-meter steeplechase, finishing in a personal-best 10 minutes, 41.04 seconds, the second-fastest in WSU history.

Diana Pickler took third in the women’s 100 hurdles, finishing in a season-best 13.86 seconds, also an NCAA RQ time.

On the men’s side, Drew Ulrick and Matt Lamb were fifth and sixth in the men’s discus. Both threw NCAA RQ marks, Ulrick at 180-2 and Lamb 176-10.

•Stephanie Ulmer broke an Eastern Washington record in the javelin as Eastern’s women went 2-1 against fellow Big Sky Schools at the Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula.

Ulmer, with a toss of 165-8, broke the school record and improved upon her Big Sky and NCAA Regional qualifying standards.

Haley Heater qualified for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships by winning both the 100 (12.27) and the 400 hurdles (1:02.72) as the Eagles beat Idaho State 91-66 and Montana State 79.5-73.5 in the dual scoring system. EWU fell to host Montana 83.5-75.5.

Eastern also got a first-place finish from Carolee Geaudreau in the hammer, her 171-0 toss a personal best and good for third all-time at EWU.

For the men, John Timeus won the 5,000 in 14:58.83, and David Paul won the hammer at 189-3 as the men fell to Idaho State 88-71, to Montana State 82-72 and to Montana 86-76.

•Whitworth got three women’s individual titles as both the women and men beat Puget Sound and Community Colleges of Spokane at the Whitworth Invitational at Boppell Track.

Kristi Dickey won the 5,000 (17:57), Jenna Hays took first in the 400 hurdles (1:09.8) and Kelly Christianson had a personal-best 128-8 in the javelin as the Pirates scored 127.5 points. Puget Sound totaled 81 points and CCS 69.5.

Whitworth’s men won the 1,600 relay (4:24.5) and Brandon Howell ran a season-best 1:54.08 in the 800 as the Pirates wracked up 124 points.

Idaho’s Russ Winger won the men’s discus (172-4) and shot put (56-10) with NCAA regional qualifying marks. Teammate Matt Waulters won the hammer throw with an NCAA regional-qualifying 184-4.

Idaho’s Josh Guggenheimer coming within one-tenth of a second of breaking the track record in the 400 hurdles, finishing at 53.82. The track record is 53.75, set in 1995.

Crew

Rough weather forced the shortening of a number of races, including the women’s varsity 8 at the NCRC Regatta in Vancouver, Wash.

The Gonzaga women’s varsity 8, in a race that was shortened from 2,000 meters to 1,000 meters from extreme winds and a high chop, took second.

•Gonzaga’s men’s varsity 8 advanced to today’s Petite Final after finishing third in a heat race at the San Diego Crew Classic. GU finished the 2,000-meter course in 6:12.15, just 2 seconds behind UC Davis and out of a spot in the Grand Final.

•Washington’s rowers won all eight collegiate races at the Husky Invitational in Seattle. In the men’s varsity 8, Washington finished in 6:58.1. Washington State was second in 7:08.7. On the women’s side, UW took first in 6:19.3. WSU was third in 7:17.9.