Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Monday, April 29,2002
Best Bet
NH L playoffs:
Los Angeles at Colorado
6:30 p.m., ESPN2
Laux homer puts Ducks in Pac-10 win column
A two-run
home run by
Alyssa Laux
helps Oregon
softball end a
32-game Pac
10 losing streak
with a win over
Arizona State
r
By unris uaDot
Oregon Daily Emerald
The streak is over.
The Oregon softball team defeated
No. 5 Arizona State 4-2 on Saturday,
breaking its 13-game losing slide in the
Pacific-10 Conference this season. The
game also broke the Ducks’ 32-game
losing streak in the conference dating
back to last season’s game against Ari
zona State on April 1, 2001. Oregon (22
24 overall, 1-14 Pac-10) won its first
Pac-10 contest on the road since April
16, 2000 against Stanford.
After losing to No. 1 Arizona, 7-1, in
Tempe on Friday, Oregon put the ball in
the hands of Lindsey Kontra in the first
of a two-day, two-game stand against
the Sun Devils (38-13, 8-6) — and the
freshman welcomed the challenge.
Kontra allowed a run in the second
on a Nichole Thompson home run,
and the game remained 1-0 until the
top of the sixth when the Oregon bats
caught fire. With Jenn Poore on first
from a walk and one out from a pop
out by Lynsey Haij, second baseman
Alyssa Laux hit a lined shot over the
right held fence for her third home run
of the season to put the Ducks up 2-1.
Mari Lyn Petrick followed immediate
ly with a single up
the middle, and An
drea Vidlund was hit
by a pitch. Kristi
Hall hit a hard
groundball to sec
ond, which Missy
Hixon couldn’t han
dle, creating a bases
loaded situation for Ashley Richards.
Richards worked the count full and
then ripped a double down the left
field line, scoring Petrick and Vidlund.
Arizona State gave the Ducks a
scare in the seventh when Jennifer
Forner, who had led off the inning
with a hit, scored on a double by Kara
Brun. Phalen Wright followed by
drawing a walk from Kontra, who
seemed to pitch around the hard-hit
ting third baseman, to bring up
Thompson. The Sun Devils’ first base
man needed only a triple to complete
Turn to Softball, page 12
UO success story continues in Spring Game
■ Quarterback Jason Fife leads the Green team’s
charge in an ‘expected’ 51-3 win over the backups
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
PORTLAND — It’s still early, but 2002 is turning out to
be a special year for the Oregon football team.
The Ducks improved to 2-0 this year with a convincing
51-3 victory Saturday in the Spring Game in front of
12,524 fans at PGE Park. Of course, Oregon couldn’t lose
— the game pitted the Ducks against themselves, with the
Green team, composed of mostly starters, dominating the
. second, third and fourth units, otherwise
jfllk known as the White team.
“I think we put most of the good play
ers on the Green team, and they showed
up and did a good job,” Oregon head
coach Mike Bellotti said. “Our defensive
lineman were only one-deep for two
teams, and they played every down, as did our offensive
lineman, so the line of scrimmage people got a heck of a
workout and a great day.”
After the most successful season in school history
— capped off on New Year’s Day with a Fiesta Bowl victo
ry over Colorado and a season-ending No. 2 ranking —
Oregon’s main task this spring was to find out who would
[ replace Joey Harrington as the starting quarterback.
For the first three weeks of spring drills, junior Jason
Fife was less than spectacular. On Saturday, he didn’t
disappoint.
Fife solidified his role as the No. 1 quarterback heading
into fall camp by completing 12-of-15 passes for 217 yards
and four touchdowns, two of which ended up in the
hands of junior receiver Sarnie Parker.
“I’ve been here for a couple years, so I’ve been in this
setting,” said Fife, who also had a 32-yard run in the game.
“I hope that I’m ready for this type of thing.”
