Miller ties WSU hits record
Mike Kinkade has some company in the Washington State baseball record books – for now.
Senior left fielder Jay Miller picked up two more hits Monday night in the final home game of his career to pull even with Kinkade for the school record of 304 hits.
He’ll have three games later this week at archrival Washington with every plate appearance a chance to make the record his own.
“That record wasn’t given to him. He worked for it,” WSU coach Donnie Marbut said. “There’s nobody that’s worked like he has in my three years (here). He made himself the hitter he is today and he’s going to go down as the greatest hitter in the history of this school, and there have been some pretty good ones.”
Miller didn’t waste much time tying the record, rapping a single through the right side in the first inning against Lewis-Clark State College and then a double to right-center in the third for hit No. 304. The record-tying hit was his 73rd double, leaving him two behind Kinkade, who played from 1992-95, in that category.
“It was a slider up and I hit it the other way,” Miller said. “I like that gap over there in Bailey-Brayton. It’s been good to me so I guess I found it again.”
Batting leadoff for just the eighth time this season to make sure he got every possible at-bat, Miller had three more chances to make the record his own but was unable to, flying out to right in the fifth, grounding out to second base in the sixth and popping up to first in the eighth.
The Cougars won 4-2 to move their record to 35-21, and will probably need to win all three games at the Huskies for a shot at an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to break the record, but we would have liked to have seen it at home,” Marbut said. “If you’re not going to do it at home, I think there’s only one other place to do it.”
Miller has shied away from some of the attention attracted by his season-long quest to break the record. He began the season with 219 hits, and now has a career-best 85 this season.
“I just want to get that one more and people will stop talking about it, to be honest with you,” Miller said. “Once I have it I’ll be happy. I’ll be relieved. I’ve been thinking about it too much.”
Vandal pleads guilty
University of Idaho offensive lineman Billy Bates has pleaded guilty to an amended charge of petit theft.
Bates was charged with felony grand theft following his arrest for stealing two laptop computers from a UI fraternity last month. Under a plea agreement, Bates pleaded guilty to petit theft and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $359.