Sopko’s shutout caps Gonzaga’s sweep

Sophomore Andrew Sopko registered the first complete game and shutout of his career Saturday while leading Gonzaga to a 3-0 win over Portland in West Coast Conference baseball at Patterson Complex.

Sopko (4-2) scattered eight hits, struck out six and walked three as the Bulldogs (15-23, 11-7) completed a three-game sweep and defeated the Pilots (8-33, 2-16) for the 12th consecutive time. Sopko lowered his team-leading earned-run average to 2.70.

GU scrapped for its runs, picking up RBIs by Joey Harris in the seventh and pinch-hitter Beau Bozett in the eighth on sacrifice squeezes.

• A.J. Balta doubled in the tying run in the sixth and scored the go-ahead run on Tyler Baumgartner’s subsequent single as 10th-ranked Oregon (31-10, 10-5 Pac-12) rallied for a 2-1 win to sweep a three-game series from Washington State at Eugene.

The Cougars (17-19, 7-8) took the lead in the top of sixth when P.J. Jones singled, moved to third on Yale Rosen’s double and scored on Nick Tanielu’s groundout.

WSU starter Jason Monda (1-4) allowed three hits and two earned runs in six innings.

• Ryan Mason (3-0) scattered five hits over seven innings as California (16-16, 5-10 Pac-12) avoided a series sweep with a 7-1 win over sixth-ranked Washington (27-18-1, 14-4) at Berkeley, Calif.

Brian Celsi had a two-run single in the second and Derek Campbell added a two-run double in the fifth as the Bears handed the Huskies just their fourth loss in the last 28 games.

• Thomas Wakem hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the ninth to lift Whitworth (12-20, 9-12 Northwest Conference) to an 8-6 win over Willamette (22-13, 14-6) at Salem.

Wakem finished with five RBIs to help the Pirates win their third consecutive series. The Bearcats had won 12 consecutive NWC games before dropping two of three to Whitworth.

Taylor Isadore (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn his second win of the weekend.

• Blake Phelps allowed three hits and struck out seven in six innings as Community Colleges of Spokane (15-13, 7-9 NWAACC) defeated Wenatchee Valley 11-4 to earn a split of a doubleheader at Spokane Falls CC.

Ryan Bird had three hits and Julian Rivera drove in two runs as the Knights (11-17, 6-10) won the opener 8-6 despite homers by CCS’ Daniel Rowton and Lucas Denney.

Rowton and Darian Barlow had two hits and two RBIs apiece for the Sasquatch in the second game.

Softball

Quirena Natividad’s two-run triple highlighted a three-run bottom of the third and Sara Aasness (14-5) struck out seven as Pacific eliminated Whitworth from the Northwest Conference tournament at McMinnville, Ore., with a 4-3 decision.

The Pirates (27-16) led 2-0 after Julia Johnson and Shannon Wessel collected RBI singles in the top of the third. Peyton McMahon’s two-out RBI double in the fifth cut the Boxers’ lead to 4-3, but she was stranded at second.

Host Linfield (34-7) advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament with an 8-0 win over Pacific (26-12) in the title game.

• Washington’s Pac-12 home game against Arizona State was rained out. The teams split the first two games of the series.

• Hayden Fields, Samantha Luna and Allison Palladeni homered as North Idaho (30-19, 25-15 Scenic West Athletic Conference) defeated Western Nevada 8-2 in the second game for a doubleheader split at Carson City, Nev.

The Wildcats (12-36, 9-30) won the opener 10-8 on Katilyn Covione’s two-run homer to center in the sixth.

• Community Colleges of Spokane (21-11, 15-3 NWAACC) remained tied for first place in the East Region with Wenatchee by registering a 6-5, 3-2 sweep of Yakima Valley (14-13, 7-10) at SFCC.

Track and field

Idaho alumna and jumps coach Angela Whyte finished second in the women’s 100 hurdles Invitational Elite division in 12.89 seconds at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.

On Friday, Idaho senior Alycia Butterworth placed second in the 3,000 steeplechase Open Elite section in 10:14.26, the second-best time in school history.

• Eastern Washington sophomore Katie Mahoney broke her school record in the women’s 1,500 by placing second at the Beach Invite in Norwalk, Calif., in 4:25.33.

Women’s rowing

Gonzaga placed second in two races on the opening day of the Clemson (S.C.) Invitational on Lake Hartwell.

The Bulldogs’ Varsity 8+ finished the 2,000-meter course in 7 minutes, 11 seconds and the Varsity 4+ finished in 8:52.4.

Men’s tennis

John Talbot helped Whitworth to wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles as the Pirates (8-10, 7-5 Northwest Conference) closed their season with an 8-1 win over the visiting Linfield Wildcats (0-14, 0-12) at Scotford Tennis Center.