Fife’s counterpart, redshirt freshman Kellen Clemens,
was clearly the inexperienced, as he finished 8-of-13 for
72 yards and a touchdown pass to Keith Allen. Bellotti
said Clemens, who was-also sacked five times, was “lost”
at times against the second-team defense.
Despite the contrasting performances, Bellotti wasn’t
prepared to name Fife the starter for the season opener
against Mississippi State on Aug. 31.
“The guys I expected to make plays did,” Bellotti said.
“I have been pleased with Jason’s progress all spring as he
as shown signs of improvement every practice. But that is
somewhat to be expected from a junior.”
Turn to Football, page 12
Junior Jason Fife secured his spot as the No.1 quarterback heading into fall camp as he completed
12-of-15 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns in the annual Spring Game on Saturday.
Fife, Parker
connection
a success in
scrimmage
■The Ducks’ quarterback
and receiver tandem steps into
the spotlight at the Spring Game
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
PORTLAND — There’s a new
gun-slinger in town, and he already
has a favorite target.
Jason Fife stepped calmly and
comfortably into die top quarterback
spot at the Oregon football team’s an
nual Spring Game at PGE Park on
Saturday. But the play of wide re
ceiver Sarnie Parker, who was the re
cipient of two scoring strikes, was as
impressive as Fife’s 217-yard, 4
touchdown performance.
“I mean c’mon, what does Sarnie
run, a 4.3 40 (yards)?” Fife said.
“There’s not a lot of guys that can de
fend that. He’s got some crisp routes,
and he’s just an awesome weapon to
have.”
Parker utilized his speed to get be
hind defenders and break free for big
gains. His 143 yards came on seven
receptions, giving him a 20.4 yard
per-reception average.
“Sarnie has the ability and the
speed to make some things happen,”
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti
said. “I’m excited that he’s had a
tremendous track season, and he
showed up today in a big way.”
Parker’s first touchdown was also
the first touchdown of the game, and
Turn to Tandem, page 12
Oregon golfers fight back to finish fifth at Pac-10 Championships
■Junior John Ellis shoots a one
over 73 Saturday to finish in a tie
for seventh place at the Pac-10
Championships in Corvallis
By Jesse Thomas
for the Emerald
After a dismal opening round Thurs
day, the Oregon men’s golf team fought
its way back to finish fifth at the 2002
Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
The Ducks shot an eight-over 368 in
the final round played Saturday and
slipped into fifth place in the final
standings at 1,471. Oregon played at the
7,022-yard, par-72 Trysting Tee Golf
Course in Corvallis.
“It wasn’t a stellar round by any
means, but it wasn’t terrible either,”
Oregon head coach Steve Nosier said.
“A couple of guys'fought really hard
just to get what they got.”
Junior John Ellis shot a one-over 73 in
Saturday’s final round to finish tied for
seventh at 289. The Ducks also carded
a 72 from senior Brandon Hamden, a 73
from junior Chris Carnahan and 75s
from senior Aaron Byers and sopho
more Mike Sica.
Defending champion USC, which en
tered the final round in third, took con
trol with a four-under 356, the best
round of the day. Stanford shot 373 Sat
urday, but still finished 15 strokes be
hind the Trojans.
USC finished one-over par at 1,441,
with the Cardinals at 1,456, while Ore
gon State took third with 1,458. UCLA
fired a 35^,The second-lowest round of
the day, to edge out Oregon by two
strokes at 1,469.
“I would have liked to finish a little
higher,” Nosier said, whose team was in
a tie for last after Thursday’s beginning
round. “Except for that first round, we
hung in there fairly decently.”
The Ducks were sitting nicely after Fri
day’s third round, where they climbed
into a tie for fourth after being in seventh
at the conclusion of Thursday. Oregon
fired their second consecutive 365 for
the third-lowest score of the day.
Byers shot two-under 70 for the Ducks
on Friday, and the team also
Turn to Golf, page 8
ELLIS