NW Briefs | UW softball downs Ducks behind Greer and Lawrie

Washington junior Lauren Greer drove in three runs, including the game-winner, against Oregon as the 11th-ranked Huskies downed the 16th-ranked Ducks 6-4 in front of a capacity crowd of 1,264 in a Pacific-10 softball game at Husky Softball Stadium on Saturday.

The win lifts Washington to 31-13 on the season and 8-6 in the Pac-10, which puts UW just one game out of second place in the conference standings. Oregon falls to 39-13 on the season and 4-10 in the Pac-10.

Washington battled back in the bottom half of the fifth inning, scoring two runs to regain the lead. Ashley Charters and Dominique Lastrapes each singled, and Dena Tyson drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Greer then belted a single through the right side to score two and put UW back on top 5-4. The Huskies added an insurance run in the sixth with an RBI double by Charters. The hit scored senior Nicole Moojen, who had reached base on a single, as Washington stretched its lead to 6-4.

Danielle Lawrie settled in, allowing just one hit in the final two innings and striking out eight batters total in picking up her 20th victory of the season. She allowed just two runs on two hits in three innings.

Other softball

Jackie Quint tied a school record with her 15th win of the season and shortstop Nicole Walker hit solo home runs in both games as Western Washington moved into a second-place tie in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a sweep of Northwest Nazarene University, 5-2 and 8-2, in a doubleheader at Halle Field.

The Vikings, who have won seven straight games and 16 of their last 20, improved to 29-19 overall and 11-5 in league play. They are tied with Seattle University, behind leader Western Oregon (11-3).

• Jessica Roberts struck out 13 batters as Puget Sound blasted Pacific Lutheran 9-1 in the second game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader. PLU won the first game 7-1.

• Western Oregon rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning to defeat Saint Martin's 4-3 in the second game of a GNAC doubleheader. The comeback win enabled WOU (24-20, 13-3), which won the opener 4-0, to stay two games ahead of Seattle U. and Western Washington in the race for the GNAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division II West Regional playoffs.

Baseball

Matt Hague and Danny Cox each hit two homers to lead Washington to a 20-7 victory over Utah Valley State in Orem, Utah. Hague, the Huskies third baseman, went 4 for 6 with four RBI. He also extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest of the season for the Huskies. Cox went 3 for 6 with seven runs batted in, and Bradley Boyer, who also homered, was 3 for 6 with five RBI.

The Huskies (21-20) avoided a three-game sweep with the victory, while the Wolverines dropped to 19-25.

A day after giving up 12 runs to the Wolverines in the second inning, the Huskies, who entered the ninth inning ahead 9-6, scored 11 runs in the final inning.

Jason Erickson (2-1) worked five innings for the win. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, walking one and striking out two. Huskies reliever Nick Hagadone threw the final four innings for his seventh save.

• Robert Stock drove in two runs and the host Trojans capitalized on four errors by Washington State (21-19, 4-10) as USC (22-22, 5-9) defeated the Cougars 9-5 in a Pac-10 game.

• Pacific Lutheran swept Puget Sound 10-4 and 16-2 to wrap up its first NWC championship. The Lutes, who improved to 31-7 overall and 20-3 in the conference, host UPS in the final regular-season game at noon today.

• Central Washington (23-17, 7-11) pitchers Tyler Levin and Mike Morris combined on a six-hit shutout, and shortstop Tyler Scoggin drove in three runs in a 7-0 victory over visiting Saint Martin's (17-25, 9-9). CWU dropped the nightcap, 9-2.

• Clayton Mortensen threw a shutout, striking out 10 as Gonzaga (27-20, 10-4) edged San Francisco (22-23, 5-9) 1-0.

Tennis

Senior Alex Slovic became the second Husky to advance to the Pac-10 men's championship by beating Juan Carlos Rebaza of Arizona State 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Slovic will play defending Pac-10 singles champion Matt Bruch of Stanford today in Ojai, Calif.

• The Eastern Washington men earned a second straight 4-0 victory over second-seeded Montana in the Big Sky Conference semifinals. The Eagles will play host Sacramento State in today's championship.

Crew

Seattle Pacific won its opening heat and advanced to the women's varsity eight grand final along with the men's varsity four at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif. The Falcons eight overcame a tentative start to pass Pacific Lutheran and prevail by a half-length in 7 minutes, 10.9 seconds.

• The Washington State women's varsity eight lost to No. 17 Stanford and No. 19 Oregon State at Dexter Lake in Lowell, Ore. The varsity eight finished in 7:07.29, behind the Cardinal (6:55.77) and the host Beavers (7:00.30). The Cougars finished second in all other races.

• Lia Pernell of Seattle's Pocock Rowing Center and partner Liane Malcos rowed to the fastest time of the day in the heats of the women's double sculls to become one of six crews with Seattle athletes to advance to the finals of the USRowing National Selection Regatta on Mercer Lake near Princeton, N.J.

Other crews of Seattle women's rowers advancing were Anna Mickelson and Megan Cooke and Pocock's Erin Burton and Michelle Trannel.

Three crews of former Huskies rowers also advanced to the finals with top finishes in men's pair competition. The crews include former Huskies Brett Newlin, Giuseppe Lanzone, Scott Gault and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Bryan Volpenhein.

Note

• Seattle's Jillian Penner was among the athletes nominated by United States Synchronized Swimming to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team in Indianapolis. USSS became the first national governing body to announce its 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.