Construction
on U.S. Highway 195 begins today
March 29, 2018 Moscow Pullman Daily News
Bridge
deck repairs are expected to begin today on U.S. Highway 195.
The
Washington State Department of Transportation is asking motorists to be alert
for traffic signals at three different locations between Pullman and Spokane
and add an estimated 20 minutes to their commute.
The three
bridge projects on the stretch are near Rosalia and Steptoe.
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BASEBALL
Road-worn
Cougs finally homeward bound
Washington
State baseball team plays its second home series of the season this weekend
By Stephan
Wiebe, Moscow Pullman Daily News
29 March,
2018
When
Washington State baseball coach Marty Lees got back on the team bus on Sunday
after his team’s trip to Arizona, he talked with his assistant coaches about
how the Cougars could easily be 5-1 in Pac-12 play instead of 1-5.
Washington
State did find its first Pac-12 win against the Wildcats, but also dropped two
games, including a 5-4 loss in which the Cougars were on the brink of coming
back and tying it with four runs in the eighth inning.
The series
came after Washington State was swept by a then 14th-ranked UCLA team that won
two games in the final at-bat.
“We were
in five of the six games to win them and we just need to ... keep grinding and
keep playing high-level defense,” Lees said this week.
The
Cougars will try to get over the hump against Arizona State (12-12, 4-2 Pac-12)
in their first home series in more than two weeks.
The series
begins at 6 p.m. today at Bailey-Brayton Field and continues with games Friday
at Saturday.
Washington
State (4-15 overall) has played only four of its first 19 games at home — a
four-game series against Saint Mary’s earlier this month that the squads split
2-2. Last season the Cougars won three times as many games at home (18) as they
did on the road (6).
“We
typically play very well at home like Arizona does, like Oregon State does,
(like) Stanford (does),” Lees said. “I’m excited that our kids get to sleep in
their own beds and won’t be traveling.”
The
Cougars are currently tied with California for last place in the conference,
but half of the teams in the Pac-12 have two or fewer wins, so winning a single
series could potentially catapult the Cougars up the standings.
Outfielders
J.J. Hancock (.288 average) and Justin Harrer (.284) continue to lead
Washington State at the plate.
FEEL IT
TEEL
Catcher
Robby Teel made a splash for the Cougars in WSU’s 5-4 win over Arizona on
Saturday with a two-RBI single into left centerfield that put Washington State
up 5-0.
The junior
has been limited in four games this season as he recovers from a knee injury,
but he showed that he’s on the mend. Teel has tallied two hits and two RBI in
nine at-bats so far this season.
Lees said
he’ll continue to see more action as he gets closer to 100 percent.
“It was
nice to get him back in that second game, but his time is going to be limited
until he gets fully healthy,” Lees said. “But (he) did a nice job catching, had
a really nice hit that scored two runs in the second game.”
Teel has
two hits and two RBI in nine at-bats this season. WSU’s primary catcher so far
this season, Cal Waterman, is hitting .151 in 53 at-bats.
SUN
DEVILS’ DYNAMIC DUO
Arizona
State’s Gage Canning and Spencer Torkelson provide a dangerous combination of
average and power for the Sun Devils’ lineup.
Canning
leads the Pac-12 in hits (46), is second in batting average (.460) and tied for fourth in runs scored (21), while
Torkelson’s 11 home runs are second best in the conference. In comparison, WSU
has hit nine home runs this season as a team.
“(Torkelson)
has been a very tough out for everybody,” Lees said. “He seems to like to hit a
homer every game. Gage Canning is as good as there is in the country, so if we
can keep him off base, that’s a start.”
SIMILAR
SERIES
Against
the same opponents, Washington State is 3-5 and Arizona State is 2-4 this
season.
Last
season, the Sun Devils swept the Cougars in Phoenix, but won two of the three
games by a single run. Arizona State leads the all-time series 56-17.
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NCAA
BASKETBALL
Virginia’s
Tony Bennett, formerly of WSU, named AP men’s college coach of the year
UPDATED: March
29, 2018,
SAN
ANTONIO (AP) – Virginia coach Tony Bennett, a former WSU men’s head basketball coach,
has been named Associated Press men’s
college basketball coach of the year.
::::::::::
Alec
Kuzmack leaving the Cougar football progam
Promising
lineman trades in football for WSU track & field
By Scott
Cresswell Cougfan. Com Mar 29, 2018,
Alec
Kuzmack, who was one of the more well-regarded recruits of the Washington State
Cougars’ 2017 class, has now left the football program to concentrate on the
shot put for WSU’s track team, per Cougfan.com.
The 6-foot-5,
285-pound offensive linemen redshirted last year after signing out of Eagle,
Idaho. Kuzmack was the top-ranked player in the state of Idaho by ESPN.com
coming out of the prep ranks. Boise State was WSU’s main recruiting competition
for him. Kuzmack finished 3rd in the state in the shot put as a senior in high
school.
This is a
big blow to the Cougar offensive line going forward, as a source close to the
program told CougCenter that the coaches felt Kuzmack was very “promising” and
were excited to get him on a Pac-12 weight program. The interior offensive line
positions are a big question mark going into the season, and the loss of
Kuzmack and fellow sophomore lineman Nillson Gaisoa does not help. Hopefully
other youngsters will step up for this unit to come together next season under
new coach Mason Miller.
We wish
Kuzmack the best in his Cougar track career under coach Wayne Phipps.
:::::
WSU MEN’S
BASKETBALL
The
little-used guard leaves in search of playing time.
By Jeff
Nusser Coug Center March 29th of 2018
The
Washington State Cougars lost another member of the basketball team on
Wednesday when little-used reserve guard Jamar Ergas (hometown Toronto, Ontario)
announced he would be transferring.
Unlike the
two previous departures — Robert Franks and Malachi Flynn — this one doesn’t
come as much of a surprise. Ergas, who was considered an athletic project when
he arrived, redshirted in 2016-17 and then played just 16 minutes this past
season, scoring four total points.
This move
comes with Ernie Kent’s apparent approval.
“He’s a
great student, he’s been a great teammate and we wish him well,” Kent told The
Spokesman-Review. “He needs to play and it’s going to be hard for him to do
that here.”
About that
last part.
Kent plays
three guards/wings at all times, and these are the players left on the roster
who fit that bill: Milan Acquaah, Viont’e Daniels, Kwinton Hinson and Carter
Skaggs. C.J. Elleby, a 6-foot-6 wing who has signed a letter of intent, will
presumably join them. You’re telling me it was going to be so hard for him to
break into that? Plus, he was only going to be a sophomore, and Daniels and
Hinson are going to be seniors, meaning he’d be in line for heavy minutes as a
junior, regardless.
Let’s just
say there’s probably a reason you won’t be reading any columns lambasting Ergas
for spitting in the face of the investment WSU made in him with a scholarship
the last two seasons.
