WSU gets first win at Stanford since 1971

Jeff Miller’s two-out, two-run home run capped a three-run eighth inning that broke a 1-1 tie as Washington State ended a 23-game run of baseball futility against No. 17 Stanford, downing the Cardinal 7-1 in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday.

The Cougars (19-6, 1-0 Pac-10) hadn’t beaten Stanford (11-8, 0-1) since March 28, 1978. The last time WSU had won on the Cardinal’s field was May 1, 1971.

Mike Wagner (3-3) went seven innings, allowing five hits (all singles) and one run while striking out two. Nick Cebula threw the final 11/3 innings to pick up his second save.

Washington State added three more runs in the ninth to make it 7-1.

“Whitworth was down three runs three times and managed to pull off a 7-6 victory over visiting Bethany in the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader at Merkel Field.

In the seventh inning of the opener, Danny Pecka, who finished 3 for 3 on the day with three runs scored for the Pirates (11-11), walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Ryley Hunter than sacrificed him to third before Pecka scored on a Todd Phillips fielder’s choice.

Bethany (13-19) scored six times in the final two innings of the second game to come away with a 7-2 victory.

“Gonzaga’s home game against Dartmouth was postponed by rain. The teams will end their series today at 11 a.m. at Avista Stadium.

“It was a freshman battle in Berkeley, Calif., and Cal’s Tyson Ross came out on top.

Ross out-dueled Washington’s Tyler Cheney as the Golden Bears (14-10, 2-0 Pac-10) held on for a 2-1 win over the Huskies (17-9, 0-2).

Ross went eight innings, allowing one run on three hits and collecting seven strikeouts.

Cheney, from Richland, allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out three in 62/3 innings.

Track and field

Throwers Jon Jeffreys and Matt Lamb had breakthrough victories for Washington State at the USC Trojan Invitational track and field meet in Los Angeles.

Jeffreys, a sophomore from Spokane, cracked WSU’s all-time top 10 list in the javelin with a winning throw of 226 feet, 2 inches – a 13-foot improvement on his lifetime best. Lamb, a freshman from Emmett, Idaho, got off the best WSU discus mark in six years with a toss of 182-2, while teammate Drew Ulrick snagged third with a lifetime best of 180-2.

The Cougars had a handful of strong performances in an elite field, including a 2-3 finish in the women’s pole vault by Tiffany Maskulinski and Tamara Diles, who both cleared 13-13/4. Haley Paul was the runner-up in the women’s 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 26.07 seconds and John Cassleman was second in the 400 hurdles in 52.50. Robin Mikesh won the women’s high jump at 5-5.

“Mary Kamau, Melinda Owen, Kevin Friesen and David Holmon all had runner-up finishes to highlight Idaho’s performances at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento.

Kamau had a pair of seconds in the 800 (2:13.27) and 1,500 (4:33.72), while Owen was second in the women’s pole vault (11-93/4). On the men’s side, Friesen took second in the 3,000 in 8:27.95 and Holmon was runner-up in the triple jump at 46-113/4.

“Whitworth’s Jeff Grassley won the 3,000 steeplechase at the Point Loma Nazarene Invitational in San Diego, clocking 9:54.7. Kristi Dickey of the Pirates was second in the women’s 5,000 in 17:53.37, while Kory Kemp took second in the men’s javelin with a throw of 178-2.

Softball

Tashia Dugan hit a three-run homer to highlight a nine-run fifth inning as Community Colleges of Spokane beat Treasure Valley 18-16 in the opener of a Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges doubleheader at Spokane Falls. Treasure Valley (6-5, 2-2) scored twice in the top of the sixth to beat CCS (9-4, 3-1) 10-9 in the second game, which was called in the sixth inning by darkness.

Rowing

Washington State won its ninth straight Fawley Cup, its varsity 8 boat outlasting Gonzaga and British Columbia on Silver Lake. The Cougars finished in 7 minutes, 14.47 seconds. Gonzaga was second in 7:24.79, and British Columbia took third in 7:28.63.

Golf

Circling Raven Golf Club’s 25-acre practice facility in Worley, Idaho, is open. The practice facility is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, when the course will open for the 2006 season.