Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tuesday, February 8,2005
“Stay out of the gentlemen’s clubs. ”
Shaquille O’Neal explaining the secrets
of winning on the road in the NBA
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Oregon shortstop Breanne Sabol, seen here last season, went 9 for 15 with five
RBIs and six runs, while being named to the all-tournament team at the Hawaii
Paradise Classic last weekend.
■ Duck softball
Ashley Boek pitches three-hit
shutout, lifts No. 9 Huskies
Washington s standout hurler strikes out six and shuts down
an Oregon team that had been averaging 9.7 runs per game
BY CLAYTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
An undefeated start for the
No. 13 Oregon softball team was
brought to a sudden halt by No. 9 Wash
ington, 6-0, in the final game of the
Hawaii Paradise Classic on Sunday.
The Ducks (3-1 overall) were limit
ed to three hits by the Huskies’ (3-0)
Ashley Boek. She shut down a Duck
team that had scored 29 runs in its
previous three games and went the
distance, striking out six to pick up
her second win of the season.
The Huskies got on the board in the
third inning when they loaded the
bases. Oregon hurler Amy Harris
(1-1) hit center fielder Aimee Minor
with a pitch, forcing in a run and giv
ing the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Harris gave up three more runs
in the fourth inning, three of
which were unearned, due in
large part to three Oregon errors.
The Huskies put up two more in
the sixth inning, ignited by All-Ameri
can catcher Kristen Rivera’s solo
home run off senior pitcher Lindsey
Kontra. Rivera was named the
tournament’s most valuable player af
ter going 6 for 9 with seven RBIs,
six runs and two home runs in
three games.
“Obviously we didn’t want to finish
the tournament this way,” Oregon
head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “We
have been playing very well as a team
and need to focus on continuing to
improve each time we take the field.”
Other than the loss to Washington,
Oregon had a very successful week
end at the tournament.
On Saturday, the Ducks, behind
an impressive performance by
freshman pitcher Alicia Cook, beat
Jacksonville, 5-0.
The Elmira native allowed a mere
two hits in six innings of work to get
her second victory of the season.
In nine innings over the course of
the tournament, she allowed only
two batters to reach base, while
not giving up a single. She was
selected to the all-tournament team
for her performance.
The Oregon offense was led by jun
ior shortstop Breanne Sabol. The Bue
na Park, Calif., native went 3 for 4
with two RBIs, two runs scored
and two stolen bases. Sabol finished
the tournament 9 for 15 with six runs
and five RBIs. She was also an all
tournament selection.
Outfielder Dani Baird also had a
solid game offensively, going 3 for 4
with a double and an RBI. First base
man Beth Boskovich added a home
run for the Ducks, her second of
the season.
Later that day, Oregon defeated
host Hawaii, 10-2, behind an offensive
explosion led once again by Sabol.
She wet 3 for 4 with two doubles, two
RBIs and a run scored.
Freshman catcher T.J. Eadus also
had a very productive day at the
plate going 3 for 4 with a double and
three RBIs.
Oregon next travels to Las Vegas to
play in the UNLV Desert Classic
starting Friday against Baylor. The
Ducks are slated to play national pow
erhouse and No. 8-ranked Michigan
on Sunday.
clay tonj ones @ dailyemerald. com
■ Duck wrestling
No. 1 Oklahoma
State makes short
work of Oregon
The defending national champs use a plethora of
nationally ranked wrestlers to out-dual the Ducks
BY SCOTT]. ADAMS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Competing on the road is some
thing all Oregon wrestlers have
grown accustomed to, but Saturday
night in Stillwater, Okla., was not a
typical dual for the Ducks as they
faced reigning NCAA champion and
No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State.
The Ducks (5-9 overall, 2-5 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) threw everything
they had at the Cowboys but could
not keep pace with the Big 12 jug
gernaut, whose roster included six
nationally ranked wrestlers who al
most completely shut down the
Ducks in a 46-4 victory.
For Oregon, the loss came on the
heels of another road defeat suffered
the night before against No. 6 Okla
homa in Norman. The Ducks once
again came close to upsetting a
heavily favored opponent but fell
short of the Sooners by eight team
points, 30-22. Last week, Oregon
senior Scott Barker mentioned the
importance of upsets for up-and
coming programs like Oregon’s in
gaining national recognition.
“Upsets can do a lot for a team,”
Barker said. “When you pull one off
or even come close, you get respect
for it.”
