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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2000)
\/ Best Bet NHL, Conf. quarterfinals No. 5 4:30 p.m., ESPN April 20,2000 Volume 101, Issue 135 Emerald Freshman Vidlund helps UO bounce back The Ducks pick up the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader to win one against Hawaii By Matt O'Neill Oregon Daily Emerald It was a bittersweet after noon for the No. 18 Oregon softball team as it split two games with Hawaii Wednes day afternoon at Howe Field. The Wahine (17-20 overall) picked up the first contest, 9 6, while the Ducks (29-18,4-6 Pacific-10 Conference) sal vaged the day with a 6-1 vic tory in the nightcap. “Our intensity was really low in the first game,” fresh man Andrea Vidlund said. “I told them if we don’tpick up our intensity, then we aren’t going to win another game. So I had to make sure the mental focus was there.” Vidlund (15-4) helped the Ducks’ cause by throwing a gem, going seven innings and allowing one run on five hits. “My mental focus was there today,” Vidlund said. “I really concentrated out there; that was my main goal to day.” Oregon batted around in the fourth inning, scoring five runs on five hits and an error. The Ducks loaded the bases with no one out. Holly Ray then laid down a squeeze bunt to score Welch. Then Amber Hutchinson delivered a double to drive in two runs. Hutchinson scored one batter later on a wild pitch. “We did some things right out there,” head coach Rick Gamez said. “We squeezed, hit the ball with run ners in scoring position, and that was helpful.” Vidlund gave up the Wahine’s only run in the top of the first when Melissa McGie led off with a double and scored on a single by Tyree Woodruff. “Andrea did a great job in the second game,” Gamez said. “She gave up five hits on the game and I think three or four of them were in the first inning.” In the first game, Hawaii started the day with a blast — or two in the case of Dana De gen, who had a career day. The designated hitter parked two home runs over the fence Turn to Softball, page 9A My mental focus was there today, I really concentrated out there... Andrea Vidlund pitcher Ryan Starkweather Emerald Pam Sowden is the winner of two individual titles this year. ■ New Zealand natives Pam Sowden and Kylie Wilson hope to end their illustrious Oregon careers on a high note this postseason, starting at the Pac-10 Championships in Eugene next week By Peter Hockaday for the Emerald Last summer, the Oregon women’s golf team took a trip down under to the largest is land in the world and its hum ble next door neighbor. For most of the team, it was a chance to see the sights and soak up the sun of Australia and New Zealand. But for two Ducks, it was a homecoming. “It was awesome to have the team come home to play our golf courses and meet our fam ilies,” senior co-captain Kylie Wilson says in her bright New Zealand accent, in which “team” sounds more like “tame” and “golf” more like “gulf.” Wilson and fellow senior captain Pam Sowden have traveled a long way to get where they are today — cap tains of a Pac-10 golf team, medalists at three tournaments this year, playing on some of the most beautiful golf courses in America. “They’ve represented Ore gon and themselves, their fam ilies and actually their country as great ambassadors,” head coach Renee Baumgartner said. Now, less than a week be fore Sowden and Wilson’s fi nal postseason in Oregon golf shirts, the two Auckland na tives are at once excited about the postseason and reflective of their time as Ducks. For Sowden and Wilson, leading the women’s golf team has been much more than a position. The two have cap tained the team on and off the golf course this year with low On Tap What: Pac-10 women’s goif championships Who: Every Pac-10 team Where: Eugene Country Club When: April 24- 26, all day scores and positive attitudes. “Coach always says, if we look after ourselves, the team’s going to benefit as well,” says Wilson. Baumgartner knows what she’s talking about. In the nine tournaments Oregon played during the reg ular season, Sowden won two individual titles and Wilson won one. Oregon won all three of those tournaments — the Fall Nittany Lion Invitational, the Colby/ Santa Clara Invita tional and the Lady Aztec In vitational. “Not a lot of Oregon golfers have won tournaments,” Baumgartner said. “They’re pretty significant in what they’ve meant to Oregon golf.” Although you might not be lieve it in the scores-oriented world of Pac-10 golf, the two captains stress team unity al most as much as low handi caps. “It’s an individual sport but also a team sport,” Sowden says. “You have to trust your teammates.” Beyond golf course fences the team eats, hangs out and, of course, takes the occasional trip to Australia together. “It’s like a family,” Wilson says. But before the captains can Turn to Thunder, page 10A Ryan Starkweather Emerald Senior Kylie Wilson has also won an individual tourney.
