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.