On Saturday, Oklahoma State
recorded five pins in its win over
Oregon and surrendered only one
loss, which came at the hands of
No. 17 Joey Bracamonte, who
wrestled in the 165-pound weight
class. Bracamonte defeated Sam
Lewnes by way of a 15-5 major de
cision — his 22nd win of the sea
son. There were no bad feelings in
Oregon head coach Chuck Kear
ney’s analysis of the dual as he ex
pressed respect for the highly
ranked Cowboys.
“They proved why they are the
No. 1 team in the country,” Kearney
said. “We got a taste of how we
need to wrestle. They have an ag
gressive style that we try to empha
size in our program. ”
The dual started in the
125-pound weight division where
Oregon sophomore Joey Lucas
wrestled No. 18 Coleman Scott.
Scott came away the victor by
recording a 12-1 major decision.
Oregon junior Martin Mitchell (133)
competed next and made for a stub
born opponent for No. 8 Nathan
Morgan of the Cowboys, who
topped Mitchell 11-7. A trio of pins
followed for Oklahoma State as Ore
gon underclassmen Elliot Tracy
(141), Nate Gipson (149) and Stew
art Bogart (157) sequentially fell to
Dan Frishkom, No. 2 Zack Esposito
and B.J. Jackson, respectively.
Bracamonte’s ensuing win would
WRESTLING, page 6
■ Women's tennis
Oregon improves to 7-0 in duals,
keeps trend of preseason success
BY ALEX TAM
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon women’s tennis team has become accus
tomed to fast starts over the past three seasons.
Last year, the Ducks won their first nine dual matches and
in 2002, they jumped out to a 10-3 record.
This season, the Oregon women (7-0 overall) remain un
defeated after triumphing over Texas Tech, 7-0, on Friday
and San Diego State, 4-3, on Sunday.
“I really feel good about where the team is at right now,”
Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. “On any given
night., someone on this team steps up.”
The Ducks showed no signs of letting up after continuing
their impressive performances in doubles and singles
matches. For the season, the team has combined for a
19-2 record in doubles and a 34-8 record in singles.
Three Ducks already hold six singles wins,
including seniors Daria Panova and Davina Mendiburu,
and sophomore Dominika Dieskova.
Panova, who dropped from her No. 8 preseason ranking to
No. 31, had an easy weekend after dominating Texas Tech’s
Tara Browning, 6-2, 6-1, on Friday. The 22-year-old also
defeated San Diego State’s Dita Hauerlandova in straight sets,
6-2,6-0, Sunday.
“I just tried to play my game,” said Panova, who im
proved her singles record to 6-0. “In the second set, I just
tried to finish first.”
Mendiburu also added two victories to her career total
and moved into third place on Oregon’s all-time career wins
list with 66. She passed former teammate Courtney Nagle,
who finished her career last season with 65 wins and is now
a student assistant coach.
In addition, Dieskova continued her stellar play, rack
ing up two more singles wins over the weekend. On Sun
day, the 20-year-old clinched the dual-match victory with
her win over San Diego State’s Aleysa Vidov, 6-0,6-3.
“I played very well (Sunday),” Dieskova said. “I just
played aggressive, and I came to the net. I didn’t give (my
opponent) a chance to play her game style.”
However, the question surrounding the Oregon women
is whether they can carry over their great play into the
start of the Pacific-10 Conference schedule in two weeks
against the Arizona schools.
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Sophomore Dominika Dieskova, seen here earlier this season,
holds a 6-1 singles record this year after adding two wins to her
total over the weekend.
The Ducks have not fared well in the past in Pac-10 play,
compiling a 2-6 record last season and a 3-7 record in 2002.
The team, though, remains confident and upbeat
about how they've played and prepared for each match.
“We are pretty ready every match,” Dieskova said. “We
give a good energy and we get off to good starts. Every
match we’ve won, we’ve won very fast.”
Schyllander has credited the top half of the lineup — con
sisting of Panova, Mendiburu and Dieskova — for taking
care of business, combining to win 18 of 20 singles matches.
“Everybody’s played pretty well,” Schyllander said. “I
think at the one, two and three positions, it’s been excep
tional. There were no mistakes from them all weekend.”
The Oregon women look to once again defend their home
court this week against Washington State at 1:30 p.m.
Friday and Washington at noon on Saturday. All matches
are held at the Student Tennis Center.