Pirates claim fourth straight

The Whitworth men’s track and field team won its fourth straight Northwest Conference Championship Saturday afternoon at Charles Bowles Track in Salem, Ore.

The title was the fifth in the past six years for the Pirates. The Whitworth women finished in third place. George Fox won its third straight women’s title.

Carter Comito led the way, winning the shot put Saturday after Friday’s win in the discus.

In the shot put, Comito reached a mark of 59 feet, 2 inches, breaking his school and conference meet record and moving him into second place in the Division III ranks.

Pirates senior Frank Lima won the high jump, clearing 6-9 1/2.

Freshman Kierstie Shellman led the Whitworth women with a title in the pole vault. She cleared 12-2, the seventh-best mark in the Division III ranks.

Christina Dobbins won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.20 seconds and ran the anchor leg in Whitworth’s winning 400 relay team.

• Gonzaga’s Lindsey Drake took first place and set a school record in the 1,500 at the Duane Hartman Invitational at Spokane Falls Community College.

Drake finished well ahead of the field with a time of 4:24.33, easily surpassing her school record of 4:30.36, set earlier this season.

Idaho senior Ugis Svazs also had a first-place finish and set a school record. Svazs won the men’s javelin with a toss of 240-7, breaking the school record set by Oscar Duncan in 1996.

Eastern Washington was led by Cora Kellerman, whose toss of 170-0 in the women’s javelin was second best in school history.

• Shawna Fermin anchored Washington State’s winning 1,600 relay team and took the individual title in the 400 as the Cougars edged Washington 86-77 in a dual meet in Seattle.

The 1,600 relay determined the winner. WSU won in 3:42.99, 2 seconds faster than the Huskies.

The Washington men won 92-71.

Baseball

Brigham Young scored five early runs and held on late to beat host Gonzaga 9-6 and avoid a sweep in a West Coast Conference series finale at Patterson Baseball Complex.

Brock Whitney sparked a five-run third-inning outburst for the Cougars (21-17, 8-7) with a three-run blast off Bulldogs’ starter Arturo Reyes.

Gonzaga (28-14-1, 15-6) scored four runs in the sixth, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.

• UCLA’s Nick Vander Tuig stymied Washington State through nine innings and the seventh-ranked Bruins eased to a 10-1 win at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.

Vander Tuig allowed a run on seven hits and struck out eight. The Cougars didn’t get on the board until the final inning, when Ian Sagdal’s single through the right side scored Patrick McGrath.

• After being carried by pitcher Dan Scheibe in the opener, Whitworth’s bats came alive in the nightcap and the Pirates (13-22-1, 8-15) swept Whitman (14-21, 7-16) in a Northwest Conference doubleheader in Walla Walla.

Scheibe overcame a shaky start and led Whitworth to an 8-3 win in the first game. He pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out 10.

The Pirates won the second game 13-9 thanks to an early offensive outburst. Jeremy Druffel and Josh Davis had three RBIs apiece to guide Whitworth at the plate.

• Community Colleges of Spokane (20-16, 11-9) and Big Bend (9-23, 4-16) split an NWAACC doubleheader in Moses Lake.

Grant Curtis gave up two runs in 7 2/3 innings to lead the Sasquatch to a 5-2 win in the opener. Austin Bartleson had three doubles and drove in three runs for CCS.

The Vikings won the nightcap 10-4 behind a home run and six RBIs from Dylan Signorelli.

• California’s Mike Reuvekamp hit a three-run double in the sixth and the Golden Bears (19-23, 8-12) went on to beat Washington (14-27, 6-11) 8-1 in Pac-12 Conference play at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

• Washington State’s Jason Monda and Gonzaga’s Marco Gonzales were named to the watch list for the 2013 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award.

Monda has an earned-run average of 0.78 in 23 innings and is batting .294 with six home runs and 33 RBIs. Gonzales is 6-2 with a 2.77 ERA and is batting .338.

Softball

Community Colleges of Spokane scored early in both games and swept Blue Mountain (7-30, 4-18) in an NWAACC doubleheader at Spokane Falls CC.

The Sasquatch (21-15, 15-7) won the opener behind Lindsey Walchli’s five-hit shutout. Lauren Stewart drove in three runs to guide CCS at the plate.

In the nightcap, Bre Warren and Tasji Urhausen drove in two runs apiece as the Sasquatch won 7-2.

• Southern Idaho dominated North Idaho (18-32, 12-27) in a Scenic West Athletic Conference sweep in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The Golden Eagles (45-9, 39-5) won the opener 9-1 and the nightcap 8-0 to complete the four-game series sweep.

Women’s rowing

Both of Gonzaga’s boats took first place in its heat races and earned spots in today’s Grand Finals at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma, Calif.

The Bulldogs’ varsity 8-plus boat finished 9 seconds ahead of Loyola Marymount in its heat. GU’s novice 8-plus boat beat San Diego by 13 seconds.