WSU, Gonzaga post home baseball victories

Senior Matt Way struck out a career-high 10 and allowed three hits as Washington State (6-11) shut out South Dakota State 12-0 in non-conference baseball Friday at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.

Way (2-2) fanned at least one hitter in each of the seven innings he worked. He extended his streak without allowing an earned run to 231/3 innings and ended a three-game Cougars losing streak.

“Anytime you score some runs with Matt Way on the mound you feel good about your chances to win,” coach Donnie Marbut said. “It feels good to get back on the winning side.”

Left fielder John Desmarais, catchers Greg Lagreid and Kyle Buchanan and shortstop Shea Vucinich all drove in two runs. Desmarais scored four times.

Lagreid hit a two-run single in WSU’s three-run fourth inning and Vucinich hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

Buchanan, a freshman, got his first hit as a Cougar and drove in the final run.

Leadoff hitter Patrick Claussen was 3 for 4, scoring three times.

•Tyson Van Winkle and Mark Castellitto were each 3 for 5 with two RBIs as the Gonzaga Bulldogs (12-6) defeated the visiting Pacific Tigers 8-3 at Patterson Complex.

The Bulldogs scored three runs in the first inning and never trailed the Tigers (7-10). Castellitto singled home two runs and third baseman Jason Chatwood drove in another with a base hit through the left side.

The score was 3-2 when Gonzaga scored two unearned runs in the fourth. Chris Sturdivant doubled in a run in the fifth inning and Van Winkle collected an RBI double in the sixth and RBI single in the seventh.

Matt Fields (2-1) earned the win and A.J. Proszek pitched 32/3 innings of relief. He has yet to allow a run in 102/3 innings.

Softball

The North Idaho Cardinals (17-14 overall, 15-9 SWAC) swept a doubleheader at the College of Southern Nevada in Henderson, 6-2, 5-0. Karri Johnson won the opener and Nina Gonzalez the nightcap.

Two unearned runs in the fourth broke a 2-2 tie and Wailana Buchanan doubled in two more in the fifth of Game 1.

In the second game, Gonzales scattered five hits and struck out seven after her teammates staked her to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Buchanan doubled to put runners at second and third base and an error plated both.

Buchanan finished the day 3 for 7.

•The Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch (12-2, 2-0 NWAACC) swept a doubleheader at Pasco, defeating host Columbia Basin 9-0, 9-5.

Heather Jackson and Michelle Wells had six hits apiece. Wells had two doubles and three RBIs in the first game. Christy Selway tripled and drove in three runs in the second game.

Swimming

Washington State’s Michaela Ahlin set a school-record 53.40 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly in the NCAA championships in College Station, Texas, finishing 36th. Elyse Peterson, was 31st, timing 1:01.31 in the 100 breaststroke.

•Whitworth’s Ashley Lecoq and Rory Buck failed to advance past the preliminaries of the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at Macalester College in Minneapolis. Lecoq, a junior, was 32nd in the 200 butterfly at 2:10.25 and Buck, a freshman, was 26th in the 100 breastroke with a time of 57.41.