Cougars squander 7-0 lead

A seven-run first inning wasn’t enough for Washington State as the Cougars dropped a 13-11 non-conference baseball decision to UC Davis on Sunday at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Jim Murphy had a grand slam to highlight WSU’s opening onslaught, his eighth homer of the season and 27th of his career to tie Dale Ford for 10th on the Cougars’ career list. He also added a two-run single in the bottom of the third in a 4-for-5 game that included a career-high six RBIs.

But it was all wasted as the Aggies (20-10) got home runs from Kevin James and Ty Kelly in a 21-hit assault that produced a split of the four-game series. WSU is 18-12.

“Gonzaga got Ryan Wiegand’s team-leading fifth home run but little else in a 9-3 West Coast Conference loss at 17th-ranked San Diego.

Wiegand’s two-run shot staked Bulldogs (16-14, 1-4 WCC) starter AJ Proszek (1-2) to a first-inning lead, but by the end of the second the Toreros (22-11, 4-2) had a 3-2 lead and didn’t look back.

“Junior Jorden Merry (4-0) allowed just one run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings in pitching Washington to a 5-1 Pac-10 victory over visiting Arizona, enabling the Huskies (20-9, 3-3 Pac-10) to collect a 2-1 series victory over the 18th-ranked Wildcats (15-11, 3-6).

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“It was a lost day for Whitworth as host George Fox (19-9, 15-5 NWC) won the completion of a Saturday suspended game 17-4, then swept a Northwest Conference doubleheader, 5-4 and 9-2.

Mitch Ramsey, 4 for 5 with two RBIs for Whitworth (11-19, 10-14) in the suspended game, had a run-scoring single in a three-run fifth in the first regularly scheduled game that gave the Pirates a short-lived 4-1 lead. In the finale, Ramsey’s second home run of the season in the third gave the Whits a brief 2-1 lead.

“Braden Friesz had three hits and drove in two runs and Cody Reeves had a double among three hits to lead Community Colleges of Spokane to a 9-1 win over visiting Walla Walla in the first game of an NWAACC doubleheader.

Walla Walla won the nightcap 4-3.

Softball

Melisa Koutz’s two-run double in the fourth helped No. 7 Stanford (34-7, 1-5) rally from behind to collect its first Pac-10 win of the season, 3-1 over No. 25 Washington (24-12-1, 3-3 Pac-10) and split the two-game series in Seattle.

UW parlayed a two-out double by Jace Williams, a passed ball and a Morgan Stuart single into a first-inning run.

“Rain and wet grounds forced cancellation of the final three Northwest Conference games of the Whitworth-Puget Sound series at Whitworth.

Crew

The 15th-ranked Washington State varsity eight women placed third in the Jessop-Whittier Cup during the San Diego Classic as 17th-ranked Washington overhauled No. 4 Southern Cal to win by less than a second.

WSU’s novice eight won the Korholz Perpetual Trophy and the Cougars’ second varsity eight finished third in the Hungness Trophy final.

Washington dominated the event, winning with four of its sixth entries, including the featured men’s varsity eight.

College men’s golf

Whitworth’s Pat Dorsing shot a par 72 to claim medalist honors and lead the Pirates to a 310-311 win over Puget Sound in the Northwest Conference five-team, one-day Spring Preview in Yakima.