Pioneers Edge Pirates

Mike Pellegrino and Brian Mullaly had run-scoring singles in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers of Portland to an 8-7 Northwest Conference baseball victory over the Whitworth Pirates on Sunday at Whitworth’s Merkel Field.

Aaron Keller’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh had pulled the Pirates (9-14, 4-5) even after trailing 6-3.

Nick Schuerman drove in Miguel Saldin in the bottom of the ninth to make it 8-7, but Schuerman was thrown out at third base trying to advance on an overthrow to end the game.

Bill Allen (4-1) went the distance, despite giving up seven earned runs, to pick up the win for the Pioneers (10-11, 5-4).

Matt Neill (0-1) gave up two runs in 1 innings of relief and was saddled with the loss.

Jon Shirley worked six innings to pick up his first win of the season as the California Golden Bears beat the Washington Huskies 8-2 at Husky Ballpark in the rubber game of the three-game Pacific-10 Conference series.

Shirley (1-3) allowed two runs on five hits. Andrew Sproul threw three innings of shutout relief to nail down his first save of the season.

Mike Tonis, David Sark and Clint Hoover all homered for the Bears (15-17, 6-6).

Marc Rittenhouse staked the Huskies to a brief 2-1 lead with his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third inning.

Matt Gardner (1-2) gave up six runs, four earned, in five innings for Washington (10-15, 2-4).

Softball

The Puget Sound Loggers rolled to a 9-1, 8-0 Northwest Conference softball doubleheader sweep over the visiting Whitworth Pirates.

The Loggers (16-5, 6-0) banged out 26 hits, compared to just five for the Pirates (2-10, 2-4) in the two games. Megan Walsh no-hit Whitworth for four innings in the nightcap.

Auto racing

Rob Vest got an early jump in defending his Stateline Speedway Street Stock title by winning Saturday’s 25-lap main event.

Vest, who won five main events on his way to the 1999 championship, finished ahead of Clayton Wood, who had fast time and an A-heat victory heading into the race.

Bill Currier, last year’s runnerup in the Hobby Stocks, also opened with a win in that class.

Pat Lewis, who led the Sportsman class in wins with five in 1998 but failed to win last season, returned to the winner’s circle in that class.

Lonnie Stocker won the Fever-4 Hobby main event.

Crew

The Gonzaga University men’s and women’s varsity 8 crews completed a successful weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic at Mission Bay.

The Bulldogs cruised to a first-place finish in the men’s CAL Cup grand final, while the women were a close second in the women’s CAL Cup grand final.

Gonzaga’s men finished the 2,000-meter race in 6 minutes, 0.2 seconds, blowing away second-place finisher Trinity by 13 minutes. San Diego (6:17.00) was third.

Gonzaga’s women (7:01.29) finished 1 second behind winner Sacramento State (7:00.29). Stanford (7:02.89) was a close third.

Also at the San Diego Crew Classic, the Washington Huskies women’s team captured its ninth straight Whittier Cup title. UW won in 6:38.4. California (6:44.2) was second, followed by Virginia (6:46.5).

California edged runnerup Washington in the men’s Copley Cup. California finished in 5:44.2 and Washington, which has won the race 13 times, clocked a 5:48.5.

Girls volleyball

Performance Inferno of Spokane are headed to Louisville, Ken., this summer for a national girls volleyball tournament.

Performance Inferno defeated Spokane Splash Adidas Black in the U-14 finals at the USA Volleyball Pacific Northwest Qualifier tournament at Eastern Washington University.

Northern Idaho VBC Network (U-15), Splash Adidas Black (U-16) and Spokane Splash Prime Cut Adidas Black (U-18) also won their divisions but declined the invitation. The second-place finishers in those three divisions are eligible to participate.

Delta Valley Blue (Calif.) won the U-17 title.