Washington State got a complete-game gem from Joe Pistorese in a 4-2 win at No. 14 USC
The Pac-12’s two northernmost teams evened their road series against the conference’s two SoCal teams with Saturday wins. Washington State got a complete-game gem from Joe Pistorese (9 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) in a 4-2 win at No. 13 Southern California. Tricep issues held the senior back in January, but the Cougars have gradually increased his workload, and his stuff has been crisp, with his fastball getting up into the low 90s at times.
And Washington leveled its series at No. 9 UCLA with an 8-1 win behind ace Tyler Davis (8.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER), who is quietly putting together another rock-solid season as a senior. Davis improved to 4-1, 2.45 with 29 strikeouts and eight walks in 36.2 innings this spring. I liked the way UW pitching coach Jason Kelly described Davis when I spoke with him last week.
“He’s Mr. Consistency; you know that you’ll be able to run him out for 100, 115 pitches,” Kelly said. “That’s why he throws on Saturday for us, he gives the bullpen a break. He’s very competitive, comes from an engineering family, so has a little different outlook. He’s not the tobacco-spitting, crotch-grabbing kid. A perfect Washington kid, because he’s a great kid, and a great competitor.”
