Cougs knock off 6th-ranked Ducks

Taylor Ard hit a pair of home runs and drove in five runs to power the Washington State Cougars (20-16, 7-7) to a 10-6 win over the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks (27-12, 11-7) in Pacific-12 Conference play on Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

With the victory, the Cougars won a road series for the first time this season. It is also the first time WSU has won a road series against a Top 10 team in the post-Bobo Brayton era.

The Cougars rallied for four runs with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Patrick Claussen had a …

Taylor Ard hit a pair of home runs and drove in five runs to power the Washington State Cougars (20-16, 7-7) to a 10-6 win over the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks (27-12, 11-7) in Pacific-12 Conference play on Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

With the victory, the Cougars won a road series for the first time this season. It is also the first time WSU has won a road series against a Top 10 team in the post-Bobo Brayton era.

The Cougars rallied for four runs with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 7-2 lead. Patrick Claussen had a two-run double and Tommy Richards added a two-run single.

WSU is 5-5 against Top 10 teams this season – all on the road.

• Nick Motsinger and Tyler Pfeffer each knocked in two runs to lead the Whitworth Pirates (23-13-1, 16-5) to a 10-6 victory over the Willamette Bearcats (11-22, 7-14) in Northwest Conference action in Salem, Ore.

The Pirates swept the three-game series and remained one game behind league-leading Pacific in the conference standings. Pacific Lutheran is in third place, one game behind the Whits.

Whitworth hosts a three-game series against Whitman (5-16 NWC) next weekend, while Pacific travels to PLU for a three-game set. The Pirates hold the tiebreaker edge against Pacific and PLU.

• The San Francisco Dons (19-24, 6-6) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning and held off the Gonzaga Bulldogs 7-4 in West Coast Conference play in San Francisco.

GU (26-12, 6-6) rallied to tie it a 4-all with a run in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back doubles by Clayton Eslick and Alex Stanford knotted the score.

• Branden Berry singled home a run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift the Washington Huskies (20-17, 6-9) to a 6-5 victory over the 13th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (26-13, 12-6) in Pac-12 play in Seattle.

Huskies reliever Tyler Kane (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless 12th inning.

Berry finished with two hits and two RBIs and Chase Anselment drove in three runs for the Huskies.