Rice rallies in ninth to overcome Cougars

Senior Matt Way entered the ninth inning pitching a two-hit shutout for the Washington State Cougars. Then disaster struck.

The seventh-ranked Rice Owls (7-3) got the first two batters on base in the bottom of the ninth, chasing Way, then scored on a passed ball and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded and claimed a 2-1 non-conference baseball victory over the Cougars (3-6) in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Rice Classic at Houston on Friday.

Way walked pinch hitter Jess Buenger leading off the ninth. Jimmy Comerota grounded to shortstop Shea Vucinich, but his throw to get the force at second base went awry, putting runners at second and third with no outs.

Right-hander Jeremy Johnson relieved Way and enticed Chad Mozingo to softly line out. Diego Seastrunk was intentionally walked to load the bases. All three runners advanced on a passed ball, tying the game at 1.

After an infield ground out, Johnson intentionally walked Rick Hague to re-load the bases. Johnson then hit Jeremy Rathjen with a pitch to force home the winning run.

Way pitched eight-plus innings and gave up two hits, two unearned runs and struck out four.

•Matt Andriese pitched a complete-game three-hitter to give the UC Riverside Highlanders (9-2) a 4-0 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs (6-4) at the Palm Springs (Calif.) Classic.

Men’s basketball

Zach Humphrey scored 24 points to lead the Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch (20-7) to a 67-64 victory over the Skagit Valley Cardinals (16-13) in loser-out play at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges tournament at Kennewick.

CCS faces Mt. Hood at noon today in another loser-out game.

Softball

The Linfield Wildcats showed why they are the six-time defending Northwest League champions in a sweep of the Whitworth Pirates at McMinnville, Ore.

Kendra Strahm pitched five strong innings and freshman Emilee Lepp went 4 for 4 to lead Linfield to a 9-1 win in six innings in the opener decided by the eight-run mercy rule.

Ashley Carey homered to left-center field to plate Whitworth’s (1-5, 0-2) only run.

In the nightcap, returning All-American Brittany Miller struck out 13 and gave up only one hit – a Carrie Gibson first-inning single – in a, 8-0, five-inning victory for Linfield (4-0, 4-0).

The teams conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader this afternoon.

Track and field

Washington State University’s women’s distance medley relay team ran a school-record and NCAA-provisional qualifying time at the University of Notre Dame Alex Wilson Indoor Invitational held in the Loftus Sports Center in South Bend, Ind.

The Cougars, consisting of Lisa Egami, Lorraine King, Anna Layman and Sara Trane, ran a time of 11 minutes, 17.92 seconds to finish third behind West Virginia and Kansas State.