Neither rain, nor snow nor sleet have kept California and Slippery Rock from their appointed positions near the top of the baseball standings in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West.

Despite inclement weather conditions that have disrupted schedules for all the teams, California (18-9, 6-2) is tied for first place with Shippensburg (16-12, 6-2) and Slippery Rock (19-9, 5-3) is in third.

		LAST WEEK REVISITED Highlights from performances by individuals and teams in district colleges last week: Pitt senior Annie Davies became the school's all-time tennis career leader in wins with 126 -- 63 singles and 63 doubles. She ranks second on the school's doubles list and is third all time in singles. Gannon (14-4) dropped four spots to 19th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II softball poll. Defending national champion Lock Haven (18-1) remained No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week. Carnegie Mellon senior Mona Iyer is University Athletic Association women's tennis athlete of the week and freshman James Muliawan is UAA men's tennis athlete of the week. Grove City junior Caleb Courage won his second consecutive Division III title with a school-record time of 44.36 seconds in the 100 freestyle at the NCAA swimming and diving championships at the University of Houston. Carnegie Mellon senior David Krzeminski won the Division III national championship in the 200-yard butterfly.

California was picked to win its third consecutive PSAC West title in a preseason poll of the league coaches and Slippery Rock was tabbed for second and Shippensburg third.

Because of a scheduling quirk, Slippery Rock and California already have split four games and won't meet again during the regular season.

California plays two home-and-away doubleheaders against Shippensburg this weekend and Slippery Rock and IUP have two home-and-away doubleheaders.

Slippery Rock, tied for 25th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II poll, has been bolstered by a number of transfers from Division I schools. Mark Tanner, a 6-foot-2 sophomore left-hander who led Neshannock to WPIAL Class A championships in 2002 and 2004 and the PIAA Class A title in 2004, transferred from the University of Kentucky. Tanner is the grandson of Chuck Tanner, the manager when the Pirates won the 1979 World Series.

Mark Tanner, 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA, was a dominating pitcher at Neshannock with a 14-1 record and 0.91 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 79 innings. Tanner heads a staff that includes Rich Hocanson (4-0, 2.00), a freshman from Rochester, Derek Blyzwick (2-1, 3.38), a senior from Moon, and Sean Holliday (2-1, 4.50), a redshirt freshman transfer from Marshall and graduate of Moon.

Slippery Rock's offense features catcher Matt Adams (.388, 18 RBIs) and infielder Phil Butch (.358, 19 RBIs).

California's leading hitters are senior outfielder Lee Rohan (.413), outfielder Alex Lefcakis (.365, 22 RBIs), a junior from Plum, and designated hitter/first baseman Chris Novia (.288, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs). Right-handers Chris Doerschner (5-1, 4.32 ERA), a senior from Carrick, and sophomore Nick Schreiber (3-1, 2.18) have provided steady pitching.

W&J's rise

Washington & Jefferson (15-4) is 28th in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Division III Top 30 poll after being as high as 16th for the school's first ranking in school history. A 10-1 start was W&J's best in 110 years since going 14-1 in 1897. The Presidents, 5-0 and in first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, complete a three-game series at league rival Westminster (8-10, 2-6) today.

W&J, winner of three in a row, has a team batting average of .368 and averages slightly more than eight runs per game. Senior Sam Mann (.492, 20 RBIs) leads the team in hitting and is 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA. The offense also features shortstop Nick Fiorilli (.456) and second baseman Chris Varacallo (.450, 17 RBIs). The pitching staff includes Ian Poole (3-0, 1.78) and John Astfalk (3-1, 3.00).