«- Softball continued from page 11 that her pitching showed improve ment from her loss at the hands of Stanford on Friday. “Lindsey had good command of the pitches; however, (California) did a good job of laying off some of the pitches that we’d like to see them enticed, too,” he said. “She’s going to be better in the second half of the Pac-10 season than she is right now.” Leading the game 3-0 after six innings, California capitalized on a costly Oregon error to tally their four in the seventh. With one out and a runner on first from a Meashintubby walk, the Bears’ first baseman Veronica Nelson hit a hard groundball to Alyssa Laux at second, which could have been an inning ending double play, but Haij dropped Laux’s toss. The next four California hitters r reached on a walk and three con secutive hits. The Bears’ No. 9 hitter Kristen Bayless finished the game l-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. She led off the third inning with a drive that bounced otf the top of the left field fence, narrowly missing a home run. The next batter, Kaleo Eldredge, drove her in with a single to right. Sunday’s seven-run differential was the first time in all of the Ducks’ six Pac-10 losses that they lost by more than two runs. It was also the fifth time (third in the Pac 10) that an opposing pitcher has shut them out. “As a unit, we need to regroup,” Rincon said. “It is going to be an uphill struggle. It doesn’t get any easier with every team, but I’m still impressed with the girls’ attitude and their desire to compete. Today just happened to be one of those days when we gave Cal a couple of breaks, and they capitalized on us big time.” In the Friday contest against Stanford, four costly errors plagued Oregon and the offense, although effective, was not enough to catch the Cardinal. In the game, Haij hit 3-for-4 with a home run that tied the game in the fifth. Stanford scored two in the sixth to pull ahead. Laux, who finished 2-for-4, drove in Erin Goodell in the sev enth, but that lone run was all the Ducks could muster. Saturday’s contest featured a home run by Laux, her first of the season, but the Bears’ two runs in the first and one in the sixth were enough for the win. The last time Oregon won a game in their conference was on April 1, 2001, against Arizona State. E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com. Adam Amato Emerald Shortstop Lynsey Haij is congratulated by head coach Brent Rincon after her sixth-inning home run Friday against Stanford. Men’s track continued from page 11 NCAA provisional mark with a vault of 17-6 1/2. “I didn’t feel on today but I hung in there, and that gives me confi dence that I can still put up decent marks when I don’t feel it physical ly,” Woods said. “There were a lot of good vaulters that were affected by the swirling winds, so I can’t re ally be disappointed even though I wanted to go higher.” Woods hit his first two heights — including the 17-6 1/2 height — on his first vault each time, but failed on three attempts at 17-10 3/4. He finished fifth in the competition. The Ducks were also in action Friday. Triple-jumper Fuluso Ak inradewo jumped well past his season best with a leap of 49-7, good enough for eighth place overall. The jump improved his Pac-10 mark and moved him clos er to the NCAA-provisional dis tance of 51-6 1/4. More pole vaulters competed on Friday, with Cody Howell and Ja son Slye taking third and fifth, re spectively, in the vaulting “B” sec tion. Both vaulters leaped heights of 16-8 3/4, and both were outdoor season bests for the two Ducks. Both vaulters qualified for the Pac 10 Championships with the vaults. A full contingent of Oregon ath letes will return to action in the Washington Dual meet next week end at Hayward Field. The head-to head matchup with the Huskies will be the second outdoor home meet of the season for the Ducks, and is one of only three remaining home meets. The Washington Dual will start at noon Saturday. E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday at pete rhockaday@dailyeme raid .com. 012461 Sign up for It's easy... Just go to the UO Health Center at 13th and Agate. But don’t miss the deadline. Sign-up runs now through April 12th. Spring term premium also covers summer! Review details of the plan on our web page: http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu ♦ Any questions? Call 346-3702 ♦ UNIVERSITY OF OREGON UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTER We're a matter of degrees ^