Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB:
San Francisco vs. Chicago Cubs
4 p.m., ESPN2
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Mindi Rice
The girl and the game
Pitcher
believes
pressure
will help
If past precedence holds true — and in
collegiate softball there is a tendency for
history to repeat itself — then a team's
pitcher is the key to whether or not a dub
finds success in the postseason.
For Oregon, that fastball — or rise ball,
as the case may be — falls in the glove and
on the shoulder of the Ducks' everything
but-an-ace Ani Nyhus.
Nyhus, the blond-haired wonder who
started 29 of Oregon's 57 games this sea
son, carried the Ducks throughout most of
the Padfic-10 Conference season.
"I think that there is going to be pres
sure there for me to step up right now,"
Nyhus said at the team's practice Monday.
"I think it's going to be good pressure
though, I don't see it as anything that is
going to take me off my game."
Since the early days of the season, Ny
hus has been the local media darling,
with feature stories about her written by
local newspapers and television stations
calling about her every two weeks. While
she nervously fidgets in front of the cam
era, when they say "thank you," she
breathes a sigh of relief, turns back to the
bullpen and resumes practice with her
catcher, Amie Morris.
Nyhus doesn't mind the attention all
that much, but she would be happier just
pitching. But she really doesn't like being
called the staffs "ace."
However, when it comes to postseason
play, facts are facts. Nyhus has thrown 175
2/3 innings this season and has faced 637
batters. Senior Anissa Meashintubby and
sophomore Amy Harris combined for num
bers only slightly higher than Nyhus' — 187
1/3 innings and 685 batters. Lefty Lindsey
Kontra rounds out the Oregon staff, facing
100 batters in 26 1/3 innings thrown.
"The thing about our team is that we
have so much depth in our pitching staff,"
Nyhus said. "Like (pitching coach Mike
White) keeps saying, no matter what, one
day it could be someone else that just
steps up and has the big couple weeks
where they're just really on.
"I hope that it's me. I hope that I can
step up this week and that I can really pro
duce for our team because I think that's
something that I need to do, for myself
too. I think that's the benefit of having
such a strong pitching staff."
The depth of Oregon's pitching staff was
pushed in the final two weeks of Pac-10
play. Nyhus, who was on a roll early in the
season, seemed ineffective against Arizona
and Arizona State, California and Stanford
the second time around. Oregon was 1-5
in those final games.
"I'm disappointed with the last couple
weeks," Nyhus said. "My inconsistency is
really frustrating me. I'll go and throw a
good game against Stanford and then I'll
turn around the next day and just not have
my stuff at all. It's frustrating right now."
Turn to RICE, page 9
Senior takes fifth at conference meet
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
Trevor Woods said he'll need a clearance of 17-8 at the West Regional to make nationals.
Trevor Wood’s clearance in the pole vault Friday
was one reason Oregon nearly finished first
in the Pacific-10 Championship meet last week
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Trevor Woods knew the pole vault competition would be tough when
he entered last week's Pacific-10 Conference Championship meet.
The senior had cleared a season best 17 feet, 1 1/2 inches two weeks
prior to his trip to Tucson, Ariz., but ranked only seventh in the con
ference. With the likes of UCLA's Yoo Kim, Pat Luke and teammate
Tommy Skipper vying against him, Woods would have to bring his "A"
game to even crack the top seven.
The Coos Bay native stepped up that game, finishing fifth (16-11
1/2) behind three fellow All-Americans.
"I got higher than 1 was pegged to get points-wise," Woods said. "I
thought I could get second or third, but I've got to walk away happy
with fifth."
While Woods was happy he could contribute
lUf E||7C points to the team, he was disappointed Oregon
Tn ii A mf couldn't hold off UCLA for the Pac-10 title. The
I Ducks had a 67-49 lead on the Bruins after the
first day, but fell 143-130 after Saturday's action.
"Naturally, I'm a little disappointed that we
didn't pull it out," Woods said. "But we didn't throw it away. We had
points here and there, but UCLA had a great meet."
