Post Learns Strike Zone, Beats UW

College baseball/softball

Two of the earliest words of advice any prospective pitcher receives are “Throw strikes!”

Ryan Post has undoubtedly heard that brief message hundreds of times from coaches, teammates and critical fans.

But Sunday afternoon, in front of a sun-warmed crowd of 817 at Bailey Field, the Washington State senior had the courage and common sense to ask why - especially with a pitcher’s friend like umpire Corky Fazio working behind the plate.

And bouyed by his own conviction and savvy, along with Fazio’s broad - and deep - interpretation of the strike zone, Post kept the ball just off the plate most of the day and pitched the Cougars to an important 8-5 Pacific-10 Conference win over arch-rival Washington.

The victory gave WSU (15-26 overall and 4-4 in the North Division) a split of its four-game weekend series against UW and lifted the Cougars to within a game of the division-leading Huskies (16-21, 5-3).

Post, who came into the game sporting a lofty, 5.79 earned run average for only 14 innings of work, went seven innings and allowed only eight hits and one run while striking out four.

The fifth-year senior, who had his 1995 season cut short by elbow surgery, tantalized UW’s young hitters with a mixed bag of fastballs and off-speed breaking pitches thrown on - or at least in the vicinity - of the corners of home plate.

And the majority of pitches the Huskies refused to chase ended up as called strikes, corners or not.

“Again, baseball is a game of adjustments,” Cougars coach Steve Farrington said, admitting Fazio’s strike zone seemed generous. “And that’s something I’m trying to get our guys to do - adjust to the game, adjust to the umpire and adjust to what kind of pitches you’re getting.

“It was nice to see (Post) make those kinds of adjustments and make the pitches he had to.”

Post, a 23-year-old righthander, was hit hard on several occasions, but benefited greatly from several spectacular defensive plays and his splendid control.

Center fielder Rob Ryan came up with a pair of defensive gems, robbing Chris Magruder of an extra-base hit with a diving catch in the third and taking a sure triple away from Ryan Bundy with a leaping grab against the wall an inning later.

It didn’t hurt, either, that the Cougars staked Post to a lead on a two-run home run by Josh Hamik in the third and Jered Fowler’s monstrous fifth-inning solo blast that carried well beyond the scoreboard in left-center field.

WSU then used a pair of UW throwing errors to score three runs in the sixth and boost its advantage to 8-1 before the Huskies scored four in their final at-bat on two walks by Cougar reliever Jon Zumwalt, an error by shortstop Mike Wetmore and run-scoring singles by Kevin Miller and Ryan Soules.

Washington 001 000 004 - 5 10 3

WSU 112 013 00x - 8 12 2

Kringen, Hannah (6) and Bundy; Post, Zumwalt (8), Fowler (9) and Hairston. W-Post (2-2). L-Kringen (0-6).

HITS: Washington - Miller 2, Soules 2, Na, Bundy 2, Lentz, Buck 2. WSU Wetmore 2, Ryan 3, Horner, Fowler 2, Hamik, Gleason, Kaleikilo, Nordlund. 2B-Buck, Bundy, Fowler. HR-Hamik (3), Fowler (7).

Portland State 2-8, Oregon State 0-9

Portland State starter Ryan Burkeen held Oregon State to just five hits in five-plus innings as the Vikings shut out the visiting Beavers in the opening game of a Pac-10 North doubleheader. Oregon State came back to win the second game.

Willamette 6, Whitworth 4 (11)

Burke Eathorne’s pinch-hit, two-run double in the top of the 11th inning allowed the Bearcats (17-9, 8-1) to drop the Pirates (12-12, 2-7), who have lost six consecutive Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges games.

Whitworth had a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the 11th, but Mike Corey retired Alex Schuerman on a called third strike to end the game.

Willamette 101 100 100 00 -6 12 3

Whitworth 001 010 020 00 -4 12 3

Bell, Matteson (6), Corey (10), Breckenridge (11) and Kelly; Stevens, McGillivray (7), Holmes (11) and Schuerman. W-Corey (2-1). L-Holmes (3-1).

HITS: Willamette-Belcher 2, Westwood, Heath Eathorne, Metteson 2, Edelbrock, Scharer, Kelly, Lindemann, Cox. Whitworth-Turner 2, Swan, Crandall, Peterson 2, Fischer, Fukai 2, Schuerman 2, Arthaud. 2B-Belcher 2, Eathorne, Edelbrock, Schuerman. HR-Turner.

College softball

CC Spokane 8-4, Skagit Valley 0-0

Tracy Moore pitched a complete game shutout and Gena Greenside drove in three runs as the Sasquatch blanked the Cardinals in the opener of an NWAACC doubleheader at SFCC. In the second game, Spokane’s Laura Schwarz threw a four-hitter and struck out eight.

Skagit Valley 000 00 - 0 3 3

CC Spokane 303 2x - 8 9 0

Macy and Hendrickson; Moore and Fountain. W-Moore (3-3). L-Macy.

HITS: Skagit Valley - Malson, Lawler, Masonholder. CC Spokane Fine 2, Meddock 2, Cossette 2, Moore, Greenside 2.

Skagit Valley 000 000 0 - 0 4 1

CC Spokane 002 002 x - 4 10 2

Macy and Hendrickson; Schwarz and Lawler. W-Schwarz (5-1). L-Macy.

HITS: Skagit Valley - LeMaister, Short 2, Masonholder. CC Spokane Fine 2, Meddock 3, Fountain, Hedum, Greenside, Moore, Cossette. 2B-Fine.

, DataTimes