Softball’s success rivals 2000 season
Tne Ducks are in the middle
of one of their best seasons
ever with two weeks left
Softball notes
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
No. 19 Oregon is making a mark
on the Pacific-10 Conference.
After two consecutive seasons in
last place in the Pac-10, the Ducks
have tied their conference win
record from the 2000 season —
Oregon’s last season in the NCAA
Regional Tournament.
When the Ducks swept Arizona
State at Howe Field on Saturday
and Sunday, they were the first
consecutive conference wins at
home for Oregon since 1998. The
last time the Ducks won back-to
back games against Arizona State
was 1999.
Oregon is doing the little things to
help it win this season. After only
20 stolen bases in the 2002 season,
the Ducks have 43 steals with six
games left in the regular season.
Seniors Amber Hutchison and
Alyssa Laux lead the team in steals
with 11 stolen bases each. Both sur
passed their stolen base totals from
their three previous seasons com
bined: Hutchison with nine and
Laux with 10.
With senior Andrea Vidlund’s two
saves against Arizona State, the
Ducks have 12 saves on the season,
which ties the Pac-10 single-season
record for saves by a team.
The Ducks have also been hitting
home runs with force this season.
Vidlund’s leadoff home run Sunday
marked Oregon’s 28th home run of
the season — the same number the
Ducks hit during the entire 2002
season. Vidlund leads Oregon with
nine, with eight coming in the past
15 games. Laux, junior Jenn Poore
and freshman Beth Boskovich are
tied for second with three each.
Ranking Oregon
The Ducks picked up their best
ranking of the season Tuesday in
USA Softball/ESPN.com’s Top 25 at
No. 19. In Tuesday’s NFCA/USA To
day poll, Oregon improved from No.
23 to No. 21.
Dominating the Top 25
The Pac-10 leader, Arizona (45-4,
14-1), is again ranked No. 1 nation
ally in both the NFCA/USA Today
and USA Softball/ESPN.com polls.
The Wildcats one conference loss
was to Stanford.
UCLA (39-5,11-3) remains at No.
2 in both polls as well as second in
the conference. No. 6/9 California
(39-14, 8-7), third in the Pac-10,
and No. 4/5 Washington (40-9-1, 7
7), fourth in the Pac-10, split a pair
of games Saturday and Sunday.
Oregon made its biggest gain of
the season with two wins on the
weekend, moving up to fifth in the
Pac-10. The Ducks are fifth for the
first time this season.
No. 12/15 Stanford (35-20, 5-10)
is one game behind the Ducks, tied
with No. 15/16 Arizona State (28
19, 5-10).
Oregon State continues its trend
as the only Pac-10 team not appear
ing in either top 25 poll. The
Beavers, who took a game from Ari
zona State on Friday before losing
twice to Arizona, did receive votes
in both polls. Unofficially, they are
ranked at No. 26 and 30.
Pac-10 weekly honors
Arizona pitcher Alicia Hollowell
won her fourth Pac-10 Pitcher of
the Week award on Monday, giving
Arizona seven individual award
winners, Pitcher of the Week or
Player of the Week, for the season.
Adam Amato Emerald
Amber Hutchison and the Ducks are in the middle of their best season in awhile.
Only three separate Wildcats have
actually won the awards.
Oregon and UCLA also have
three players who have been hon
ored at least once this season. Ari
zona State and Washington have
each split three awards between
two players.
Two Stanford pitchers have been
honored, while two Oregon State
players have also been honored.
California is the only school not to
have a player or pitcher earn the
award this season.
Contact the sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
Track
continued from page 7
Javelin pointing
differently
Adam Jenkins isn’t John Stiegeler,
but he’s sure been throwing like the for
mer javelin champion these days.
Jenkins used a personal best Sat
urday at the Oregon Invitational to
move to the top of the Pac-10 rank
ings and earn Pac-10 Field Athlete
of the Week honors. Jenkins posted
a throw of 221 feet, 4 inches to fin
ish second behind national leader
Rob Minnitti of Boise State at the
Invitational.
Jump like a freshman
The old Ducks weren’t exactly
moldy with age, but the new Oregon
high jumpers were ripe and fresh at
the Invite on Saturday.
With the graduation of stars Jason
Boness and Kyley Johnson last season,
the future looked bleak for the high
jump crew. But with Boness and John
son in attendance and competing Sat
urday, freshman Chad Clason popped a
Pac-10 and regional-qualifying height to
give Duck fans hope for the future of
the jump.
Clason jumped 6-10 3/4 and cur
rently ranks seventh on the Pac-10
list just three weeks out from the con
ference meet. Fellow freshman Jeff
Lindsey isn’t too far behind; he’s
jumped 6-6 3/4 and sits just outside
the list of Pac-10 qualifiers.
Rank and file
The Oregon track teams can’t seem
to catch a break — or a big mark — to
move up in the national rankings. The
Ducks both sit at 14th in
Trackwire.corn’s weekly rankings. The
Web site takes teams’ best marks and
scores the national meet based on
those marks.
The men sit all alone in 14th in
their poll, while the women are in a
three-way tie on their side of things.
