Record-Setting Casey Propels Asu To 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 shut-outs in leading visiting Central Washington (15-23) to a 9-0, 15-0 doubleheader sweep of Whitworth (4-21).

Vanwert (5-8) 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.

Tennis

Cameron Erickson defeated Alison Dohrmann 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a No. 5 singles match and gave 10th-seeded Idaho its only win in an 8-1 first-round loss to 7th-seeded Pacific in the Big West Conference championships in Ojai, Calif.

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.