Oregon daily emerald., April 12, 2005, Image 5

Oregon Daily Emerald
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
“I won’t make it past 40. ”
Baltimore Orioles 36-year-old right fielder Sammy Sosa
on how long he will play baseball
<*
Kate Horton j Photographer
Oregon's Breanne Sabol slides into third base in the Ducks’ sweep of Santa Clara
in a doubleheader at Howe Field on Monday. Sabol went 4 for 7 in the two games
with four RBIs and a run scored.
Kate Horton | Photographer
Oregon third baseman T.J. Eadus gets a hit during Oregon's win against Santa Clara
in game one Monday. The freshman went 2 for 3 with two RBIs against the Broncos.
■ Duck softball
Oregon sweeps Santa Clara
with back-to-back shutouts
The Ducks captured two 5-0 vitories behind the
arms of pitchers Alicia Cook and Lindsey Kontra
BY CLACTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
It was an early Monday morning for
the 25th-ranked Oregon softball team,
but as they say, the early bird gets the
worm. Most of the Ducks flew into Eu
gene in the wee hours of the morning
just in time to come out and sweep a
doubleheader against Santa Clara at
Howe Field.
The Ducks (25-13 overall, 3-4 Pacific
10 Conference), who recently lost back
to-back games to No. 2 Arizona on Sat
urday and Sunday and defeated No. 18
Arizona State on Friday, took four differ
ent flights to get back home to play the
doubleheader against the Broncos, with
the first leaving at 6:40 a.m.
Freshman pitcher Alicia Cook said it
was a late night for the Ducks getting
back from their game against the Wild
cats on Sunday night.
“We didn’t get to the hotel till
12 (a.m.) and then we had to leave
again at 4 (a.m.), so we didn’t get a
lot of sleep,” Cook said. “But the
team really pulled together today and
helped each other to get through it.”
In the first game of the doubleheader,
Oregon relied on the arm of Cook and
the bats of T.J. Eadus and Breanne Sabol
to defeat Santa Clara, 5-0.
Cook (7-4) went the distance, as she
struck out nine, walked none and gave
up four hits.
“I felt good today,” the Elmira, Ore.
native said. “My pitches were moving
better, and it just felt good.”
The Oregon offense started off slow
against Santa Clara pitcher Liz Courter
but got things going in the bottom of the
fourth inning when Kristi Leiter drove a
double into the left-center-field gap to
start the inning. Right fielder Dani Baird
doubled next, but Leiter had to hold up
on third base. Eadus then drilled a line
drive single to right, letting Leiter score
and giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
Oregon scored three more the next in
ning, capped off by another RBI single
for Eadus. The freshman went 2 for 3
with two RBIs.
Sabol drove in the final run of the
game in the fifth inning with a single.
The Ducks got another great pitching
performance in game two, this time
from senior Lindsey Kontra, to once
again defeat the Broncos, 5-0.
Kontra baffled Santa Clara hitters all
game with her change up, giving up six
hits and no runs with four strikeouts.
Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen
said she was really pleased with her
pitchers Monday.
“Both Lindsey and Alicia stepped up
for us on a day where it would be easy
to not hit spots and not be focused, but
they were.” the third-year coach said.
“They made big pitches when they
needed them.”
The Ducks got going in the bottom of
the third inning when Erin Goodell lined
a triple over the center fielder’s head and
Lovena Chaput hit a sacrifice fly to give
Oregon a 1-0 lead.
Hot-hitting Sabol was up next and
smashed an RBI double to give the
Ducks a 2-0 advantage. Sabol, who
moved up to the No. 2 spot in the
lineup, went 4 for 7 with four RBIs,
two stolen bases and a run scored in
the doubleheader.
Sabol is now hitting .345 on the
season, good for first on the team,
and said her success is just a matter
of getting good pitches to hit.
“I just feel like I’m seeing the ball
better,” the shortstop said. “I’m pick
ing up better pitches, and I’m not
swinging at balls.”
Arendsen said the offense that Sabol
has provided for the team has just added
to how valuable she is to the team.
“Bre is such a great defender that we
don’t put a lot of pressure on her offen
sively and ask her ‘What can you do for
us?”’ Arendsen said. “She is our best
bunter and now she is really throwing
her hands and getting the ball in play.
“She is a talented, talented player
and there is nobody she can’t hit,”
Arendsen said.
To cap Oregon’s scoring for the day,
right fielder Kayleen Hudson drove a ball
over the right-center-field wall for a
home run to give the Ducks a 5-0 lead.
Next up for the Ducks is a weekend
series at Howe Field against No. 3 Cal
on Friday at 4 p.m. and No. 6 Stan
ford on Saturday and Sunday, both
at 1 p.m.
