Area roundup: Gonzaga’s Bianca Pagdanganan shoots record 61, wins Thunderbird tournament

Gonzaga’s Bianca Pagdanganan shot a record-breaking second-round 61 – including a hole in one – to win the Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird at Sunbrook Golf Course in St. George, Utah on Friday.

Pagdanganan finished the tournament 69-61 (14-under 130) and won by eight strokes over South Dakota State’s Megan Mingo (6-under 138).

After shooting 3-under par on the front, the sophomore went on to finish with a tournament, course, school, and West Coast Conference record 11-under par for her second career win and first of the season.

Pagdanganan opened her round with two birdies on the first two holes, and carried a 33 into the back nine. She birdied the first three holes on the back, and picked up two more on 14 and 16, before draining an ace on the par-three 17. She then birdied 18 for good measure.

Behind Pagdanganan’s stellar outing, Gonzaga finished second in the team competition, 13 strokes behind South Dakota State, which placed four golfers in the top 10.

Eastern Washington placed ninth, led by Kirsten Ishikawa’s 16th place finish (6-over 150).

Baseball

Eli Morgan tossed a one-hitter and Gonzaga (8-9) beat visiting Pacific (8-8) 4-0 in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams at the Patterson Baseball Complex on Friday.

Morgan (W, 3-1) struck out 13, did not walk a batter and faced just one over the minimum in his second consecutive shutout. The only runner he allowed was a eighth-inning, two-out single up the middle by Pacific’s Blake Barry. Morgan then turned around and got Nick Iwasa to fly to center.

The Gonzaga righty needed just 85 pitches to record 27 outs. He faced only one three-ball count and he registered at least one strikeout in every frame. Morgan is riding a 22 2/3 inning shutout streak.

Morgan struck out the side in the third and added two each in the fourth and seventh.

With five career shutouts, Morgan is now Division I’s sole active leader in the category.

Tyler Frost hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, to back Morgan’s stellar effort.

USC 12, Washington State 3: Corey Dempster went 2 for 4 with three RBIs while Austin Russ hit a pinch-hit solo homer and the Trojans (11-6) beat the Cougars (10-6) in the Pac-12 opener for both teams in Los Angeles.

Shane Matheny and James Rudkin picked up a pair of hits apiece for WSU.

Utah at Washington (ppd): The Utes (9-5) and the Huskies (9-6) were rained out and will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

Softball

CC Spokane 13-15, Blue Mountain 6-4: The Sasquatch (7-1, 2-0) pounded out 37 hits and swept a Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader from the Timberwolves (3-7, 0-2).

Courtney Adams went 4 for 5 with two runs and Josie Schultz went 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs in the first game. Ashlynn Bocock hit her fourth homer of the season and Alex Douglas also went deep in the second game.

Douglas (2-0) and Hannah Anderson (4-0) were the winning pitchers.

North Idaho 10-7, Treasure Valley 6-8: The Cardinals (5-3, 1-1) and the Chukars (3-5, 1-1) split an NWAC doubleheader.

In the opener, NIC’s Natalie Schwab hit a three-run homer in the sixth and Jamie Yurick clubbed a two-run shot in the seventh.

Yurick and Nikki Miller both homered in the late game.

Arizona State at Washington (ppd): The Sun Devils (19-5) and the Huskies (21-3) were washed out.

The teams will play a single game on Saturday at 2 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Track and Field

Washington State’s Katie Wardsworth finished in second in women’s hammer throw at 188-feet, 4 inches at the first day of the USC Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Kaitlin Krouse (WSU) placed fifth in discus at 135-11.

On the men’s side, Brock Eager took second in hammer at 212-04, while Travis Pickett finished fifth at 197-06.