WSU Closes Gap In Loss

Chad Pennington outdueled Matt O’Brien Saturday afternoon, leading fourth-ranked Arizona State to a 3-1 win over Washington State in a televised Pacific-10 Conference baseball game at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.

Pennington (7-1) scattered seven hits and allowed one run in eight-plus innings, his longest outing of the season. He lost his shutout on Ray Hattenburg’s solo home run in the seventh.

O’Brien (6-3), making his third career start for WSU, limited the nation’s No. 1 scoring team to three runs and no extra-base hits. The senior from Seattle struck out three and walked one while pitching his first complete game.

The Sun Devils (32-9, 8-3) led 1-0 after six innings, on Mike Lopez’s two-out RBI single in the third. Mel Stocker’s RBI single to center in the seventh stretched the lead to 2-0.

Hattenburg, 3 for 4 on the day, hit his fourth home run of the season to cut into the lead. ASU scored in the eighth and called on Eric Doble in the ninth for his sixth save.

The Cougars (14-24, 2-9) lost their seventh consecutive game, but the defeat was nothing like Friday’s 24-3 thumping. The teams complete the three-game series at 1 p.m. today.

Jason Young (5-0) pitched a six-hitter to win his 11th consecutive game, and Stanford defeated visiting Washington 7-2 to move into a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-10, with ASU and UCLA.

Joe Borchard had a two-run single and Chris O’Riordan added a two-run double, both with two outs in the third inning, as the fifth-ranked Cardinal (28-9, 8-3) took a 5-0 lead on the way to a seventh consecutive win. Michael Done of the Huskies (14-19, 3-8) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ninth-inning single.

Barry Matthews (8-1) scattered six hits and visiting Gonzaga (20-16, 11-6) defeated San Diego 5-2 in the first game of a West Coast Conference doubleheader.

Marty Hayes squeezed home Josh Harris in the 11th, giving the Toreros (25-20-1, 8-9) a 6-5 win in the second game. USD’s Kevin Reese had three RBIs to become the school’s all-time leader, with 185.

GU’s Jason Bay was 2 for 4 in the opener. Adam Stokey of the Zags went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the second game.

Matt Squires and Jason Reynolds had RBI singles in the fifth, allowing Whitworth (11-17, 6-8) to defeat visiting Linfield 6-4 and split a Northwest Conference doubleheader.

Scott Cannon went 4 for 4 with two RBIs as the Wildcats (13-13, 6-5) won the opener 6-4.

Whitworth’s Nick Schuerman went 4 for 6 on the day, with five runs and three RBIs. Schuerman homered twice in the first game.

Cole Young uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the 11th, allowing Yakima Valley to complete a 4-1, 7-6 sweep of visiting Community Colleges of Spokane.

YVCC (8-4, 16-9) tied the second game at 5 on Chris Mortimer’s two-run homer in the fifth. Bryce Boesel of the Sasquatch (7-5, 9-13) went 3 for 4 with two RBIs in the second game.

CCS dropped from second to fourth place in the Eastern Division of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges. YVCC moved up to second place, one game behind Columbia Basin.

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SOFTBALL

Pirates split; CCS out

Trisha Tang’s bases-clearing double in the first supported Kira Bliss, who pitched a sixhitter, and Whitworth (3-15, 3-7) defeated visiting George Fox 8-2 to earn a split in the Northwest Conference.

Pirates catcher Jessica Klingeman was 3 for 3 in the second game, with two runs and two RBIs. Anita Orlowski hit a three-run home run in the second and Beth Davis allowed one earned run as the Bruins (5-19, 2-13) won the opener 12-4.

The CCS women lost twice and were eliminated from the NWAACC Crossover Tournament at Delta Park in Portland.

Southwest Oregon edged CCS 3-2 in nine innings. Bellevue knocked out the Sasquatch (14-8) with a 6-4 decision.

Lower Columbia, SW Oregon, Walla Walla and Clackamas advanced to today’s semifinals. SW Oregon is the tournament surprise, entering with a 7-11 record. The other semifinalists are all in first or second place in their NWAACC divisions.