SOFTBALL

Ducks top Huskies in extra innings — A five-run ninth inning, highlighted by D.J. Sanders’ grand slam, carried No. 2 Oregon to a 7-2 win over No. 3 Washington Friday night in Seattle in the first game of a three-game series between Pac-12 title contenders. The score was 2-2 after seven innings as the Ducks’ Megan Kleist and the Huskies’ Taran Avelo locked up in a pitching duel. Oregon broke the tie with an unearned run in the top of the ninth, then Sanders delivered with her 12th home run of the season to push the lead to five. Kleist retired the Huskies in the bottom half to preserve the win, her 16th of the year against five losses. Kleist struck out 14 and walked one, giving up eight hits. The second-place Ducks (13-3 Pac-12, 39-7 overall) gained half a game on top-ranked and league-leading UCLA (15-3 Pac-12), which is playing out of conference this weekend. Third-place Washington (12-6, 41-6) hosts Oregon again Saturday and Sunday.

Arizona blanks Oregon State — No. 10-ranked Arizona broke open a close game with a seven-run fourth inning and cruised to a 9-0 run-rule victory over Oregon State in Pac-12 action Friday night in Tucson, Arizona. Wildcats pitcher Taylor McQuillin allowed only one hit — a fourth-inning single by McKenna Arriola — in the opening game of a three-game series. Solo home runs by Dejah Mulipola and Aleah Craighton were among 10 hits for Arizona (7-9 Pac-12, 33-13 overall). The loss was the third straight for the Beavers (7-9, 26-20).

BASEBALL

Beavs take series opener from Sun Devils — Luke Heimlich became the Pac-12’s first 10-game winner this season and No. 5 Oregon State won its seventh in a row with a 6-2 triumph over Arizona State Friday night in the first game of a three-game series at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. Michael Gretler’s two-run double was the big hit in a four-run eighth inning for the Beavers (11-5 Pac-12, 31-6 overall) that put OSU up 6-0. Heimlich struck out 11 and walked none over 82⁄3 innings. He gave up five hits and took a shutout into the ninth, when Spencer Torkelson put the Sun Devils (9-10, 17-24) on the board with a solo home run. The series resumes Saturday afternoon and concludes on Sunday.

Slumping Oregon falls to USC — Oregon scored a run in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, but the rest of the night belonged to Southern Cal as the Trojans pounded out a 10-2 Pac-12 victory over the Ducks Friday night at PK Park in Eugene. For the Ducks (6-13 Pac-12, 19-20 overall), the loss was their sixth straight and ninth in their last 10 games. USC (7-12, 19-19) scored five runs in the third inning to take the lead for good and added five more in the ninth. Jakob Goldfarb and Kenyon Yovan had two hits apiece for Oregon. The three-game series continues Saturday and wraps up on Sunday.

FOOTBALL

UO football player faces misdemeanor charges — Oregon linebacker Fotu Leiato was arrested for allegedly removing a parking boot from a vehicle. Leiato, 21, was arrested by University of Oregon police at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at his residence on South Garden Way. He was booked into the Lane County Jail on charges of second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree theft for damaging and removing the parking boot, University of Oregon police spokesman Kelly McIver said. A senior and a projected starter for the football team in the coming season, Leiato also was booked on a warrant for failing to appear in Eugene Municipal Court earlier this month to face a second-degree criminal trespass charge. Each of the charges are misdemeanors.

— From staff and wire reports