With the NCAA West Regional Qualifier less than two weeks away,
Woods said he needs to clear at least 17-8 to have a shot at going to
nationals. While Woods fell well short of that mark Friday, he has
cleared it before, with a personal best of 18-0 1/2 in 2002.
Double Duty
While it is common for athletes to compete in several events during
the course of track meet, Skipper went a step further.
The freshman competed in the pole vault and javelin simultane
ously during Friday's action.
After clearing his opening vault (17-3 1/2), he ran 40 meters across
the infield to throw the javelin. His second throw traveled 215-2,
which put him in second at the time. Satisfied that his throw would
hold up points-wise, he returned his focus to the pole vault, where he
won with a clearance of 18-3 1 /4.
His mark in the javelin was good for fifth at competition's end.
"I didn't know what to expect in the javelin," Skipper said, "and 1
tried to get a solid huck in there early so I wouldn't have to take all
my attempts in the jav' and focus solely on the pole vault. In both
events, I wasn't trying to over-scrutinize anything. I'm a 'fly by the
seat of my pants' kind of guy so I was more focused on just compet
ing than heights, distances, etc. If you can't focus on the competition
part, you can lose track of what's really important."
Skipper entered the meet with the Pac- 10's top clearance of 18-8 3/4
from the indoor season. Despite this, UCLA's Kim was ranked higher
nationally during the outdoor campaign. Other than a little trouble
early in the competition, Skipper turned what was supposed to be a
showdown of two great pole vaulters into a one-sided show.
"Tommy got into a rhythm like no other," Woods said. "All that
work he put in during the spring was paying off. I le was a horse. Noth
ing was going to keep him from that title and he just ran away with it."
Moving up the list
Senior javelin thrower Adam Jenkins moved into third on the all
time Oregon list with his performance Friday. After struggling with his
Turn to TRACK, page 8
Florida clubs dominate No. 4 regional
Many clubs competing in Tallahassee
hope to make it to the World Series
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
In the No. 4 NCAA Softball Regional Tourna
ment, four schools are hoping for help from a lit
tle thing called home-state advantage.
While host school and No. 1-seeded Florida
State will have the most claim to that advantage,
Florida, South Florida and Bethune-Cookman
also want to feed off the short travel plans.
Long Island is the only
- other team of the eight that
DUCK doesn't have to change
QHFTRAI I time zones- Ohio State also
heads to Tallahassee, Fla.,
with hope of a Regional ti
de while Cal State North
ridge and Oregon will make the longest trip.
For a closer look at the region, the teams are
broken down in order of their seeding:
No. 1 Florida State
Florida State (57-9 overall), ranked No. 5 in
the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25, won its 10th con
ference title in the past 13 years to earn its fifth
consecutive regional berth.
Leading the way for the Atlantic Coast Confer
ence champions are Casey Hunter, ACC Tourna
ment MVP, and Jessica van der Linden, a finalist
for USA Softball Player of the Year. Hunter has a
0.52 ERA in 230 2/3 innings pitched while van
der Linden has started every game for Florida
State and is batting a team-leading .384.
"I don't know too much about Long Island
(Florida State's first opponent), but I do know
that they are a conference champion and very
well coached," Florida State head coach Dr.
JoAnne Graf said in a release Sunday. "At this
level anyone can beat anyone else. We will go
into this game the same way we would if it
were UCLA."
Florida State will face Long Island at 2:30 p.m.
Thursday in the final first round game.
No. 2 Oregon
In head coach Kathy Arendsen's second sea
son, the No. 12 Ducks (38-19) continued to
find new feats; this time, beating each Pacific
10 Conference opponent at least once for the
first time since 1998. Offensively, third base
man Ashley Richards (.317 batting average) and
catcher Jenn Poore (.312) lead the way, as the
two have held the team's top two batting aver
ages most of the season.
"I think this is an excellent opportunity for
our team," Arendsen said Sunday. "We have
played at Florida State and we have traveled to
Florida this season, so I feel that the players
know a little of what to expect. It's very
exciting to be continuing our season and to
have this opportunity."
The Ducks play Bethune-Cookman at 9:30
a.m. Thursday.
Turn to SOFTBALL, page 9