State college report: WSU's Miller brothers still pushing each other

PULLMAN — From appearances alone, it's clear that one place Jeff Miller hasn't been playing catch-up with older brother Jay is on the growth chart.

Jay Miller, a junior left fielder at Washington State, measures 5 feet 9 and 179 pounds. But he says Jeff, a sophomore second baseman who is 5-10, 192, has always been the real big brother.

"He's always been bigger than me, ever since high school," Jay said with a laugh. "He doesn't really tease me about ... maybe he should."

Other than their size, Jay has always been the one leading the way. At Bellevue's Newport High School, Jay made varsity as a freshman, and by his second year was All-KingCo 3A. Jeff made the Knights' varsity as a sophomore for the school's Class 3A state-championship run in 2001.

In college, Jay was again a standout from the beginning, winning the Cougars' team MVP as a freshman and picking up the John Olerud Award as WSU's best hitter in 2004. In Jeff's first season, he started just nine of the team's 55 games.

Having to close the gap pushed Jeff to train even harder than his already-renowned work ethic. He spends the offseason splitting time between the batting cage and weight room, trying to not only follow in Jay's footsteps, but make his own. Only Jay is right there, working, hitting and lifting just as hard.

Pick of the week


Track and field

Washington vs. Washington State dual meets, at Husky Stadium, Saturday, first field event 10:15 a.m.

The scoop: Watch UW's high-flying freshman, Norris Frederick, in men's long jump and high jump.

The work has paid off, as Jeff has started in all but one game this season for WSU (18-20 overall, 0-9 Pac-10). With both brothers on the field now, it's just like high school again, especially with ex-Newport teammate Zach Franklin as WSU's backup catcher.

Donnie Marbut, WSU's first-year head coach, calls Jay Miller one of the best hitters to come through Pullman. Miller is batting .346 and leads the team with 55 hits. With 200 career hits going into this weekend's series with Oregon State, Miller is 10 shy of 10th place on the school's career list, and should challenge the all-time mark of 304 set by Mike Kinkade (1992-95).

"Jay is such a driven guy, so self-motivated, that it really rubs off on the rest of the team," Marbut said. "In my opinion, he's one of the top five hitters in the Pac-10, which is the best baseball conference in the country."

Jeff's strength is his defense. He is sixth in the conference with 100 assists. He's batting .271 with two home runs, and 33 RBI.

"He makes a great play on defense and dislocates his finger. He gets up, pops it back into place, and the next time up to bat he goes deep," Marbut recalled. "He won't let you take him out of a game. He's very tough and has a high threshold of pain."

Other WSU sports

Track and field: The WSU-UW men and women face off Saturday at Husky Stadium. The Cougars men have a 60-32-1 advantage while the UW women have an 18-11 lead, though WSU's women have won seven straight.

Washington sports

Rowing: The Huskies continue what might be the most difficult stretch in school history when they race No. 9 Oregon State on Saturday in Seattle before meeting No. 11 Cornell and the Czech National Team on May 7 in the Windermere Cup Regatta. On May 15, the Huskies meet California and No. 5 Stanford at the Pac-10 Championships.

Tennis: The No. 13 men and No. 25 women will learn their postseason fate next Wednesday when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is announced.

Softball: Freshman Lauren Greer (Placentia, Calif.) was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after batting .667 (8 for 12), with five runs, four RBI and two home runs. The Huskies host four Pac-10 games this week, including UCLA today, Stanford on Friday and Cal on Saturday and Sunday.

Track and field: UW and WSU appear headed for one of the closest dual meets in series history Saturday at Husky Stadium. A simulated dual between the two by TeamPower.org predicts a 103-98 win for WSU's men and a 101-98 victory for the UW women.

Seattle Pacific

Rowing: The Falcons will send varsity and novice fours to the WIRA Championships in Rancho Cordova, Calif., this weekend. The women's four is the defending champion.

