BASEBALL: Huskies win series but miss tournament

It was a long shot to begin with. Even if the Husky baseball team could pull off a sweep of California during its final weekend, the chances of being invited to play in the College World Series were slim at best.

[HTML_REMOVED]Player of the weekend: Matt Hague 5-12, 2 R, 6 RBI,

1 2B, 2 HR[HTML_REMOVED]

Hague finished the season as the No. 2 hitter in Husky history with a career batting average trailing only Jeb Best. His hot hitting continued this past weekend, as he added two home runs and six RBI to his season stats.

[HTML_REMOVED]Turning Point:[HTML_REMOVED]

In the rubber match of the series, Matt Hague went yard in the eighth inning to tie the game 4-4. Ty Rasmussen and Curt Rindal responded with back-to-back singles, and Joey Lind knocked in the game-winning run during the next at bat. The Sunday victory gave the Huskies a 2-1 series win over Cal to end the year.

[HTML_REMOVED]Stat of the weekend: 4[HTML_REMOVED]

Four members of the Pac-10 conference were invited to play in this year's College World Series. Conference champion Arizona State locked up the No. 5 seed and will host its own regional. Also in the mix for the College World Series are UCLA, Arizona and last year's national champion Oregon State.

Things were worse still when Friday pitted Washington's lineup against one of the top pitchers in the nation, Tyson Ross.

When it was all said and done, the Huskies were able to take two of three from the Bears, but it was not enough. When the selection committee came out with its field of 64 teams, Washington was not one of them.

The loss against Ross in game one may have been the death knell for the Huskies. California's ace went six innings against the Dawgs, allowing just two runs and scattering seven hits to finish his season with a win, 8-3.

"That was a really good guy [Ross] on Friday night," Matt Hague said after going 0-4. "Every Pac-10 school has some good pitching, though; you have to deal with it."

The Huskies were keenly aware of that, and after suffering the loss Friday, reeled off an impressive 12-2 victory Saturday.

Washington rode the arm of starter Elliott Cribby, who dominated the Bears' lineup, allowing two runs in eight innings of work.

The Husky bats also woke up in a big way, starting with a five-run first inning. After Bradley Boyer and Brett Wilcox singled back-to-back to get aboard, Hague punished an offering by Alex Rollin over the left-center field fence.

The three-run homer was Hague's 12th of the season and put the Huskies up for good. They were able to close the book on Rollin in the first inning after Matt Stevens drove in shortstop Brian Pearl to extend the early lead to 5-0.

Washington continued to add on all game long, including a five-run eighth to cap a 12-run performance. Every starter left the game with at least one hit for the Dawgs, and Curt Rindal and Ty Rasmussen joined Hague in going deep against the Bears' pitchers.

In the rubber game of the series Sunday, the Huskies and Cal both appeared to be playing for pride more than anything. Both teams needed the sweep to have a realistic chance at seeing World Series play, and those hopes had been dashed after the first two games.

With nothing but pride on the line, both teams went after each other viciously. The Bears started the game with an RBI single by first baseman David Cooper, but Washington did not take long to respond.

In the second inning, Boyer knocked in right fielder Brett Kaluza with a single, then scored on a double by Hague.

Cal struck again in the fifth with three runs that forced starter Brandon McKerney from the game. McKerney had been effective in the first four innings, but loaded the bases in the fifth before being replaced by Nick Hagadone. The big lefty allowed all three runners to score, but shut down the Cal bats for the rest of the game.

Trailing by one, the Huskies needed a big inning late, and got one in the eighth. Hague crushed a pitch over the right field fence to tie the game with one out, and pinch hitter Joey Lind squeezed a single through the hole on the left side of the infield allowing Stevens, who was running for Rasmussen, to score the go-ahead run.

Hagadone pitched a perfect ninth to end the game, 5 to 4, allowing the Huskies to finish the season with a series win over Cal.

Reach reporter Justin Chartrey at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.