Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
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Oklahoma State vs. Texas
6:30 p.m., ESPN2
Thursday, March 11,2004
Softball’s
slow start
gives win
to Canada
The Ducks lost an exhibition
game to Team Canada, 7-2,
their home opener at Howe
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
It started with a small spark — a sin
thing together.
Then, in the bottom of the fifth, the
Ducks breathed some life into their game.
Second baseman Suzie Bames was hit by
a pitch on a 0-2 count for Oregon's third
baserunner of the game.
Two outs later, on a 1-0 count, right
fielder Dani Baird hit a shot over the left
field fence that elicited cheers from the
Duck bench before Canada's Alison
Bradley had time to decide if she should
chase it.
DUCK
SOFTBALL
gle by catcher
Jenn Poore in
Oregon's first at
bat — but for four
innings Oregon
couldn't put any
The two-run home run ended up being
all Oregon could muster, losing a 7-2 deci
sion to Team Canada, the Canadian
Olympic team, in an exhibition game
Wednesday at Howe Field.
"We started too slow," Oregon head
coach Kathy Arendsen said. "We're dis
appointed with our start, but I really
am pleased with how we ended —
Dani's hit, brought a lot of passion just
with how she plays. I hope that we
move forward and grow from this ex
perience, it was just disappointing how
we got started."
The game was Oregon's first home
game of the season and the first chance for
Duck fans to get a look at the young team,
which is 17-5 this season.
The 420 fans in attendance didn't have
much Oregon success to cheer, however,
because Canada's Kaila Holtz threw a two
hit complete game.
"Canada's a good ballclub, but Cana
da's not USA," Arendsen said. "I think it's a
team we should have played a very close
game with. I don't know whether or not
we should have beaten them, but we
should have been close."
The Ducks — ranked No. 16 and No.
14 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and
National Fastpitch Coaches Associa
tion/USA Today Division I Polls, re
spectively — have lost two straight ex
hibition games to Olympic teams.
Oregon lost 7-0 to Team USA Saturday
before the Ducks hosted Team Canada
on Wednesday.
Baird is the only Duck to have a hit
against each team. She had Oregon's lone
hit in the shutout by Team USA, while
Baird and Poore accounted for the two
hits against Team Canada.
"I was kind of upset because I got
tricked in my first at-bat," Baird said. "She
threw me a rise ball and I bit at it. So I
moved back in the box so I could see the
rise ball a little better. I just saw my pitch
and drove it over the fence."
The Ducks kept everything they threw at
Canada in the field, giving up 10 hits, eight
basehits and two doubles.
Every player on the Oregon squad —
Turn to SOFTBALL, page 14
I ai ji ^ .r .r .t ji .a it j j ^ jt ^
Ducks, Cal back at even
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Luke Jackson and the Ducks need to win the Pac-10 Tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA Championships.
Oregon and the Golden Bears meet
for the third time this season with
the NCAA Tournament on the line
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Time for the mbber match.
Oregon and California split the season series,
with each team winning at
home, and both teams
meet today at approxi
mately 2:50 p.m. in the
second game of the Pacif
ic-10 Conference Tourna
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
ment at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
At stake is more than just bragging rights.
The Ducks and Golden Bears both need a win
in the worst way. If Oregon wants to head to the
NCAA Tournament for three straight years, it must
win its first game of the tournament, along with
its second and third.
California (13-14 overall, 9-9 Pac-10), mean
while, must go to the championship game of the
conference tournament just to earn a 0.500 or bet
ter record and be eligible for the NIT.
That makes for an interesting first game of the
tournament for both teams.
"I like this matchup," Oregon forward Luke
Jackson said. "I think we have a good game plan
going into this game, and I think it's going to be
Turn to CAL, page 14
Pac-10 wide open for surprises
Even with Stanford as the favorite, any
team has one final chance to earn
a berth into the NCAA Tournament
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The men's Pacific-10 Conference Tournament is
full of surprises this year.
Stanford lost its first game recently, Washington fin
ished second after beginning 0-5 and Washington State
made the tournament for the first time in 14 years.
Arizona and the Cardinal are
both automatics to the NCAA
Tournament. Washington will
likely make it as well for win
ning 12 of its last 13 games.
Any one of the eight teams
in the Pac-10 Tournament has
a chance to advance to the Big
Dance with the automatic bid that comes from win
ning the tournament crown.
Games begin this afternoon, starting with No. 1 Stan
ford against No. 8 Washington State, followed by No. 4
California taking on No. 5 Oregon. The championship
game is set for 3:15 p.m. Saturday at the Staples Center.
1. Stanford (26-1 overall, 17-1 Pac-10)
The Cardinal captured its 11th Pac-10 crown — the
fourth in six years — and is clearly the tournament
favorite.
Stanford is no longer undefeated after being upset
by Washington, which ended the Cardinal's 26-game
winning streak.
Junior Josh Childress leads the Cardinal with 15.2
points per game and was the first Stanford player to ever
Turn to PAC-10, page 14
PAC
io
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire (20) has averaged 25
points per game during the past five games.
Tennis
struggles
to find
rhythm
The Oregon men want more
consistency; the women look
to break their losing streak
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
After a disappointing weekend of
play, Oregon men's
Chris Russell is try
ing to preach two
attributes to his
team: detail and
desire.
The 45th-ranked
tennis head coach
DUCK
TENNIS
Ducks (7-4 overall) were riding high
with confidence after defeating rival
Washington for only the sixth time in
the school's history. However, instead
of continuing that strong play, the men
suffered a setback when they lost two
matches on their home court. One of
those losses included a 5-2 defeat
against No. 51 Georgia Tech on Sunday.
"Hopefully the guys are just con
cerned with trying to get better," Russell
said. "Not just technically, but 1 think
they are going to have to take some re
sponsibility for their intensity level get
ting better."
Russell said his team needs to maintain
the high energy level from the Washington
match. The men want that victory to be
the standard for their quality of play every
weekend.
"They've shown people in this com
munity and other college teams what
they're capable of doing," Russell said.
"That (Husky) match so far has been
the exception. Hopefully they can make
it the norm. Right now, they haven't
done that."
One area of concern was doubles
play. The Ducks lost four of the six
doubles matches against Georgia Tech
and Minnesota to lose the first dual
point in each match. Oregon has yet to
win a dual match this year when losing
the doubles point. After having to face
a pair of 1-0 deficits, the men were
pressured to win the majority of the six
singles matches, which did not
happen.
The bottom half of the singles lineup
has struggled to find any consistency
through the season. The men have com
piled a 14-16 singles record at the No. 4
through No. 6 positions.
The top three spots, though, are so
lidified between juniors Sven Swinnen
and Manuel Kost and sophomore
Thomas Bieri. Swinnen, ranked No. 92
in the nation, has played strong tennis
all year long in earning a 10-1 singles
record.
"(Swinnen) has been a bright spot con
sistently," Russell said. "He's really come
out ready to play."
The men will take this weekend off and
return to action when they travel to Port
land March 23 and to No. 29 California
March 26.
Women Still Confident
The Oregon women have lost five
straight dual matches after starting the
year winning nine straight. However,
all five losses occurred to top 15 teams
on the road, including top-ranked
Stanford.
The 23rd-ranked Ducks (9-5 overall,
Turn to TENNIS, page 14