Blood’s Five-Hitter Spurs Gonzaga To Tournament Win

Pitcher Darin Blood scattered five hits over nine innings and rode Gonzaga’s 12-hit attack to a 5-0 men’s collegiate baseball win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday in the Pepsi-Johnny Quik Classic at Fresno State’s Beiden Field.

The Bulldogs, 1-1 in the tournament and 7-6 overall, received three hits each from third baseman Matt Brunell and second baseman Ryan Branch. Center fielder Carter Masterson finished with two RBIs.

Blood (3-1) struck out seven and walked four, while the Bulldogs scored solo runs in the first, third, fifth, eighth and ninth innings.

Gonzaga plays Wyoming today at 10 a.m.

In other games Tuesday, Nevada topped Wyoming 13-0; UNLV nipped Portland 7-6; and Fresno State defeated Missouri 6-2.

Boxing: The Mike Jarms Memorial Boxing Smoker is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Cheney High School gym. The 11-bout card featuring Cheney students is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

Volleyball: North Idaho College volleyball player Beth Palmer has verbally committed to play for Seattle Pacific.

Palmer, a Post Falls High graduate, selected Seattle Pacific over Montana State of the Big Sky.

CSI, Ricks roll: College of Southern Idaho opened the men’s National Junior College Athletic Association Basketball Tournament by belting Fashion Institute of Technology (New York, N.Y.) 99-75 on Tuesday in Hutchinson, Kan.

CSI’s Ed Gray, most valuable player in Region 18, nailed six 3-pointers and scored 32 points. Marcus Wallace added 22.

CSI (31-3) plays New Mexico Junior College today in the quarterfinals at 4:30 PST.

At the women’s tournament in Tyler, Texas, Ricks College (31-2) routed Sullivan (Louisville, Ky.) 90-64 on Tuesday.

Melinda Gee had 17 points and Kris Packer added 12. Coeur d’Alene High’s Mindy Young had 11 points for Ricks, which shot 62 percent from the floor.

The Vikings will meet Logan (Carterville, Ill.) on Thursday at 6 p.m., PST.

Baseball: Tuesday’s North Idaho College-Community Colleges of Spokane baseball game was called off because of wet grounds at NIC’s field in Coeur d’Alene.

The teams will play a doubleheader, beginning at noon, on Thursday in Spokane. A game scheduled for March 28, in Spokane will be played in Coeur d’Alene.

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