The Cougars had to leave their brooms in storage as they couldn’t finish off the three-game sweep of the Huskies on mom’s weekend. But the Washington State baseball team did manage to grab its second consecutive series victory over a Pac-12 opponent after beating Washington on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday’s game was close from wire-to-wire, but got off to a shaky start for the Cougars (17-17, 5-10 Pac-12) as UW (19-14, 6-9) sophomore Jack Meggs led off the game with a home run to right field. WSU starting pitcher senior Sean Hartnett settled in after giving up the long ball and ended up going 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out two.

WSU added a run of its own in the bottom of the fifth when freshman catcher J.J. Hancock led off with a double, advanced to third on a fly out, and eventually scored on a throwing error by the Huskies. Hancock had a strong game on Thursday, going 2-3, scoring twice and adding one RBI.

It was Hancock that put the Cougars on top in Game 1. Going into the seventh down 2-1, he pelted an RBI triple down the right field line, then was sent home on the following at bat to give WSU the 3-2 lead. He said the team was getting frustrated early with so many missed opportunities, but the Cougars continued believing they could pull off the win.

“We knew it’s a long game, nine innings, and we got all these studs on the team,” he said. “We knew it was just early, we’re going to get them, its UW, we’re going to come back and get them.”

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Ian Hamilton approached history in this game as he tied the WSU career save record with 24. His first pitch did not inspire confidence from the Cougar faithful as he hit UW junior Branden Berry, but Hamilton has the ability to settle in and retire batter after batter, and that’s what he did Thursday night.

“It’s cool to have your name in the record books I guess,” Hamilton said.

Game 2 featured yet another brilliant performance by senior lefty Joe Pistorese, who threw his fourth complete game of the season. The Cougars’ offense backed him up with 13 hits and WSU clinched the series with an 8-3 win.

With yet another CG in the books, Pistorese moved into a tie for the national lead in complete games, and also second place on WSU’s career innings list.

Bailey-Brayton had a season-high 2,581 fans in the seats on Friday night of Mom’s Weekend, giving the players tons of energy and support.

“These fans are amazing, especially on Mom’s Weekend,” Pistorese said. “It’s great to get out here and all the guys want to show off for some moms for sure.”

Saturday’s game was another close matchup, and the two teams entered the seventh inning tied at two runs apiece. But Washington took advantage of three costly errors by WSU to score three runs and take the 5-2 lead.

The Cougars had done well up until that point and were making some nice plays despite errors in the first and fifth innings. Senior infielder Ian Sagdal came up huge once again as he blasted two home runs over the right field wall in the first and fourth innings.

However, the Cougars could not overcome their defensive lapses and Head Coach Donnie Marbut said his team lacked concentration and was trying to play too fast.

“That’s not how you win them. You don’t put five errors on the board and win,” he said.

This was the second straight weekend where WSU had a chance to sweep its opponent but let it slip away in the final game. Marbut was disappointed that his team was satisfied with simply winning the series, and said the Cougs need to aim to sweep series.

The Cougars will lace it up again tonight against New Mexico State for a single game. First pitch against the Aggies is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field.