Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NHL Playoffs:
Anaheim at Minnesota, Game 2
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Monday, May 12,2003
Lorenzo comes back to win Pac-10 title
i ne senior makes a strong move on
the final day as the Ducks take 19
points back from Los Angeles
Men’s track and field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
He’s baaaaaack.
Santiago Lorenzo missed last season
with an injury, but officially returned to
his 2001 form by winning the Pacific-10
Conference decathlon title Sunday in
Los Angeles.
Lorenzo stood third after the first day
and second heading into the final three
events, but came back to win his second
Pac-10 decathlon title at USC’s
Cromwell Meld.
“I’ve been there before, and being in
third place I knew I’d be able to make up
points,” Lorenzo said. “I did what I
wanted to do. Mission accomplished.”
Jason Slye finished fourth, and
Andy Young finished one spot behind
Slye as the Ducks took home 19 points
in the team competition, 10 more
than second-place Washington State.
That will give the rest of the team an
automatic advantage in next week
end’s regular competition.
“This is a huge lift to the body of our
track team,” said Oregon assistant coach
Bill Lawson, who coaches the decathletes.
“I’m really proud of these guys, how they
battled and never gave up. They fought ‘til
the very last second.”
Lorenzo had an erratic first day of
competition. He started the day by fin
ishing fourth in the 100-meter dash,
then took third in the long jump, second
in the shot put and ninth in the high
jump. He capped the day by winning the
400. He finished the day third with
3,856 points, but was less than 100
points out of the lead.
On Sunday, Lorenzo took charge of
the competition. He finished third in the
110 hurdles to start the day, then fin
ished second in the discus. He took the
lead by finishing second in the pole
vault, then finished the day with a win
in the javelin and held on for sixth in the
last event, the 1,500.
“Santiago obviously did his job,” Law
son said. “He tried to use as minimal ef
fort as possible. That’s a true champion,
Turn to Men's, page 10
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Santiago Lorenzo stood third after the first day, but won the Pac-10.
Adam Amato Emerald
Amy Harris threw a complete-game shutout in Saturday's 7-0 win over Stanford. It was Harris' eighth complete game.
Softball earns berth
in NCAA Regionals
The Ducks get a No. 3 seed after
home wins against fifth-ranked
California and No. 14 Stanford
Softball
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
Oregon’s hard work on the season
paid off Sunday as the Ducks were
given a No. 3 seed in Fullerton, Calif.,
for the NCAA Regionals.
The Ducks will face Penn State in
their first regional game Thursday at
5 p.m. on California State-Fullerton’s
home field. Cal State-Fullerton is the
No. 1 seed in the region and the No. 6
seed overall.
“This is huge,” head coach Kathy
Arendsen said. “It’s a chance to play
in front of our fans.”
Oregon was expecting to be sent
east to Michigan or Florida, figur
ing Stanford or California would
earn the Fullerton nod. Nine mem
bers of the Oregon team are from
California, meaning the regional
placement will likely be a chance
to play for a friendly crowd.
“California’s familiar to all of us,”
third baseman Lynsey Haij said. “It’ll
be like home.”
The No. 18 Ducks set them
selves up for their No. 3 seed with
a split against No. 5 California and
No. 14 Stanford on Friday and Sat
urday to close the Pacific-10 Con
ference season.
Oregon had lost three games to Cali
fomia this season, scoring only one run
against the Bears in all three games.
California struck first Friday with
one run against pitcher Amy Harris in
the third inning. Anissa Meashintubby
relieved Harris and struck out the sec
ond batter she faced to end the inning.
The Ducks answered with a tower
ing solo home run over the right field
scoreboard by Haij.
In the bottom of the fifth, Oregon
padded its lead with five runs. Right
fielder Beth Boskovich opened the in
ning with a single. Left fielder Andrea
Vidlund followed with a single, advanc
ing Boskovich to second. First baseman
Alyssa Laux singled to load the bases.
Cal pitcher Kristina Thorson
walked catcher Jenn Poore to walk in
Boskovich, and center fielder Janell
Bergstrom drove in Vidlund and Laux
with a single to center.
Cassie Bobrow relieved Thorson,
who promptly gave up an infield hit to
second baseman Erin Goodell. Poore
scored on the play. Designated player
Amber Hutchison hit a sacrifice bunt
back to the pitcher, driving in
Bergstrom for the 6-1 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Oregon
added three more runs, ending the
game with the eight-run rule over the
defending national champions. Vid
lund hit her 11th home run of the sea
son. Laux followed with a single, then
scored on a double by Poore. Pinch hit
ter Julie Jaime drove in Poore to end
the game.
Meashintubby held the Bears hidess
Turn to Softball, page 12
Year of one Duck: Oregon softball squad wins games and fans
Not to go all soft on you, but...
Go softball.
Last night’s softball selection
show at the Casanova Center was
the feel-good event of this Year of
the Duck. Notice the singular.
Last year, football went Fiesta, bas
ketball went bonkers and track near
ly went to the top. But this year, there
are fewer titles in “Tide Town” than
there are hairs on Vin Diesel’s head.
But it’s still the Year of the Duck.
It’s the year of softball.
Just ask the Oregon Marching
Band, which was shrewd enough to
send a contingent to Saturday’s games.
Trust me,
you’ve never
heard “stick it
in, stick it in,
huh!” until
you’ve heard it
at a softball
game.
Or ask Joe
Giansante, the
voice of Duck
football and
basketball on
local television
broadcasts,
who found himself in the Howe Field
Peter
Hockaday
Two minutes for
crosschecking
media box Friday, broadcasting an
Oregon softball game.
Or ask Oregon coach Kathy
Arendsen, the Jolly Green Giant be
hind this whole mess. She really is
jolly — she walks around with a grin
that would make The Joker cringe.
She wears a boatload of green now
that she coaches the Ducks after 13
years at various somewhat eastern
places.
And she’s a giant. The Oregon
media guide doesn’t list coaches
heights, but if they did, she’d be a
short 6-foot-2. Arendsen was a
dominating pitcher, and now she’s
a dominating coach. She hasn’t
coached a losing team since 1992
and she wasn’t about to get in the
habit once she hit the Pac-10.
She’s turned this Oregon softball
team from doormat to doorbell —
they’re dinging dingers, they’re
chiming each others’ praises and
they’re not going to knock on their
way into the NCAA house.
“This is a team of destiny,”
Arendsen said.
Now, destiny is labeled Penn
State. It wears Oklahoma State’s or
ange and is larger than Gal-State
Fullerton’s Titan mascot. Those are
the teams Oregon must defeat to get
to the College World Series, a place
the Ducks haven’t been since 1989.
Oregon can lose once but can’t lose
again in the round-robin regional.
“We have a shot,” Arendsen said
of the World Series. “This is a team
that knows how to win, that does
well in pressure situations. I think
we’re well-rounded, and we’re play
ing well at the right time.”
Another “team of destiny” —
the 2001-02 Oregon men’s basket
ball team — has eerie parallels
with this softball squad. Both
Turn to Hockaday, page 12