Synegal homers twice to power Gonzaga

Anthony Synegal hit a pair of home runs to lead Gonzaga to a 6-3 win at Portland Friday afternoon, the Zags’ first West Coast Conference game since breaking into the rankings at No. 22.

Synegal’s second home run, a two-run shot in the seventh, broke a 3-3 tie in the opening game of the three-game series.

Portland (18-17, 2-8 WCC) scored first on Rocky Gale’s homer in the third.

Ryan Carpenter pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Matt Fields for the Bulldogs (25-10, 7-3).

Tyson Van Winkle slapped out four hits for GU and drove in his team-leading 38th run.

•Pac-10: Alex Burg smoked a two-run triple to cap a three-run rally in the seventh inning to lift Washington State to a 5-4 win over Arizona in the first-game of a three-game series at Pullman. Matt Argyropoulos started the rally with a triple. After a walk, Shea Vucinich drove in a run with a bunt single. Matt Way (5-3) picked up the win for the Cougars (16-6, 6-4). The big hit for Arizona (16-17, 3-10) was a three-run homer by Jett Bandy in the third. … Freshman Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and allowed one hit in eight innings as UCLA (15-19, 7-6) beat Washington (14-20, 4-6) 4-2 in Los Angeles.

Track and field

Mt. SAC Relays: Marissa Tschida set a Washington State record with a throw of 175 feet, 11 inches in the javelin in Walnut, Calif. The sophomore from Missoula was the top collegiate thrower but finished second in the open field. She increased her personal record by more than 10 feet in flying past Jenna Dean’s throw of 169-7 in 2005. Reny Follett, a junior from Lewiston, won the 400 meters in a season-best time of 47.48 seconds. Lisa Egami, a junior from British Columbia, was second in the Olympic Development 1,500 with a time of 4:22.61. Freshman Joe Barlett from Reno, Nev., was second in the shot put with a toss of 54-9½.

Softball

Scenic West: North Idaho (30-19, 26-14) had an easy time, sweeping a doubleheader from Colorado Northwest (0-36, 0-36) at Rangely, Colo., 17-1 and 19-3. The Cardinals allowed just one hit in each game. Jessica Fagan led the charge in the first game with a home run among her three hits and six RBIs.

•Pac-10: Danielle Lawrie threw a two-hit shutout with 11 strikes and smashed a home run to lead Washington to a 2-0 win over host Oregon at Eugene. Ashley Charters also homered for the Huskies (32-7, 5-4). Lawrie held the Ducks (13-24, 2-8) hitless through five innings.

Tennis

West Coast Conference: Gonzaga fell to Portland 4-1 in the first round of the men’s side in the league tournament in San Diego. Scott Sullivan picked up the win for the Bulldogs in No. 5 singles. … The GU women lost 4-0 to top-seeded Pepperdine.

•Northwest Conference: The Whitworth women’s team defeated Pacific 6-1 in Yakima to advance to today’s conference championship match against Linfield. Whitworth (11-12) defeated Puget Sound 7-2 to take fifth place in the league men’s championships in Yakima.

Volleyball

WSU signings: Highlighted by Greater Spokane League MVP Oceana Bush of State 4A champion Lewis and Clark, the Cougars picked up five players. Bush, a 5-foot-5 outside hitter, will be a defensive specialist for the Cougars. Natalie Stewart from Coeur d’Alene will attend WSU as an invited walk-on.

Stewart, a 5-10 setter, was the Inland Empire league MVP and is the Coeur d’Alene HS valedictorian.