September 17, 2007

Baseball coach Doug Smith to stay at UCR

The Press-Enterprise

UC Riverside baseball coach Doug Smith has withdrawn his name from consideration for the coaching position at UC Irvine.

Smith was scheduled to interview for the job today, but after discussions with his wife, Ruthan, and UCR athletic director Stan Morrison, Smith said he decided the "best thing to do was to stay at UCR."

Smith has been at UCR for nearly three decades, spending 25 years as an assistant coach and the past three as head coach. The Anteaters are looking to replace Dave Serrano, who led the team to the College World Series and then took over the head coaching job at Cal State Fullerton.

"I have a long-term history here," Smith said of Riverside. "This is our home."

The Highlanders won their first Big West championship last season and advanced to their second NCAA tournament. UCR, along with UC Irvine, has been tabbed by Rivals.com as one of the nation's rising programs.

ALLAN STEELE

Coyotes Drop to No. 2

A two-week run atop the NCAA Division II volleyball poll ended for Cal State San Bernardino this week.

But the Coyotes didn't fall far, dropping to No. 2 in the latest poll.

Tampa, the defending national champion, rose to No. 1 after Cal State suffered a four-game loss to Cal Baptist, which is ranked No. 2 in the NAIA poll.

Tampa and the Coyotes are both 11-1 with a loss to Cal Baptist. Tampa lost to the Lancers at home in August.

The Spartans got 18 first-place votes from coaches to the Coyotes' 10. Tampa had an 877-855 advantage over Cal State, with Minnesota-Duluth (14-1) right behind in third place with 848 points.

The Coyotes, 3-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, face their stiffest tests in conference play this week, traveling to No. 21 UC San Diego (8-4, 2-2 CCAA) on Friday and No. 16 Cal State Los Angeles (8-3, 4-0) on Saturday.

OBREY BROWN

COD Wins Back Trophy

There wasn't a lot of jubilation after College of the Desert's football win over Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday.

But that didn't stop the Palms to Pines trophy exchange. The Roadrunners (3-0) took possession of the prize for just the second time in 12 seasons.

"It was real satisfying to beat them," said COD coach Dean Dowty, who suited up for the Roadrunners between 1987-89 and served as an assistant coach from 1992 to 2000. "There is a lot of tradition in this game."

Dowty was 1-1 against MSJC as a player.

"We had some good teams back then and always played them tough," Dowty said. "We always expect a dogfight from them."

MSJC (0-3) still leads the series 23-17.

ED CASTRO

Milestone for Coach

Ralph Perez, now in his second season as University of Redlands men's soccer coach, watched his team notch a 2-0 win over Caltech last week. In the process, Perez recorded the 200th collegiate win of his career.

Perez has also coached at Whittier College, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Los Angeles, Santa Clara University and Old Dominion University.

OBREY BROWN

Baseball

David Martinez, of Redlands, accepted a spot as pitching coach at Nevada-Las Vegas. Martinez was pitching coach the past two seasons at Riverside Community College, which won last season's state championship.

"He was my pitching coach for one year, and he was very good," said Tommy Hanson, an RCC and Redlands East Valley High product who was drafted and signed by the Atlanta Braves in 2006.

Martinez also applied for the opening at Oregon.

OBREY BROWN

Top 20 Clash Ends in Draw

In a duel of teams ranked in the Top 20 in NCAA Division III women's soccer polls, No. 20 Redlands and No. 14 Chapman played to a 1-1 draw last week.

Erica Jahn scored her second goal of the year for Redlands on its home field.

OBREY BROWN