Krause: “We got exactly what we deserved”
Oregon baseball coach Mel Krause stared at the
ground, trying to scrape words together to explain his
team's shoddy performance like he has so many times
before.
“Maybe we just don’t have the ability,’’ he said.
“Maybe we aren’t as good as I thought we were.”
Krause isn’t exactly throwing in the towel, but his
words represent the mountain of frustration that grew
higher this weekend after his Ducks dropped two of three
. games to first place Oregon State. The twin losses pin
Oregon in third place with a 4*5 record, three games
behind the 7-2 Beavers, with nine games left on the
Northern Division slate.
By JOHN HENDERSON
Of the Emerald
Everything that could go wrong to a baseball team,
happened to the Ducks this weekend. Oregon's first
game, a 3-0 loss in Corvallis, was highlighted by two
ejections, a protest, two baserunners cut down at the
plate, 13 runners left on base and reliever Craig Fetzer
pulling a leg muscle during warm-ups.
Beaver starter Gail Meier (4-1) got all the runs he
needed in the third inning when shortstop Ray Smith
booted Bill Martinez's ground ball and freshman Jeff
Doyle moved him to second with an infield single. Ramon
Gonzalez dumped a double down the left field line to
score Martinez and, after Rick Dodge walked, Rob Drahn
knocked in Doyle with a sacrifice fly to center.
The game was marred by an ugly incident in the fifth
inning after Don Reynolds hit into a dose double play. On
his way back to the dugout, Reynolds mumbled a few
words at the base umpire, who proceeded to send the
Duck designated hitter to the showers.
After a brief discussion with Reynolds, Krause en
gaged in a fierce argument with the umpire, who im
mediately gave him the thumb.
“I was ejected because I called the ump a liar," said
Krause, "and the reason I called him a liar was because
he ejected Don for using a swear word. I gave Don hell for
getting on the umpires but he said that all he said was that
the ump was bad, bad bad.’ He didn’t kick dirt on him,
embarrass him, or detriment him in any way.”
“I don’t talk that way," said Reynolds. “But I wasn’t
sure if I said it or not so I asked Cody (Steve) who was
nearby if I said it, and he said no and the trainer walked by
and he said I didn't say it either.”
Krause protested the game because of Reynolds’
ejection.
The Ducks evened the series with an 8-6 win in the
first game of Saturday’s double-header in Eugene. Senior
Dean Roberts, who has been struggling this year with the
curve ball, picked on a high fast ball and got Oregon off to
a flying start with a grand slam home run in the second
inning.
"I always try to look for the fast ball,” said Roberts,
“and he threw it right where I was looking.”
Beavers had their bad moments, but Ducks had more
PtKJto by PhH Waldstein
If it wasn’t for Hank Love's three-run double in the
third, however, the Beavers would have swept the Ducks
as they slowly pecked away at Oregon’s crumbling pitch
ing staff. After RBI singles by Pete Rowe and Kim Hurley
dosed the score to 8-6 in the sixth, the Beavers loaded
the bases in the seventh but reliever Greg Richards got
Rowe to fly to Roberts in center for the final out.
The Beaver rally was a foreshadowing of what was to
come as the Ducks threw away another lead in the sec
ond game, and a chance to creep toward Oregon State by
a game, losing 7-3.
After Bob Anderson wiped out a 1 -0 Beaver lead with
a three-run homer in the fourth, the roof collapsed on the
Ducks. The Beavers scored six runs in the sixth and
seventh innings on three singles, a double, four errors,
two waks, a wild pitch, and three sacrifice flies.
So instead of being behind Oregon State by a
game and in the thick of the Northern Division pennant
race, Oregon is three back and battling for survival.
“We got exactly what we deserved,” said an un
happy Krause. "When you play as many games as we
have and play like we did today, you get exactly what you
deserve. You can’t play baseball like that. We don't have
the kind of team that can make up for a bad play. When
one player makes a bad play it seems that everybody else
seems to make bad plays. We just don’t play the game as
a team.”
The pitching staff, which has been hindered by the
absence of injured eight-game winner Eric Gilmore, is
Krause's biggest complaint.
“It’s obvious we don’t have a pitcher who can come
right out and win us a ball game, ” he said. “I didn’t realize
I’d miss Gilmore this much.”
The Ducks travel to Washington State next weekend
to take on the 4-3 Cougars. Krause will get some time to
pick up the pieces this week, as his Ducks host non
conference games against Portland State today at 3 p.m.,
and Oregon Tech tomorrow in a 1 p.m. double-header.
Pacific-8
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Oregon State
Washington St
Oregon
Washington
7 2
4 3
4 5
1 6
Southern Division
Southern Cal
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UCLA
California
4 2
4 4
3 5
2 4
STAY
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WILLIE DIXON
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* * * CHICAGO BLUES BAND *
April 21 * EMU Ballroom * 8:00 PM *
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* * * * » * » . * ★ Others $2.50