Track and field: The school 1,600-meter-relay record fell at Oregon last week as the foursome of Kurt Engelson (Marysville-Pilchuck), Chris Randolph (Lone Tree, Colo.), Paul Mach (King's of Shoreline) and Eddie Strickler (Richland) ran a Great Northwest Athletic Conference season-best 3 minutes, 18.05 seconds. Tim LeCount (Battle Ground) broke his 10,000 record in 31:22.25.

Seattle U.

Softball: Katie Ledbetter (Kamiakin of Kennewick) has had a hot bat for the NCAA II West Region No. 7 Redhawks (21-14, 12-6 GNAC) lately. In the past eight games, Ledbetter is hitting .435 with three doubles, a home run and a .500 on-base percentage.

Track and field: Kelly Fullerton's (Roseburg, Ore.) time in the 3,000 steeplechase of 10:36.95 was not only the second-fastest time in NCAA Division II this season, but it also broke her school and GNAC records.

Western Washington

Softball: Pitcher Jackie Quint (Central Kitsap of Silverdale) has won six straight decisions, posting a 2.19 earned-run average during that stretch, as the Vikings have won 12 of their past 15 games after a 4-12 start.

Rowing: Western Washington is sending a varsity eight and varsity four for both the men and women to the WIRA Championships this weekend on Lake Natoma near Rancho Cordova, Calif. The Vikings won the women's varsity eight and the women's team title at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships last Saturday.

Track and field: Western hosts the fifth annual Viking Twilight Meet on Friday at Viking Field. Field events start at 3 p.m.

Other colleges

Central Washington: Sarah Badgley (Montesano) has an 11-6 season record, equaling Stephanie Hogan's 2003 school mark for wins. Badgley remains No. 1 in NCAAA II with five saves.

Eastern Washington: Offensive tackle Michael Roos (Mountain View of Vancouver) became the highest draft choice in school history when Tennessee selected him in the second round of the NFL draft. He was the third offensive tackle and the first NCAA I-AA player taken.

Gonzaga: Senior Angela Fry (Mercer Island), No. 1 singles and half the No. 1 doubles duo, received honorable mention All-West Coast Conference honors, becoming only the third women's tennis player to do so in school history.

Pacific Lutheran: The baseball team could claim its first conference championship since 1973 and a berth in the NCAA III playoffs Saturday and Sunday when it hosts Whitworth in a three-game Northwest Conference series. The Lutes (17-4) are tied with Linfield for second behind George Fox (19-4), which has a game tomorrow at Pacific. The Lutes have the tiebreaker advantage over both.

Puget Sound: Puget Sound's men's rowing team completed a sweep of varsity events this past weekend to win its fifth straight NCRC championship.

Saint Martin's: The Saints men's golf team qualified for the NCAA II West Regional for the third time in the past four years. Shane Prante (Black Hills of Tumwater), ranked No. 1 in the nation with a scoring average of 71.23, will lead the No. 21 Saints at the Dakota Dunes Country Club (S.D.) beginning Monday.

Whitman: Junior Simon Pollack (Bainbridge) was named Northwest Conference Player of the Week after clubbing two home runs and reaching base safely in 12 of 15 plate appearances. Pollack had six runs, four RBI, four walks and four steals, along with being hit by four pitches.

Whitworth: The Pirates' softball team set two records in Sunday's season-ending 6-0 win over Lewis and Clark. Whitworth (23-14, 18-8 NWC) hit a school-record three home runs while registering the team's 14th shutout of the season.

Community colleges: Highline CC freshman Bruce Hubbard (Peninsula of Gig Harbor) is undefeated in six outdoor meets after winning the evening 100 meters at the Oregon Invitational in 10.77.

Elsewhere: Morgan Richards (Lakeside of Seattle) won the Yale strength-and-conditioning award for women. The 5-foot-10 senior was captain of the Yale women's basketball team last season.

College sports information directors

contributed to this notebook.