Local sports digest: San Jose Giants beat Visalia 8-7 in opener

Clayton Blackburn pitched five shutout innings, Mac Williamson had three hits including a home run, and the San Jose Giants held off host Visalia 8-7 in a California League Single-A season opener Thursday.

Williamson had an RBI double in a four-run first, a solo homer in the fifth and a single in a three-run seventh. The outfielder was a third-round draft pick in 2012 out of Wake Forest.

Blackburn, a 16th-round pick in 2011 from Edmond, Okla., allowed two hits and struck out six.

Colleges

The championship series of the College Basketball Invitational is down to a winner-take-all third game. Santa Clara (25-12) couldn't close out the series in Game 2, falling 73-66 at George Mason (22-15) on Wednesday. Game 3 on Friday will be in the 10,000-seat Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. Tipoff is 4 p.m. (Pacific). AXS TV and KDOW (1200-AM) will broadcast the game. The Broncos, who won the CollegeInsider.com tournament in 2011, saw their nine-game postseason win streak snapped when they lost in front of 1,280 fans at the RAC Center in Fairfax. The Patriot Center was busy with a career fair.

The Santa Clara baseball team (8-19, 0-7 WCC) lost 3-1 to visiting BYU (15-14, 3-4). Reece Karalus (0-6) took the loss, allowing two earned runs in seven innings. Greg Harisis was 2 for 4 with an RBI for Santa Clara.

Pieter Lehrer, who spent eight seasons on the Cal men's soccer staff, was named coach of Harvard. He was also an assistant at Stanford (1999-2001 and 2003).

MLS

The Earthquakes announced the signing of forward Alexandre Gonzalez Emerson, a San Jose native who grew up in Mexico. He played for Necaxa of the Mexican League before pursuing an MLS career this year. He is expected to be part of the Quakes' reserve team this season.

Basketball

Archbishop Mitty girls coach Sue Phillips was named head coach of the 2013 U.S. women's under-16 team, USA Basketball announced. The team will compete at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship on June 19-23 in Cancun, Mexico. "This will be a definite highlight in my career as a coach," Phillips, who also coaches the San Jose Cagers AAU program, said in a statement.

AFL

The SaberCats were assigned offensive lineman Devin Clark on a one-year deal. He played with the Philadelphia Soul last season.

Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/other-sports/ci_22959049/local-sports-digest-santa-clara-is-pushed-limit?source=rss

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