Oregon daily emerald., April 03, 1998, Page 13, Image 13

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Women
looking
for revenge
Nicole Commissiong was
forced to sit out last season’s
loss to Washington State,
but she will compete in
Saturday's rematch
By Rob Moseley
Sports Reporter
The revenge factor doesn’t often apply
in collegiate track and field, but it cer
tainly appears to this weekend.
The Oregon women’s dual meet sea
son begins Saturday at Hayward Field
when Washington State comes to town.
1 ne meet begins at
noon with the women’s
javelin, and the first
running event, the
3,000 meters, begins at
2 p.m.
The Cougars visit Eu
gone juai une udy biiun ui une year since
they upset the Ducks 73-72 in Pullman
in a triangular meet that also featured
Idaho. The win for Washington State
broke a string of 23 consecutive losses to
Oregon in head-to-head competition.
Although the Ducks won a rematch
111-92 just two weeks later at the Pepsi
Invitational, head coach Tom Heinonen
is still thinking about that sole blemish
on his team’s record against the Cougars.
“It was a terrific: track meet,” Heinonen
said. “I’d like to see another great one,
but we want to win.”
One factor that played a large part in
the loss was the absence of sprinter
Nicole Commissiong, a senior who red
shirted last season after undergoing
knee surgery in December 1996,
Turn to WOMEN, Page 20
■ 1 mtrnmmmm
EMERALD
Marie Davis, an NCAA provisional qualifier in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters, will
run both races against Washington State at Hayward Field on Saturday.
On tap
KWHO:
Oregon track
and field teams
■ WHAT:
Oual meet vs.
Washington
State
■ WHERE:
Howe Field
■ WHEN:
Saturday, noon
Men want payback for loss to WSU
The Ducks feel they were robbed by
the judges in a one-point loss to the
Cougars last season in Pullman
By Alex Pond
I Sports Editor
More than just a strong showing in the first dual
meet of the season will be on the Ducks’ minds head
ing into Saturday’s noon showdown with Washing
ton State at Hayward Field.
The Oregon men’s track and field team wants a lit
i tie payback after it felt it was robbed of a victory over
Washington State in a triangular meet in Pullman last
season.
wiegun iiiougiu ii nau tne meet
won, so head coach Bill Dellinger
held Chris Nelson out of the 4x400
meter relay — the last event. The
Cougars went on to edge the Ducks
for second place in that race.
Afterward, the meet’s judges
changed Jody Mortimore s fourth-place finish in the
200-meter dash to a tie with Washington State’s Colan
Turn to MEN, Page 20
Weekend
games huge
for Oregon
The Ducks face the Cardinal
and Cal this weekend in a
pair of crucial doubleheaders
By Joel Hood
Sports Reporter
If last weekend’s homestand was the
benchmark to see how far the Oregon soft
ball team has come this season, then con
sider this weekend's games the hurdle —
one it must cross to entertain hopes of post
season play.
The No. 21 Ducks (28-13, 1-3 Pacific-10
Conference) host a pair of traditional con
ference powerhouses this weekend in what
head coach Rick Gamez calls the “most
critical” homestand of the season.
“How we play in these games will proba
bty nave a bearing
on the way we finish
out the remainder of
the Pac-10 sched
ule,” Gamez said.
Oregon hosts No.
17 California (22-13,
2-2) m a double
header at Howe
Field on Saturday,
then No. 13 Stanford
(23-6, 4-2) in a dou
bleheader the fol
lowing day. Both
matches will start at
1 p.m.
Jennie Cook is
slated to start the
first game of the
doubleheader on
both Saturday and
Sunday. Besides
On tap
■ WHO:
No. 21 Oregon
softball team
■ WHAT:
A pair of
doubleheaders
■ WHERE:
Howe Field
■ WHEN:
Saturday against
California and
Sunday against
Stanford, both
beginning at
1 p.m.
limbing seconu on me team in nome runs
(5) and runs batted in (22), the junior pitch
er leads Oregon in starts (21), wins (15),
strikeouts (68), innings pitched (151) and
has a team-low 2.04 earned run average.
Freshman pitcher Bethany Smith (9-3) is
the probable starter for Game 2 on both
days.
With both Cal and Stanford ranked near
the top of the conference standings in field
ing percentage and total defense, the key
for the Ducks this weekend will be to jump
out early and make the most of their scor
ing opportunities, Gamez said.
“Both of these teams are very good de
fensively,” he said. “That’s their strength.
Stanford especially has made a tremendous
jump this season. They seem to be doing all
the little things right to win ball games.”
This is a strategy that currently has the
Cardinal second in the Pac-10 and just two
games behind No. 1 Arizona. Oregon,
Turn toUO, Page 16
Ducks return to conference play today
The Ducks face
Arizona State
and Arizona
this weekend to
kick off a
five-game
homestand
By Tim Pyle
Freelance Spoils Reporter
The good news is that the Oregon men’s
tennis team is undefeated at home this sea
son.
The bad news is that the Ducks have
played just one home match all season.
Oregon’s dual match with Arizona State
today at 1:30 p.m. at the 15th Street Courts
is the start of a stretch in which it will play
five straight Pacific-10 Conference home
matches. The No. 60 Ducks (11-7 overall, 0
2 Pac-10) conclude their weekend compe
tition with a noon match against Arizona at
the same location Sunday.
Today’s match also marks Oregon’s first
conference match since it lost consecutive
away matches to Stanford and California on
Jan. 30 and 31.
Oregon head coach Chris Russell said
this stretch of matches is one that he has
I TENNIS
Deen lootcing iorwara to
since he was hired in
1995. Up until this sea
son, the Pac-10 was divid
ed into North and South
divisions, and the Ducks
were forced to play at the
Southern teams’ venues
because they refused to
travel 10 r-ugene.
“In our eyes, we measure success by if
we’re competing well,” Russell said.
“When we do, we generally have very good
results.”
The Sun Devils (6-8 overall) jumped from
No. 51 to No. 25 in the most recent Rolex
Turn to DUCKS, Page 16
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Fresh off an upset of the nation's No. 1 player, Erwan Kergroach
leads the Ducks into today’s home match.