LMU sweeps Zags, captures Coast crown

Loyola Marymount swept Gonzaga on Saturday to deny the Bulldogs the West Coast Conference Coast Division baseball title, instead giving the Lions their second in two years.

LMU (29-24, 17-12 WCC) won the first game handily, 13-6, before rallying to score four in the bottom of the eighth of the second game to eliminate Gonzaga.

Patrick Donovan (6-7) took the loss in Game 1, allowing six earned runs in 42/3 innings. LMU led Gonzaga 13-1 before the Bulldogs (28-25, 15-14) scored five in the seventh to reach the final margin.

In Game 2, with Gonzaga needing a win coupled with another win today to take the division, the Bulldogs scored three runs in the first innings, two scoring on Shawn Wayt’s single.

LMU answered with six runs in the second inning, but Gonzaga came back in the fourth with five runs. Kiel Thibault had a two-run double and Bobby Carlson’s three-run homer gave the Bulldogs an 8-6 lead. Gonzaga scored again in the top of the sixth for a three-run lead before it all fell apart in the eighth.

Brandon Harmon (2-1), on in relief of Bobby McEwen, allowed an RBI single and then loaded the bases before being replaced by Nate Williams. Williams allowed back-to-back RBI singles and a fielder’s choice scored the go-ahead run to give the Lions a 10-9 lead, and Gonzaga could not score in the ninth.

•Nick Hall and Garrett Kimbrel both had three hits to lift Washington State to a 10-7 win over visiting UCLA (14-37, 3-17 Pac-10), the Cougars’ first conference win this season.

Hall, Kimbrel and Scott Suttmeier all drove in a pair of runs for WSU (21-33, 1-19).

Wayne Daman Jr. picked up the win, pitching 52/3 innings, allowing four runs and nine hits. Dane Renkert finished the game for the Cougars, keeping the Bruins from getting any closer than three runs.

•Scott Santschi, Shawn Gizynski and Kevin Young all had RBI singles as CC Spokane took the NWAACC East title with a 3-1 win over Columbia Basin at Tri-Cities Stadium in Pasco.

Paul Knutson and Ben Mathiason combined on a seven-hitter for the Sasquatch.

•Nick Batkoski drilled a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at 3 and Brent Lillibridge followed with a two-run shot to give Washington (30-21, 9-11 Pac-10) a 5-3 comeback win over No. 17 Arizona State (30-22, 11-9) in Seattle.

Softball

Washington scored four runs in the top of the sixth to rally and beat Nebraska (36-22) 7-6 at the NCAA Regional in Lincoln, Neb.

•Mt. Hood scored three in the bottom of the seventh to defeat CC Spokane 6-5 at the NWAACC tournament at Delta Park in Portland.

Men’s golf

The Washington Huskies finished third at the NCAA West Regional in Stanford, Calif., to advance to the NCAA Championships for the seventh straight year.

UNLV won the tourney with a combined score of 846. New Mexico (849) was second, five shots ahead of the Huskies.

Erik Olson topped the Huskies with a three-round total of 1-over-par 211, tying him for 10th place. Washington teammate and Ferris High grad Alex Prugh finished a stroke behind Olson with a final-round of 71.