The Mariners are playing the first of their three game series against the Astros tonight.

Seattle is coming off five straight series wins, most recently against the league-leading Atlanta Braves.

The M’s currently lead the AL West Division by half a game over the second-place Rangers.

The Mariners will look to extend their division lead in Houston tonight with George Kirby on the mound. 

Kirby is coming off a career-high 12 strikeouts against the Diamondbacks last Saturday.

Ronel Blanco is starting for the Astros as the only pitcher to throw a no-hitter so far this season.

Coverage for tonight’s game begins at 4:00 and first pitch is at 5:10 on KPUG.

 

New Washington Huskies basketball coach Danny Sprinkle announced the hiring of four new assistants yesterday.

Among them is former USC assistant Tony Bland, who was a key figure in the 2017 FBI probe into college basketball.

Bland was one of 10 people who were arrested in the investigation that looked to clean up off-the-book payments.

He admitted to accepting a $4,100 bribe during a meeting with financial advisers and business managers in exchange for directing players to retain their services when they entered the pro ranks. 

As part of his punishment, Bland received two years probation and a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA that expired last month.

 

Western Washington University’s softball team is heading to the GNAC title game.

The second-seeded Vikings beat top-seeded Northwest Nazarene 4-2 this morning to advance to the final game of this weekend’s GNAC Championships.

Western used a key 3-run fourth inning to propel them to their fifth straight win.

They’ll face the winner of Northwest Nazarene vs Saint Martin in the title match at noon tomorrow at Viking Field.

The tournament is double elimination, so even if the Vikings lose that game, they’ll have a chance at redemption since they haven’t lost yet.

The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships West Regional.