Cougs blast away for second straight over UW

THE COUGAR BATS were busy on Saturday. Patrick Claussen and Derek Jones raked out four hits apiece and Washington State put a crooked number up on the scoreboard, dispatching the Huskies 11-6 at Bailey-Brayton Field for their second straight win over the Dawgs.

Patrick Claussen tied a career high with the four hits that included a single, double and triple.

He also drove home a career-high five runs. Derek Jones meanwhile added two RBIs off his four hits.

Washington State (19-19, 5-12 Pac-10) won its fifth-straight game and tallied 15 hits. The Huskies (12-27, 3-11 Pac-10) lost for the fifth-straight time at Bailey-Brayton Field.

“It was good to get out to an early lead,” Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. “Patrick Claussen earned an opportunity to play and came up big for us today. Derek Jones has really hit his stride during Pac-10 play.”

The Cougars jumped on Huskies’ starter Aaron West (1-8) with two runs in the first inning. Cody Bartlett singled and moved to third on a double by Claussen. Jones plated the first run with a single and Claussen scored on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Ard.

In the third, Claussen and Jones singled with one out and scored on a two-out double by Matt Argyropoulos for a 4-0 advantage. But Washington closed within 4-3 with three runs in the fourth against Chad Arnold (1-3), who notched his first win this season by shutting down the Huskies after that.

Washington State immediately answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth and then added another four runs in the fifth. The big blow came when Claussen cleared the bases with a two-out triple to give WSU a 10-3 lead.

Washington State made that kind of clutch hitting a habit on Saturday, scoring nine of their runs with two outs.

Arnold shut Washington down in the fifth inning, allowing WSU to score seven unanswered in the fourth and fifth frames. In the ninth, Sal Arena had a rough go of it, allowing two runs and not retiring any of the four men he faced. Spencer Jackson finally shut the door for the Cougs, recording the final three outs.

The Cougs go for the sweep over the Huskies on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for noon.