Baseball Washington State Athletics

Cougars Whitewash Pilots

April 10, 2012

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PORTLAND, Ore. - Derek Jones hit a grand slam and four pitchers combined for a shutout as Washington State defeated Portland 10-0 in nonconference baseball, Tuesday.

The home run for Jones was the 41st of his career, a Washington State (16-13) record. The previous mark was held by Jeff Hooper, who played for the Cougars from 1984-87.

"A home run is a home run, but a grand slam is special," Jones said. "It would have been nice to do it in front of the home crowd, but I am glad to have it over with so I can concentrate on playing baseball in the second half of the season."

Kyle Swannack (3-3) started for Washington State and went five innings to earn the victory. Kellen Camus, Nick LaRoy and Anthony Drobnick blanked the Pilots (19-8) over the final-four innings.

The Cougars struck first with two runs in the second. Ian Sagdal and Kyle Johnson delivered back-to-back RBI-singles with two outs.

Washington State blew the game open with a six-run fourth. Patrick Claussen and P.J. Jones singled to open the inning and end the day for Portland starter Matt McCallister (3-2). Sagdal followed with a bunt single to load the bases. A walk to Johnson forced in a run and Jason Monda was hit by a pitch to push across another tally for a 4-0 lead. After Tommy Richards struck out, Jones launched a pitch over the wall in right field for his second-career grand slam.

"We scored early and then had the big inning," Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. "We just played good, clean baseball."

The Cougars added a run in the seventh on a two-out single by Johnson and an RBI-double by Monda. Washington State capped the scoring in the ninth on a pinch hit single by Nate Blackham and a two-out, run-scoring double by Johnson.

GAME NOTES
The Cougars recorded a shutout in a nonconference road game for the first time since May 25, 2010 (2-0 at Gonzaga)...grand slam by Derek Jones was the first by a Cougar since Jones against USC, May 22, 2010...Jones hit his 20th-career home run away from home (16 road, 4 neutral) to go along with 21 at Bailey-Brayton Field...a pregame ceremony to honor Jones setting the Washington State career home run record will be held prior to the Cougars' game against Utah, Friday, April 13 at Bailey-Brayton Field...event is scheduled for 5:20 p.m. with first pitch at 5:30 p.m...match-up opens a three-game Pac-12 series.

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Players Mentioned

Patrick Claussen

#11 Patrick Claussen

OF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Anthony Drobnick

#13 Anthony Drobnick

RHP
6' 2"
Sophomore
Kyle Johnson

#1 Kyle Johnson

OF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Derek Jones

#25 Derek Jones

OF
6' 0"
Sophomore
Tommy Richards

#6 Tommy Richards

IF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Nate Blackham

#33 Nate Blackham

OF
5' 8"
Freshman
P.J. Jones

#20 P.J. Jones

C
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Patrick Claussen

#11 Patrick Claussen

5' 10"
Sophomore
OF
Anthony Drobnick

#13 Anthony Drobnick

6' 2"
Sophomore
RHP
Kyle Johnson

#1 Kyle Johnson

5' 10"
Sophomore
OF
Derek Jones

#25 Derek Jones

6' 0"
Sophomore
OF
Tommy Richards

#6 Tommy Richards

5' 10"
Sophomore
IF
Nate Blackham

#33 Nate Blackham

5' 8"
Freshman
OF
P.J. Jones

#20 P.J. Jones

5' 9"
Freshman
C