College baseball : Aching Cougars embrace break

Not many college baseball teams have the luxury of taking a week off in the middle of the season.

But Washington State, because of a scheduling snafu, finds itself staring at an empty day planner this week – which, as it turns out, is just fine with Cougars coach Donnie Marbut.

“If we were hot as a pistol right how, maybe we’d rather be playing,” Marbut said prior to putting his struggling Cougars (16-13, 1-5 Pacific-10 Conference) through a Tuesday afternoon practice. “But we’re not playing so well right now, so I think the layoff comes at a good time.”

The Cougs dropped an 8-1 non-conference decision to San Francisco in the Bay Area on Monday and don’t play again until Tuesday when they entertain Gonzaga at Bailey-Brayton Field.

The loss to USF was WSU’s sixth in its last nine games.

The Cougars are looking at seven consecutive days off and, according to Marbut, some much-needed time to regroup and heal up.

Marbut has been without two of his best pitchers – sophomores Jeremy Johnson and Jared Prince – for most of the season because of injuries. Sophomore second baseman Travis Coulter has yet to play on defense after suffering a dislocated shoulder while diving for a ball during warmups prior to the opening game of the season.

Marbut is hoping all three will be back for Tuesday’s game against GU. But even if they do, the Cougars will still be without starting center fielder Ryan Krauser, who suffered a severe ankle sprain after running into the wall while trying to make a catch against USF.

“We’re a little banged up,” Marbut said, “but, like our told our players, nobody’s going to be feeling sorry for us. We just need to play though it and get back on track.”

The Cougars were originally scheduled to host Northern Colorado in a three-game series this week, but the Bears backed out of the original deal giving WSU its extended layoff.

Marbut said he was upset at first about losing the games this week.

“But with the way we’ve struggled of late,” he said, “maybe taking a weekend, a Saturday-Sunday, off and letting the kids go home and spend Easter with their families will be good for the Cougs.”

UA wins by field goal

Arizona coach Andy Lopez summed up last Sunday’s 17-14 win over Oregon State as an “arena baseball” slugfest.

“It was all about damage control,” Lopez told the Arizona Daily Star after watching his Wildcats complete a three-game home sweep of then No. 2-ranked OSU in a contest that featured two teams with little left in the way of pitching.

UA pounded out 16 hits in the game and was leading 17-8 heading into the final inning, only to sweat out a six-run rally by the Beavers in the ninth. OSU sent 12 batters to the plate in the last inning and had the bases loaded when Cory Burns, the fourth pitcher used by Lopez, got the final out on a strikeout.

“Our offense carried our arms today,” Lopez said. “Quite candidly, this is what Pac-10 baseball is like on Sunday. I hate to say it, but it’s usually grind it out, grind it out, and see who has the most runs at the end of the day.”

Zags face quick trip

After inaugurating their new home, Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field, with a 12-game homestand and winning two of three games from national power San Diego last weekend, the Gonzaga Bulldogs head back out on the road this week.

The trip is a short one, however, with the Zags (18-15, 2-1 West Coast Conference) scheduled to play three games in two days against WCC rival Portland (13-14, 1-2) at Joe Etzel Field.

The teams will play a single game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.

Taste of the bigs

WCC Bay Area rivals San Francisco and Santa Clara will sample life at the major league level Friday when they square off in the second annual Dante Benedetti Classic at AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants’ home.

The Classic, named for USF’s former coach, will start at 11:30 a.m., with the Giants scheduled to entertain the Los Angeles Dodgers later that evening.

Quick hits

Gonzaga’s Brandon Harmon, who earned his ninth career save against San Diego last Friday before picking up a complete-game win over the Toreros two days later, is one save short of moving into a tie with Randy Bostic and Matt Siwek on the Bulldogs’ all-time saves list. … GU’s Brian Winston and Evan Wells combined to score two runs and drive in four last weekend, accounting for almost half of the 13 runs the Zags’ scored while winning two of three games against USD. … Oregon State pitchers hit 10 Arizona batters in last weekend’s three-game series in Tucson, Ariz., including six in Sunday’s 17-14 loss. … Arizona’s three wins over the Beavers extended the Wildcats’ winning streak to 11, their longest since 1999 when they opened the season 13-0. … When Stanford junior Michael Taylor did not play in Sunday’s final game of the three-game home series against UCLA, he snapped his string of 140 consecutive starts.