Area roundup: Washington State drops first game to Huskies
Washington batted around in a five-run fourth inning and eased past Washington State 7-2 Friday night in a Pac-12 baseball game at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.
Nick Kahle drove in two runs with a single, Ramon Bramasco singled in Kahle and Mason Cerrillo added an RBI single in the fourth. The Huskies (22-18, 8-11) turned a season-high four double plays in winning their fifth game in their past six.
Washington reliever Chris Micheles improved to 5-2, picking up the win with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. Jack Enger shut down the Cougars in the seventh and eighth, and Stevie Emanuels closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
Jack Smith and Tyson Guerrero drove in runs for the Cougs (8-32, 1-17-1), winless in their past eight. The rivals meet for the second of three games Saturday at 3 p.m.
Saint Mary’s 12, Gonzaga 0: The Bulldogs (24-18, 15-7) managed just three hits and were shut out by the Gaels (26-17, 11-8) in a West Coast Conference contest at Patterson Baseball Complex.
Mason Marenco, Ernie Yake and Brett Harris singled for Gonzaga. The Zags couldn’t solve Saint Mary’s starter Tyler Thornton, who went 7 1/3 innings, striking out nine.
The Gaels broke the game open with a five-run third inning, capped by Austin Chauvin’s grand slam, then put it completely out of reach in the fifth as Joe Vranesh added another grand slam.
Gonzaga starter Mason Wells gave up eight runs in four innings, walking five. The second game of the three-game series is Saturday night at 6.
Women’s tennis
(19) Miami 4, (33) Washington State 3: Lucia Marzal’s 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory lifted the 19th-ranked Hurricanes (19-7) over the No. 33 Cougars (19-11) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
WSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the doubles point and Yang Lee’s victory at No. 4 singles. The Cougars’ other point came from Aneta Miksovska’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win at No. 5.
“We were playing our best tennis at the end of the season and had opportunities today, but Miami played well, so credit to them,” coach Lisa Hart said in a school release. “While this is a tough loss, I’m so excited for the future of Cougar tennis. We have a strong nucleus coming back and matches like these will help us grow as a program.”
Michaela Bayerlova will represent WSU at the NCAA singles championship, while Tiffany Mylonas and Hikaru Sato will compete in the doubles tournament, both of which begin on May 20 in Orlando, Florida.