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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1969)
Hitting also questionable as diamond season opens Pitching problems plague hardballers oy junm Of The Emerald “If we’re going to have any kind of season at all,” mused Oregon baseball Coach Don Kirsch, “we’re going to have to play smart, never-give-up base ball and keep pecking away for runs. We’re in real trouble if we don’t.” Kirsch, entering his 22nd sea son as diamond mentor with the record of never having had a losing campaign, doesn’t expect an easy season. And the Ducks, who were 22-15 last year, start it off tough next week, opening a 41-game slate with a six game vacation trip to California. Beginning March 24, the Web foots will meet six opponents in six days—UC Davis, Santa Clara, Fresno State, San Jose State, San Francisco and Cali fornia. They return home April 3 for five games in three days— doubleheaders against Portland State and Lewis and Clark, and a single game Friday with Ore gon College of Education. Strong defensive Oregon’s Ducks should be a strong group defensively. But there are two other departments which may be less than satisfac tory—pitching and hitting. The vacation swing will tell a lot. Oregon had an efficient mound staff last year, but gone since then are four of the six men who started with some regular ity. Mike Nicksic (9-1, 2.10) and Joe Kniser (2-1, 0.45) have graduated; Larry Hayes (2-1, 2.58) signed a professional con tract with the San Francisco Gi ants; andEric Olson (3 0, 0.99) is passing up the year to concen trate on his studies in prepara tion for medical school. So the weight will be on the shoulders of junior Fred Card well and senior Jon Wheeler. Wheeler, the mainstay of the staff as a sophomore when he was 5-2 with a 1.44 earned run average, had an off-season last year and finished only 3-7, 3.84. He has struck out 138 men in 138 innings over two years. Kirsch expects a comeback sea son from the Newport product. And Cardwell, a big Canadi an with a sharp fastball, will have to hold up the other end :TO EUROPE Students - Faculty - Staff 25 DEPARTURES ALL JET CHARTERS Round-trip from L.A. or Oak. $205 One-way from L. A. $148 Round trip from N.Y. $210 One-way from N.Y. 110 Call or write for flight list ALSO CHARTERS WITHIN EUROPE to ISRAEL, GREECE, etc. International Students Affairs Club For further information contact: , International Education Center • Room 319, EMU Ext. 1834 Open daily 9:30-5 oi me root. He was 3-4 last sea son with a 2.76 ERA. Gary Schutz, Hodgon Award Winner as a sophomore outfield er but victim of a season-long slump a year ago, has moved to the pitching rubber for his senior year and has exhibited a good fastball and sharp curve in intrasquad games. Three other veterans also re turn, all of them juniors. Fred Masser (0-0, 1.89) saw relief action in nine games last sea son. He’ll probably work in the bullpen again this year. Jack Delaney (0-0, 3.48) and Dave Anderson (0-1, 9.00) hurled a total of 6 1/3 innings between them. Much of the pitching for this year’s club will come from five sophomores and a junior col lege transfer. Sophomores John Charno (2-0, 1.80) and Greg Hollen (4-1, 3.75) are the only lefthanders on the squad. Right handers Alan Cockerill (2-1, 1.37), John Masters (3-2, 3.03) and Rick Mealey (3-2, 1.14) are also expected to contribute. Nick Zeidler, a transfer from Santa Monica City College in California, “is not too big, but he throws pretty good,” ac cording to Kirsch. Dye has edge A three-way battle rages for the number one catching slot, but at this time veteran John Dye may have the edge over sophomores Dave Dingman and Don Knapp. Dye hit .293 last season as a part-time starter and handled 152 fielding chances flawlessly. A quartet of lettermen re turn in the infield, but there will be a tough fight for three of four positions. Colby Howe a powerful third baseman from Tiburon, Calif., started all but one of the Duck games as sophomore last year at the hot corner of the in field. He batted only .240, but hit well for distance, as among his 31 hits were nine doubles, two triples and two home runs. Howe, as a matter of fact, is the only Webfoot who has hit a varsity homer. Across the infield grass, at first base, transplanted catcher Steve Arnold, a two-year vet Duck tennis team faces trip south Coach Buzz Summer’s tennis team opens its 1969 season March 23 with the Berkeley Tennis Club, the beginning of a six dual match trip to Califor nia. With a nucleus of junior Ron Zielinski, senior Barry Sterett, junior Chuck Fritz and sopho more Rick Wilson, Oregon’s ten nis team faces California, Foot hill College, Sacramento State College, Stanford and Florida in addition to the Berkeley Ten nis Club in its five-day slate south. The Ducks open their home schedule April 4 with a dual encounter with Oregon State. JET CHARTER FLIGHTS June 15 - Sept.21 - $275 June 21 - Aug. 27 - $320 July 28 - Sept. 15 - $310 Aug. 23 - Sept. 23 - $310 Sept. 20 One Way - $ 175 One-Way Flights Available For Further Information Call or Write BEA COUCHMAN 24431* Willamette, Fugene Oregon 9740J 344-2196 NAME_ADDRESS__ CITY_STATE-PHONE_ eran, is trying to fight off trans fer Bob Ossey for the starting job. Arnold, a fine defensive player, hit only .185 last year but showed power at times. Os sey, a junior in eligibility, is a southpaw. A four-way fight exists in mid-infield, where junior letter men Roger Schiewe at second and Jim Van Wyck at short are being pressed by sophomores Gary Nall and Bob Main. Van Wyck batted at a solid .273 pace last year and will probably beat out Main. Schiewe, who hit only .229 after a fast start, may have trouble holding off Nall, who led the Frosh with a .357 batting mark. Platooning possible In the outfield, Kirsch has plenty to choose from, and has suggested the possibility of pla tooning his squad depending on the pitching opposition. At this point senior Larry Hand and sophomores Earle Wicklund and Dick Whitman stand on top of the pile ,but a number of other fine players including returnees Rod Pitcher and Jerry Knut son and sophomores Dave John son. Bill Lawrence and Mike Balkovich, are waiting in the folds should any of the top three slump. Wicklund, who hit .333 for the Frosh stole 17 bases, is a fine defensive player and may be one of the fastest the Ducks have ever had. Whitman rapped the ball at a .328 pace last year and Hand hit .265 as a varsity starter after seeing limited action as a first year man. Some help may come from Phil Bushman, a junior from Mt. Hood Community College. ‘He is real fast, good defense and is a good hitter,” said Kirsch. The one big loss for the Webfoots in the hitting depart ment was infielder Larry Han son. The Portland player was a two-time All-American hitting 328 last year after a .395 soph omore season during which he led the Pacific-8 in hitting. Han son signed with the California Angels shortly after the end of the 1968 college season. Abby’s 1970 River Road / L > Open Noon Daily PIZZA INN FOR A SPECIAL TREAT Try one of our 21 variations of delicious Pizza For orders to go call 689-0091 Come On Out And Enjoy A Pizza Tonight! p You'll laugh all the way /pjL to the funeral. [MvTURE Auc'gNCEsl ^£2^ IN COLOR FROM WARNER BROS.-SEVEN ARTS Show time 8 p.m. “Remember, we're nonviolent, so be careful of your after shave.” ^ vvnu-eyeu uueub can lum any peaceTUi aemonstration into a full-scale riot, so be careful how you use your Hai Karate* After Shave and Cologne. But just in case your hand slips, we include instructions on self-defense in every package. (If you're a paci fist, maybe you’d better read the instructions twice.) Hai Karate-be careful how you use it. 1969 Leeming Division, Chas. Pfizer & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y.
