Casey Propels Asu To Golf Title

Arizona State’s Paul Casey broke Tiger Woods’ Pacific-10 Conference tournament record by five shots Wednesday, repeating as the conference medalist for an unprecedented third consecutive year and leading the Sun Devils to their sixth straight team title.

Casey, a junior, shot his second straight 5-under-par 67 on Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., and finished at 23-under 265.

He had a 265 last year in Seattle on a par-70 course. Woods, who played for Stanford, shot 270 in Newport Beach, Calif., during the 1996 championships - the best score by a Pac-10 golfer on a par-72 layout.

The Sun Devils won the team trophy by 37 shots over Oregon State (1,384-1,421), with California third. Washington State (1,466) finished last for the fourth year in a row, despite a decent closing round by Jeremy Taylor, who shot 73 to finish at 289 and in a tie for 25th in the individual standings.

Spokane’s Reid Hatley, who plays for Arizona, skied to a final-round 77 and finished at 296.

In the women’s Pac-10 tournament at Eugene, Ore., Country Club, Washington State’s Jennifer Dodd became the first Cougar to finish among the top 10 individuals.

Dodd placed 10th following a final-round 73 that gave her a 54-hole total of eight-over 224, six strokes behind USC medalist Candie King, who shot 218.

The Cougars finished last in the team standings for the fourth consecutive year, posting a 938 that was well off Arizona’s winning score of 883.

Softball

Holly Vanwert pitched back-to-back three-hit shutouts in leading visiting Central Washington (15-23) to a 9-0, 15-0 doubleheader sweep of Whitworth (4-21).

Vanwert (5-8), from Mead High School and CC Spokane, was backed by Keri Peterson’s three-run homer in the first game and Jennifer Brown’s four RBIs in the nightcap. Aubrie Caldwell had three of Whitworth’s six hits.

Baseball

Jay Garthwaite, Tyler Davidson, Ed Erickson and Ben Miller hit home runs to lead Washington (19-21) to a 15-5 non-conference rout of St. Martin’s College (13-20) at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.