Zags use local 1-2 punch to stay in WCC race
Gonzaga University has tapped the Spokane area for pitching arms in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
But the Spokane connection paid as a big a dividend last weekend as it has ever done for the Bulldogs in their battle to stay in the West Coast Conference race.
Friday afternoon North Central High graduate Pat Donovan, who is 15-12 in his four-year Gonzaga career, pitched 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball to lead the Zags past San Francisco, 3-1. When Donovan tired, Shadle Park’s Brandon Harmon, who has taken over the closer role, came out of the pen to earn his second save of the season – and week.
After a Saturday defeat, GU (26-16 overall, 7-5 and tied with three other schools for second in the WCC) needed a win Sunday.
This time Harmon assumed the closer role a little earlier. Entering with one out in the fourth, the redshirt sophomore right-hander went the final 5 2/3 innings – a little longer than Eddie Guardado’s typical outing – limiting the Dons to seven hits and three runs as GU rallied for an 8-7 win.
The three earned runs did raise Harmon’s ERA to 1.53, which is still the team’s best. The win gave him a 2-0 record and kept the Zags in the WCC title hunt. It was also the second time this year two Spokane products had won WCC games in the same weekend (Harmon and Donovan picked up wins in a series sweep of Portland), something that former GU coach Steve Hertz believes had never happened before.
This week the Zags travel to Loyola Marymount (17-27, 5-7) as the WCC race enters its final three weekends. GU trails first-place Saint Mary’s by one game.
Around the area
WSU: The Cougars have their own Spokane pitching product: Lewis and Clark’s Travis Webb. And the junior left-hander is also coming through, having taken over the closer’s role.
Webb picked up saves No. 4 and 5 over the weekend, lowering his ERA to 2.25, as the Cougs (27-15, 5-7 in the Pac-10) swept Northern Colorado in a non-conference series. But as good as Webb’s weekend was, it wasn’t Jared Prince good.
The freshman from Poulsbo, Wash., had 10 hits in 15 at-bats (raising his average to .428), hit a game-winning three-run home run Saturday (he has a team-leading 40 RBIs) and was the winning pitcher Sunday (giving him a 5-1 record).
The Cougs, who set a school record with 26 hits last Friday, host USC (23-19, 9-6 and second in the Pac-10) for a three-game weekend series starting Friday, kicking off a six-game homestand.
Whitworth: The Pirates (18-18 overall, 12-9 in league) dropped two one-run decisions to Puget Sound last Saturday, and dropped any chance at the Northwest Conference title. But thanks to Sunday’s 7-2 win in the series finale – starter Steve Hare (North Central) earning the win by pitching into the ninth and yielding two runs – they remained tied for third, with a chance to finish second.
Their season comes to a close this weekend when they host Pacific Lutheran (21-15, 11-10) for three games, starting Saturday with a noon doubleheader.
George Fox, at 18-6, has clinched the title, followed by Pacific (13-8) and Linfield (tied with Whitworth at 12-9). Pacific and Linfield meet this weekend, so the Pirates have an opportunity to catch one or both.
Community Colleges of Spokane: The first baseball team at Spokane Community College took the field 40 years ago. That 1966 squad, which consisted of 12 freshmen and a lone sophomore, put together a 31-6 record, still the best ever winning percentage (.838) the school has produced.
The team is going to be honored Saturday, when the Sasquatch host NWAACC East Region leader Big Bend (20-11 overall, 10-6, tied with Columbia Basin and Wenatchee Valley) in a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The Sasquatch’s schedule this week starts today with a doubleheader at CBC.
CCS continued to play .500 ball in conference play last weekend, sweeping Walla Walla last Wednesday – including a 15-inning, 3-2 win in the nightcap – before dropping two to Wenatchee Valley on Saturday.
Sophomore catcher Shawn Gizynski’s bat heated up, with a team-high six hits for the week.