NW Briefs: Second helpings for UW rowers

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Three Washington men's crews and one women's boat finished second in their respective races Sunday at the Pac-10 Conference rowing championships on Lake Natoma.

The UW men registered second-place performances in the second varsity eight, varsity four and freshman eight competitions to finish second in the team standings. The Huskies women, runners-up to Gonzaga in the novice eight race, finished third.

Champion California (72 points) swept all four men's events, the first team to accomplish that feat since Washington in 1997. The Bears capped the day with their second straight conference varsity eight triumph. They clocked a winning time of 5 minutes, 39.4 seconds, while Stanford finished in 5:42.7 and UW in 5:47.9.

Washington's crews finished fourth in the women's varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four events.

Defending national champion California tallied 67 points to win its second straight overall Pac-10 women's title.

UW tennis advances

The 21st-ranked Washington men pulled a 4-0 upset of No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the NCAA championships in Richmond, Va.

With the win, the Huskies (20-5) advanced to face fourth-ranked Baylor (22-6) in the round of 16, Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif. The Huskies are 1-1 all-time against the Bears.

Washington is making its second straight trip to the third round and fifth in the last six years.

Junior Alex Slovic, ranked 44th, clinched the match for the Huskies with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 upset of 15th-ranked Arnaud Lecloerec at No. 1 singles.

Baseball

Stanford completed a three-game sweep of Washington, using a seven-run fourth inning to roll to a 10-2 win at Husky Ballpark.

Washington (32-23, 9-12 Pac-10) has to win its three remaining games to reach .500 in conference.

Stanford lefty Jeremy Bleich (4-4) earned the win, allowing two runs on eight hits over seven innings. He walked one and struck out three in his fifth start of the season. Huskies starter Elliott Cribby (6-6) took the loss, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits over 3-1/3 innings.

• Travis Coulter collected three hits and Wayne Daman Jr. (6-3) earned his first win in almost two months as Washington State defeated Arizona 9-3 in Tucson.

WSU (32-18, 8-9 Pac-10) scored in six of its nine innings and never trailed.

• Gonzaga (28-23, 9-12 West Coast Conference) fell behind host San Diego 10-0 after the first five innings and lost 14-4 in the final game of the season.

• Jay Garthwaite, a Kent-Meridian High School graduate, hit for the first-ever cycle in the Sarasota (Fla.) Reds' 10-6 victory over the St. Lucie Mets on Saturday night. The Reds are the Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in the Florida State League.

Softball

Washington (32-23) earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA regional tournament. The Huskies, who are seeded 14th overall in the 64-team field, will open play against Southern Utah (34-30) in Provo, Utah, at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Joining UW and Southern Utah in the double-elimination regional are host Brigham Young (42-20) and Kansas (34-24). Brigham Young, like Washington, was among 35 schools to receive an at-large berth.

Washington earned its 13th consecutive NCAA tournament berth.

• Seattle University's Jane Purdy and Marjalena Santos were selected to the NCAA Division II West Regional All-Tournament Team.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources