Area roundup: Joe DeMers pitches first perfect game in Washington Huskies baseball history

Junior Joe DeMers threw the first perfect game in Washington Huskies baseball history Saturday during an 8-0 win over UC Riverside in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

DeMers (1-0) needed just 84 pitches to throw the fifth perfect game by a Pac-12 Conference pitcher.

DeMers struck out nine and reached a three-ball count once while recording the ninth no-hitter in Huskies history. UW’s last no-hitter was a combined effort by Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone on March 12, 2006.

DeMers hasn’t allowed an earned run in 15 innings this season.

Alabama 9, Washington State 3: Keith Holcombe finished 4 for 4 with four runs batted and the Crimson Tide (7-0) completed a three-game sweep of the Cougars (2-6) in rainy Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The start was delayed 2 hours by rain and 45 minutes for a rain delay in the fourth.

Holcombe had a two-run single in the first, an RBI single in the third and an RBI single in the fifth for a 5-3 lead.

The Cougars scored their runs on a groundout, hit by pitch and sacrifice fly. WSU’s Cal Waterman went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

UC Irvine 6, Gonzaga 1: Louis Raymond (1-0) allowed six hits and one earned run during a complete-game win and the Anteaters (5-1) defeated the Bulldogs (2-4) in nonconference play in Irvine, California.

Anteaters leadoff batter Jake Palmer drove in two runs and scored twice.

GU’s Nick Nyquist had a pinch-hit double in the ninth and scored on Jake Vieth’s one-out single.

Big Bend at CC Spokane, ppd.: The Sasquatch’s nonconference home doubleheader against the Vikings was canceled because of wintery conditions.

Men’s basketball

Walla Walla 81, North Idaho 72: Damen Thacker and Landon Radliff hit seven 3-pointers apiece and combined for 51 points as the host Warriors (22-6, 12-3) clinched the Northwest Athletic Association East Region title by defeating the Cardinals (20-8, 10-5).

The Warriors finished 19 of 49 on 3-pointers to outscore NIC 57-6 from long range.

Jalen Burkett scored 25 points for the Cardinals. RayQuan Evans added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

The regular season ends Wednesday. The NWAC Tournament begins March 10 in Everett.

CC Spokane 108, Columbia Basin 79: Dedrick Pakootas scored 29 points, hitting 5 of 9 on 3-pointers to lead the team’s 16-for-31 effort, and the visiting Sasquatch (20-8, 10-5 NWAC) defeated the Hawks (3-25, 1-15) in Pasco to tie NIC for second place.

Cesar Sandoval added 22 points, and George Pilimai had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Sasquatch.

Levi Noethe scored 23 points for the Hawks, who lost their 12th consecutive game.

Women’s basketball

Eastern Washington 66, Idaho State 64: Mariah Cunningham’s layup with 41 seconds left completed a huge comeback and the host Eagles (15-13, 10-6) defeated the Bengals (18-9, 10-6) to move into a four-way tie for third place in the Big Sky Conference.

EWU trailed 60-44 with 8:17 left but rallied with the help of Violet Kapri Morrow, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Alissa Sealby gave EWU a 61-60 lead with a jumper with 3:10 left.

Brittany Klaman kept EWU in the game with 14 first-half points.

Weber State 105, Idaho 88: Jaiamoni Coleman-Welch led five players in double figures with 23 points and the visiting Wildcats (18-9, 10-6 Big Sky) overcame big games by Mikayla Ferenz and Geraldine McCorkell to defeat the Vandals (16-11, 11-5) and allow Northern Colorado to clinch a tie for the conference title.

Ferenz scored 33 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and McCorkell finished 20 of 21 from the line for 31 points as the second-place Vandals dropped two games behind Northern Colorado with two games left in the regular season.

The conference tournament begins March 5 in Reno, Nevada.

Columbia Basin 66, CC Spokane 59: Sara Ramirez came of the bench to hit four 3-pointers and score 23 points as the host Hawks (21-8, 12-4 NWAC) held off the Sasquatch (13-13, 4-11) in Pasco.

Marissa Blair led the Sasquatch with 20 points, shooting 8 of 13 from the floor. Syndee Mongeon added 12 rebounds and 11 points.

The regular season ends Wednesday. The NWAC Tournament begins March 8 in Everett.

Walla Walla 89, CC Spokane 62: Cierra Jo McKeown scored 25 points, and Jade Skidmore added 21 points and 11 rebounds as the East-champion Warriors (27-1, 15-0 NWAC) romped past the visiting Cardinals (18-9, 9-6) for their 25th consecutive win.

Whitney Meier led the Cardinals with 17 points, hitting three 3-pointers.

Track and field

Idaho’s Zachary Short won the men’s shot put during the final day of the Big Sky Conference indoor championships in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Short, ranked second in the event, threw a career-best 59 feet, 4 3/4 inches.

Eastern Washington’s Rebecca Tarbert won the women’s 60-meter dash in 7.42 seconds. EWU’s Elizabeth Prouty won the women’s pole vault with a personal-best 13-3.

Idaho’s Kaizer Gillispie ran a season-best 47.14 to place third in the men’s 400 meter-run.

The Vandals’ Karina Moreland placed third in the women’s triple jump at 39-3 3/4.

EWU’s women placed fourth with 52 points. Idaho’s men placed sixth with 45 points.

• Washington State’s men scored 54 points and finished fifth – their best showing since 2013 – at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships at Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Facility. The Cougars had fourth-place finishes from Nick Johnson (Gonzaga Prep), 60 hurdles, 8.00 seconds; Ja’Maun Charles, 60 meters, 6.82; and Martin Moldau, heptathlon, 4,837 points. WSU’s women (28 points) finished 10th, led by Greer Alsop’s sixth-place showing in the triple jump (39-11 1/2).

Softball

George Fox 7-5, Whitworth 0-0: Madison Sorensen (4-0) threw a six-hitter in the opener and Abbie Bergerson (2-1) followed with a four-hitter as the host Bruins (7-1) opened the Northwest Conference season with a sweep of the Pirates (3-5) at Newberg, Oregon.

Whitworth’s Natalie Edlin had two hits in the opener.

Wrestling

North Idaho’s Levi Perry lost to Southwest Oregon’s Tanner Harvey in the 184-pound title match at the NJCAA national championship in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Final scores weren’t available.

Also for NIC, Damian Trujillo (285) lost to Northeastern Oklahoma’s Brian Andrews in the third-place match; Jacob Swift (165) defeated Iowa Central’s Jose Rodriguez in the fifth-place match; Thomas Stevenson (157) lost to Highline’s Liam Corbett in the fifth-place match; and Esco Walker Jr. (125) defeated Ellsworth’s Javier Moreno in the seventh-place match.

Northeastern Oklahoma (147.5 points) held off Clackamas (Oregon), which scored 124.5, for the team title.

Women’s swimming

Idaho junior Janelle Lucas won her third consecutive Western Athletic Conference title in platform diving and helped the Vandals to third place during the conference championships in Houston.

Lucas turned in a scored of 271.35 in the finals to win by nearly 40 points, becoming the first diver in WAC history to win the event three consecutive years.

Idaho scored 585 points to trail Northern Arizona (810) and New Mexico State (601).