NW Briefs: Huskies advance in NCAA tennis

RICHMOND, Va. — The No. 21 Washington men's tennis team posted back-to-back three-set wins at fifth and sixth singles in downing No. 45 Penn State, 4-2, in the first round of the NCAA Championships.

The Huskies (19-5) bounced back from losing the doubles point to get their four points on the singles courts, led by junior Klaus Jank's match-clinching third-set tiebreak win at No. 6. Sophomore Andy Kuharszky also won in three sets at No. 5 singles.

The Huskies advance to the second round and will face host and No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth (26-4) this morning.

Baseball

After surrendering four runs in the first, Stanford posted nine in the second and three in the fourth to cruise to a 14-6 win over Washington in the second game of a three-game Pac-10 series at Husky Ballpark.

The Cardinal (26-21, 9-1) has won the first two games of the series. The Huskies (32-22, 9-11), who were held scoreless in Friday's series-opening loss to the Cardinal, broke out in a big way Saturday, scoring four in the first.

Stanford, however, responded in the top of the second. After a one-out double from Chris Lewis, catcher Brian Juhl blooped a two-out single to shallow center, allowing Lewis to score. A pair of walks loaded the bases and DH Brent Escue hit a grounder off of Huskies pitcher Kyle Parker's glove.

Second baseman Bradley Boyer, who fielded the ball after the deflection, tried to get the runner at first for the third out, but his throw went into the Huskies dugout, allowing two runners to score.

Stanford shortstop Chris Minaker, a senior from Edmonds-Woodway High, followed with his ninth home run of the year, a three-run blast that put the Cardinal on top, 6-4. After a single and a walk, Parker was relieved by sophomore Brandon McKerney. Lewis hit McKerney's first offering over the wall in left to cap a nine-run inning.

• Arizona scored 13 runs in the fourth inning en route to a 29-4 victory over Washington State in the Pac-10 series opener in Tucson.

In the fourth, the Wildcats (22-25, 7-9) sent 18 batters to the plate, including 13 before the first out was recorded, as they broke the game open. Bill Rhinehart opened the frame with a home run to right and Brad Boyer hit a three-run triple. WSU (31-18, 7-9) used four pitchers in the inning as Arizona collected eight hits and took advantage of two WSU errors.

Softball

California senior Haley Woods made the most of her final regular-season appearance at Levine-Fricke Field in Berkeley, blasting a lead off home run to center field in the fourth inning as the fifth-ranked Golden Bears defeated No. 17 Washington, 1-0.

The Huskies fall to 32-23 overall and 6-15 in the Pac-10 with 10 of those losses coming by one run. Cal improves to 43-12 overall and 11-9 in the Pac-10.

The Huskies threatened in the sixth inning with back-to-back singles by Lauren Greer and Dominique Lastrapes but Golden Bear ace Christina Thorson caught the next two batters looking at strikes to get out of the inning.

Washington will learn its postseason fate today when the 64-team NCAA championship field is announced on ESPNews between noon and 12:30 p.m.

• Seattle University (34-22) ended its second straight appearance in the NCAA Division II West Regionals with a 6-2 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Redhawks managed only five hits on two runs, with third baseman Kelli Marek leading the way with a 2-for-2 performance. Marek led SU during the three West Regional games, hitting .500 (5 for 10) with one double and six total bases.

Against Dominguez Hills (44-10), Marjalena Santos, Jane Purdy and Brenda Stice each went 1 for 3.

Golf

Western Washington senior Katja Trygg closed out a brilliant four-year career by placing fifth in medalist play at the NCAA Division II women's national championships at The Meadows in Allendale, Mich.

Trygg's finish is the highest by a Vikings player at nationals. The previous best was 10th accomplished on three occasions.

Western was fifth in the team standings for the third straight year.

Western shot a final-round 319 for a 967 total, with Western New Mexico sixth at 970.

Trygg fired a 2-over-par 74 to end the tournament at 230.

Track and field

Seattle Pacific's Karin Rohde won her third straight steeplechase while setting both school and meet records to highlight the Falcons' final meet, the Ken Foreman Invitational at West Seattle Stadium.

Rohde was one of three SPU winners and a total of three meet records were broken.

• With high-scoring Wiley King leading the way, Weber State overcame Idaho State's big first-day lead and won its seventh men's Big Sky title in the last nine years in Cheney.

Weber State scored 172 points, while Idaho State finished with 132.

Host Eastern Washington was third (108 ½), tying its best men's finish.

Eastern senior discus thrower David Paul won a title with a career-best throw of 179 feet, 6 inches. EWU's 1,600 relay team also won.

The EWU women placed sixth with 77 ½ points as senior javelin thrower Stephanie Ulmer re-gained the title she won in 2002 and 2003.

Crew

The Western Washington women won both the varsity-eight and varsity-four races to capture a third straight title at the NCAA Division II West Regional on Lake Natoma in conjunction with the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships in Gold River, Calif.

Needing just official certification, which will come Tuesday, the Vikings have clinched a berth in the NCAA Championships May 26-28 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

Western, which is the defending national champion, finished with a perfect score of 20 points. SPU was third with 6.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.