“This gives us some momentum
going into a very difficult Pac-10
series at home,” Arendsen said. “Cal
is number three and Stanford is in the
top 10, but they have to come to
Howe where we like to play.
“Hopefully we have built some
confidence back.”
claytonjones @ dailyemerald.com
■ Duck tennis
Tennis teams end losing
streaks with big victories
The Oregon women defeated San Diego on Sunday, and the men
snapped their 11 -game losing streak with a win against Arizona
BY ALEX TAM
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Ever since Davina Mendiburu arrived in Eu
gene four years ago, she has been one of the
Ducks' most consistent players in the top half
of the lineup.
But for the first time in her career, Mendibu
ru was finally recognized nationally when she
entered the rankings last week as the No. 81
singles player.
"It feels good, but at the same time, it's not
such a big surprise because I think I deserve it,"
Mendiburu, 22, said. "I've been working hard,
and I've been beating very good players. It's
really exciting, but I want to show everybody
that I deserve it, and by doing that I need to
win more matches."
The Ducks now have three players ranked in
the nation's top 100. Oregon head coach Nils
Schyllander said he attributes the team's suc
cess this season to that fact.
"When you win a lot and when you pick up
good wins, you're going to get ranked," Schyl
lander said.
On Sunday, the No. 24 Ducks (14-7 overall,
2-5 Pacific-10 Conference) snapped a six-match
losing streak when they defeated San Diego, 5-2,
during a southern California road trip. Two days
earlier, Oregon lost a dose 4-3 match to Long
Beadi State.
"We bounced back well after a disappoint
ing loss Friday," Schyllander said. "This team
was not going to be beaten (Sunday)."
In Sunday's victory, Mendiburu continued
her hot play as she won her career-best and
team-high 21st match of the season. She has
won six of her last eight matches. The Menton,
France, native defeated San Diego's Tara
Livesay in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
Oregon's Dominika Dieskova notched a vic
tory at the No. 2 position after defeating Lau
ren Kazarian, 6-3, 7-5. The 20-year-old Diesko
va improved her record to 19-12 overall. Her
19 victories are just one shy of her career-high,
which she set last season.
However, the Ducks' third-ranked player,
Daria Panova, fell at the No. 1 position, losing
to San Diego's Emma Murphy in straight sets,
6-0, 6-3. Panova is currently ranked 49th in
the nation.
TENNIS, page 6
■ Duck golf
Seven is lucky number for
mens and women's golf
Both teams finished in seventh place at their respective tourneys
with Gregg LaVoie and Johnna Nealy leading each Duck squad
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon men’s golf team bolstered its
campaign for a spot at this year’s NCAA Re
gional on Saturday after shooting an 11-over
295 in the final round of the ASU Thunderbird
Invitational, which placed them in a tie for
seventh place. The Oregon women also en
joyed a seventh-place finish last weekend after
shaving nine strokes off their first round score
to finish at 303 at the Peg Barnard California
Collegiate in Stanford, Calif.
Both teams competed in fields of 15, and
both tournaments featured a number of clubs
ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
Despite windy conditions in the third round
at the par-71, 7,025 yard Karsten Golf Course,
the Oregon men managed to card their best
round of the tournament highlighted by a
third-place finish for junior Gregg LaVoie. The
Pasco, Wash., native marked the best outing
of his collegiate career with an even par 213.
Oregon head coach Steve Nosier was more
than pleased with LaVoie’s performance.
“Gregg had an outstanding tournament,”
Nosier said. “Just about every shot was
really on.”'
LaVoie has been the backbone of Ore
gon’s turnaround spring season, delivering
solid performances in tournaments as of
late. At last week’s Western Intercollegiate,
LaVoie led the Ducks to a team title as he
finished tied for 12th.
Matt Ma and Justin St. Clair have also
helped Oregon finish the regular season
strong. At the ASU Thunderbird Invitational,
Ma tied for 11th at 215, and St. Clair carded a
final round 77 to tie for 37th at 223.
As a team, Oregon’s final score of 876
edged other teams vying for a berth at the
NCAA Regionals, including fellow Pacific-10
Conference foes Stanford (892) and Califor
nia (902). The Ducks finished just two
strokes behind No. 8 Brigham Young (874)
and three behind No. 11 UCLA (873). Finish
ing first was No. 2 UNLV, followed by Pep
perdine (861), host school No. 15 Arizona
State (869), No. 17 Arizona (871) and the
Bruins, who finished second, third, fourth
and fifth, respectively.
UNLV grabbed the team title with a im
pressive 859 team score. The Running
GOLF, page 6