Cougars put themselves on mighty roll
The Washington State University Cougars are in the middle of a bunch of lasts.
As in, “the last time the Cougars …”
Over the weekend WSU took two of three from Stanford in California. The last time the Cougars defeated the Cardinal? It was 1978, when former Seattle Mariner Dave Elder was a team captain.
Monday, the Cougs were ranked 28th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine. The last time WSU was ranked? It was 1989, when former Mariner John Olerud was one of the captains.
Thanks to the Pac-10 series-opening win, the Cougars (20-7 overall) find themselves on top of the conference standings, tied with USC and California. The last time WSU was atop the Pac-10? Well it certainly wasn’t last season, when the Cougs won one conference game.
Being atop the conference standings at the end of March isn’t that important to Cougars coach Donnie Marbut.
“If we’re there in May, we’ll be excited,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a great way to start conference, but there is no rest for the weary in this league. We have a short week and we have to host Arizona State (21-7 and ranked as high as 10th in the nation) this weekend. That’s going to be an even bigger test for us.”
The Sun Devils will be playing their first Pac-10 series and bring a .322 team-batting average into Pullman. But the Cougars will counter with a pitching staff that has a 3.38 earned run average.
Lewis and Clark High product Travis Webb has a team-high two saves and a 2.89 ERA. But that’s only the start of the Cougs’ success. Wayne Daman Jr. is 5-1 with a 2.82 ERA. Freshman Jared Prince, who is also hitting .433 with a team-leading 29 RBIs, is 3-0, having pitched 19 innings without giving up an earned run. Nick Ison is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA.
Jay Miller was named Pac-10 Player of the Week. With eights hits in the three Stanford games, the senior left fielder has climbed up to third on WSU’s all-time career hits list, tying Jim Connor (1987-90) with 271.
Miller is hitting .448 this season with a conference-leading 52 hits and 20 doubles and a team-leading 33 runs and 11 stolen bases (tied for the team high with brother Jeff).
Around the area
Gonzaga: The Bulldogs (17-10) finally got to play at home last weekend, and made the most of it, sweeping two games from Dartmouth. GU will open conference play with a three-game series with the University of Portland at Avista Stadium starting Friday.
The Pilots (9-13) were picked to finish last in the West Coast Conference but have won six consecutive games. Still, Portland is last in the WCC with a .275 team batting average and a 6.26 team ERA.
GU leads the conference with a .320 average, led by Scott Campbell (.398) and Jackson Brennan (.390, with a team-leading seven home runs). The Bulldogs’ pitchers have a 5.05 team ERA (fifth in the eight-team WCC), though senior left-hander Patrick Donovan (North Central High) has a 3.54 to go with his 4-2 record.
Gonzaga coach Mark Machtolf was named as one of three assistant coaches for the USA Baseball national team this summer. Machtolf will assist Vanderbilt University’s Tim Corbin on a team that will be picked in June and will play all summer, culminating in the World University Baseball Championships in Havana, Cuba.
Whitworth: The Pirates have a chance to move into the upper echelon of the muddled Northwest Conference race with a sweep of winless Whitman this weekend.
After winning three of four non-conference games from Bethany of California last weekend and losing to Gonzaga on Tuesday, Whitworth is 11-12 overall but 5-4 in NWC play. No one has less than three conference losses, so if the Pirates sweep the Missionaries (0-20, 0-11) at Merkel Field this weekend, they will, at worse, move into a tie for third.
Community Colleges of Spokane: The Sasquatch (4-11) are nearing the end of a tough non-conference schedule. CCS lost two of three at Edmonds Community College last weekend, but the lone win was a combined five-hit shutout from Luke Farden, Keith Tappe and Chad Flett.
The Sasquatch will host Olympic College in a non-conference doubleheader Sunday.