May 7, 2000

Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash.

-- Senior first baseman Ed Erickson went 3-for-4 at the plate with a two-run home run and three RBI to lead the University of Washington Huskies to a 17-6 Pac-10 victory over the Washington State Cougar baseball team in front of 844 fans Sunday afternoon at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

The win pulled the Huskies to within one game of the .500 mark with an overall record to 22-23 and are now 6-11 in the Pac-10. The Cougs dropped their sixth straight game to fall to 16-31 on the year and 4-16 in league play.

Starter Taylor Grant was made the winner to improve his record to 2-4 on the year. The sophomore left-hander scattered seven hits and five runs in 5.1 innings. Grant also has six saves in 2000. The Husky bullpen of Brian Barton, Shawn Kohn, Cam McCoy and Tyler Sheppler combined to allow only four hits and one run in 3.2 combined innings.

Senior Todd Meldahl absorbed the loss for the Cougs to fall to 2-7 on the year. The left-hander made his 49th career start at WSU (2nd all-time) and has still not missed a week of pitching in his Cougar career. Senior reliever Reggie Rivard had the banner day of a host of Cougar relievers, pitching a hitless and scoreless eighth inning.

The Huskies jumped out to the early 2-0 lead after the first frame. Senior Ed Erickson plated the Dawgs first run with a sharp, two-strike single to left field to score Tila Reynolds. UW tallied its second run of the inning when designated hitter Jay Garthwaite scored on a throwing error by WSU senior catcher Ryan Smith.

The Cougs pulled even in the top of the second thanks to the second home run in as many at-bats from senior center fielder Jordan Nilsen. Nilsen, who connected on a three-run home run in the eighth inning Saturday evening, clubbed his third homer of the year to put the Cougs on the board. Smith followed on the very next pitch with his second triple of the year and later scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Ray Hattenburg.

Senior third baseman David Perreira staked WSU to a one-run lead in the top of the third with his second home run year deep over the left field fence.

The lead for the Cougs proved to be short lived however, with the Huskies exploding for five runs off of only two hits in the bottom of the third. Three two-out walks from Meldahl came back to haunt him, as Tyler Davidson and Jefferson Thiel hit back-to-back home runs to give the Huskies the 7-3 advantage. Davidson provided the big blow with a grand slam home run over the left field fence, then Thiel followed on the very next offering for his third homer of the year.

The Cougars chipped away at the Husky lead scoring a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Jason Grove provided a two-out, run-scoring single to score Smith in the fourth. In the fifth, Smith pulled the Cougs within two runs with his third hit of the afternoon to score sophomore Bookie Gates from second.

The two-run gap would be the closest the Cougs would get as the Huskies poured on 10 runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames. UW scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh when Erickson hit a two-run home run, his second of the series, and the 41st in his career. Erickson, who finished the game 3-for-4 and is 6-for-8 in the series, is the all-time leader in home runs in 100 years of Husky baseball.

The Cougars were led by Smith's 4-for-5 day at the plate, which tied a career high for the senior catcher from Port Orchard. Nilsen added two extra base hits for the second straight game and is now 4-for-7 with four RBI and two home runs in the series.

The Cougars and Huskies will conclude their three-game Pac-10 series Monday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game at Husky Ballpark. Senior left-hander Matt O'Brien will take to the mound in his hometown and put his 7-3 record up against Husky ace Jeff Carlsen (5-2, 5.80).