NW Briefs | Danielle Lawrie, Huskies fall to Cardinal, 1-0

STANFORD, Calif. — Danielle Lawrie held Stanford hitless through 8-1/3 innings and struck out 16 batters, but the third-ranked Cardinal manufactured a run in the bottom of the 11th inning to take a 1-0 victory from the No. 2 Washington softball team Saturday.

Lawrie and Stanford ace Missy Penna were locked in a pitcher's duel for most of the game. The teams combined for just 10 hits — six from Washington — in 11 innings, but the Cardinal took advantage of its best chance in the 11th.

Sarah Hassman led off with an infield single, and one out later Ashley Hansen chopped a single over the head of Huskies third baseman Niki Williams. After walking Shannon Koplitz to load the bases, Lawrie threw an inside pitch on the first offering to Rosey Neill. The ball nicked Neill on the arm, allowing the winning run to score.

The Huskies (28-4, 1-1 Pac-10) had several chances in the game, stranding 11 base runners. Ashley Charters went 2 for 5 with a stolen base to extend her hitting streak to 12 games.

Conley lifts UW

STANFORD, Calif. — A towering home run from Washington's right fielder Kyle Conley broke a 7-7 tie in the ninth inning and led the Huskies baseball team (10-13, 1-1 Pac-10) to a 9-7 win over Stanford.

After Pierce Rankin led off the ninth with a double, Stanford brought in Drew Storen to face Conley, who hit the second pitch he saw deep over the left-field fence for his ninth homer of the year.

Huskies crews hit the water

The Washington crews kicked off their season with a very cold, drizzly Class Day Regatta, battling near-freezing temperatures and steady rain on Montlake Cut in the traditional opening to the spring season.

The junior women notched a convincing win in The Seattle Times eight, finishing in 6 minutes, 48.3 seconds, about seven seconds ahead of the seniors. In the final race, the George M. Varnell men's eight, the freshmen men won for the second straight year and the third time in the last three years, pulling across the line in 5:55.7, beating the second-place sophomores by almost a full length.

Other baseball

Chad Arnold pitched seven shutout innings for Washington State (10-11, 2-0 Pac-10), which blanked California 11-0 in Berkeley and clinched a series against the Golden Bears for the first time since 2004. Arnold (2-1) limited Cal to four hits, walked three and struck out six.

• Grant Kveder had three hits and scored twice for Gonzaga (16-7, 1-1 West Coast Conference), which dropped an 11-4 decision to host San Francisco.

Other rowing

The Washington State women reclaimed the Fawley Cup by defeating Gonzaga in all five races at Liberty Lake. The Cougars' varsity eight posted the fastest time of the day (6:46.90), finishing six seconds in front of Gonzaga.

• The Gonzaga men posted two wins at the Pac-10 Challenge in Redwood City, Calif., winning the varsity 8+ in 6:01.7 and the junior varsity 8+ in 6:41.4.

Track and field

Scott Roth won the pole vault in his return meet to lead Washington on the final day of the Stanford Invitational.

Roth, who spent last outdoor season recovering from injury and then competed unattached during the most recent indoor season to even out his eligibility, cleared 17 feet, 8 ½ inches to win by 4 inches.

The Huskies also got a win from the men's 400-meter relay unit of Joe Turner, Jordan Boase, Kenjamine Jackson and Jeremy Taiwo, which finished in 40.74 seconds.

• Western Washington's Kevin Myhre won the men's 400 (51.19), placed second in the 400 hurdles (55.43) and helped the Vikings' 1,600 relay (3:31.67) to a win at the Spring Break Open meet at King's High School in Shoreline.

Women's golf

Amy Eneroth shot rounds of 77 and 72 to stand tied for 29th at 5-over 149 after the opening day of the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz. The Cougars are 17th with 620 total, 49 shots behind leader San Jose State.

Note

• The Brady Clark rink — Brady Clark, Cristin Clark, Philip Tilker and Bev Walter — representing Seattle's Granite Curling Club, defeated Team Lemke of Medford, Wis., 3-1 in the championship final of the U.S. Mixed National Curling Championships in Medford.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.