Both teams would score 18 points at
the season-ending meet, according to
the rankings.
The Ducks still aren’t on the board at
www.team-power.org, which allows the
user to match teams against each other
and see who wins. But some other Pac
10 powers are listed, and according to
the site, the Pac-10 Championships
should be a heck of a battle between
UCLA and Arizona. The Bruins, ranked
No. 19 by Trackwire, would edge the
unranked Wildcats, 125-78.
Contact the sports editor
atpeterhockaday@dailyemeraId.com.
Golf
continued from page 7
home courses in the biggest
tournament of the year for any
of the teams involved.
The Bruins’ closest competi
tor is the No. 6 Arizona Wild
cats. However, UCLA would
need a major meltdown to lose
its 23 stroke lead heading into
today’s fourth and final round.
Stanford sits in third place, fol
lowed by No. 20 Washington
and No. 16 Arizona State.
The Sun Devils recently won
six-straight Pac-10 titles, a streak
dating from 1995 to 2000. The
Oregon State Beavers
leapfrogged the Ducks in the
standings, outshooting Oregon
by five strokes to take a three
stroke lead into today’s finale.
Oregon is in a position to fin
ish no worse than seventh over
all, as the team currently holds a
13-stroke lead over its nearest
competitor, the California
Golden Bears.
Leading the field individually
is UCLA’s John Merrick and
Stanford’s Jim Seki, both with
3-under 213s. Oregon State’s
Cameron MacKenzie gave up
the tournament lead Tuesday
and now sits one stroke behind
the co-leaders.
Oregon wraps up the Pac-10
Championships today, hoping
to solidify a bid to the NCAA
West Regional May 15-17 in
Seattle.
Scott Archer is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
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Horoscope by Linda C. Black
TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (April 30). The
pressure you've been under should
soon begin to ease. You'll find that your
experience has grown. Something that
used to be upsetting has become rou
tine and has actually made you
stronger. Start taking on new chal
lenges.
To get the advantage, check the day's
rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most
challenging.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) _ Today is a
7 _ You'd rather do innovative financial
planning than spend all day counting
beans. Unfortunately, the latter is
required first. Count those beans now.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) _ Today is a
7 _ Finish the tasks you've been wor
ried about. Get them out of the way,
and do a good job on them. There's a
test coming tomorrow.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21) _ Today is a
6 _ Review your travel plans again. The
more potential problems you can nego
tiate now, the more fun you'll have this
weekend
CANCER (June 22-July 22) _ Today is
an 8 _ Once you have your routine
down, the job gets a lot easier.
Establish your basic structure now, with
input from wise friends.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) _ Today is a 6 _
Next week it starts getting easier for
you to be in control. Meanwhile, renew
old alliances, and don't argue with the
VIRGO (Aug 23-Sept. 22) _ Today is a
7 _ Don't squander your money, even if
you feel flush. The more you save now,
the more you'll have to spend this
weekend on fun and games.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) _ Today is a 5
_ If you can stand to be frugal just a lit
tle while longer, you'll be glad you did. If
you must buy a treat for yourself or a
loved one, take time to find the best
deal.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) _ Today is
a 7 _ You may have to rely on a partner
to get your meaning across. By now,
you and this other person should be on
the same wavelength. If not, make
adjustments.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) _
Today is a 7 _ Play by the rules and get
the job done. Offer encouragement to
those who are stuck. Be patient. Victory
may not come until next week.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) _ Today
is an 8 _ Did you know that Capricorn
is the sign of going from rags to riches?
Hardships make you stronger, and you
eventually succeed. So take heart, no
matter where you are within the
process.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) _ Today
is a 6 _ You've made your move, you've
taken your stand, and now you can set
tle down. Work out the kinks in your
new routine. Make yourself comfortable.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) _ Today is
a 7 _ You're pretty good at “putting up
with," but fixing the problem is better.
It's time to hit the books again. And this
time, be more patient.
105 TYPING/RESUME SERVICES
At 344-0759, ROBIN is GRAD
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papers. Full resume service. Editing.
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120 MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE
Macintosh G3 computer, extra mem
ory, ViewSonic 16in. monitor, $800.
Call 344-8389 or 915-9591.
Wednesday is New Comic Day
at Emerald City Comics.
770 E. 13th. 345-2568.
PC Notebook For Sale!
500 MHZ, 128 Megs Ram, DVD
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89’ Ford Tempo. Automatic, 100K,
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145 COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS
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165 SPORTS EQUIPMENT
WANTED QUALITY used sports and
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180 TRAVEL & LODGING
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Destinations included; Prague,
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190 OPPORTUNITIES
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ads must provide a sample of item for sale.
Otherwise, ads that appear too good to be
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Respond at your own risk.
190 OPPORTUNITIES
Bartender Positions
Make up to $300/shift. No exp, re
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Night Ride is now hiring staff mem
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Positions available: (2) Co-director
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ASUO Executive Office- suite 4
EMU and are due Wed, 5/7 by 5p.m.
346-0500 for more info. EOE/ADA
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