Oregon daily emerald., April 22, 2005, Image 9

Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, April 22, 2005
“It’s one thing to want to be in the playoffs, bat ■
it’s another thing to play like a playoff team. ”
New Jersey Net Vince Carter after helping his team clinch a playoff spot Wednesday
■ In my opinion
CLAYTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Softball has
shot to turn
year around
against rival
As many Oregon fans descend on Hayward
Field this weekend to attend the Oregon Invita
tional, another interesting development is hap
pening just down the road at Howe Field.
The Oregon softball team is at a pivotal
point in its season as rival Oregon State comes
to town Saturday and Sunday, with a game at
1 p.m. each day. The ninth-ranked Beavers
are atop the Pacific-10 Conference with an
8-2 record while the Ducks are trying to keep
afloat. After starting conference play with
a 3-7 record, Oregon was destroyed by
No. 6 Stanford and let one go against No. 3 Cal
ifornia last weekend.
(Don’t fret, track fans; your ticket to get in
the track meet will allow you entry into the soft
ball games so you won’t have to pay twice.)
Oregon’s season is at a point right now in
which it can go in one of two directions. The
Ducks could pick up a win or two this week
end and regain any confidence that could
have been lost after their disparaging defeats
last weekend, or they could continue on their
downward-slope toward the bottom of
the conference.
Oregon is a team that has challenged for a
spot in the Women’s College World Series for
the past two years but has looked a bit shaky
of late.
Early season helding problems seemed to
have come back to haunt the team and have
been putting extra pressure on the pitchers to
get additional hitters out.
Duck ace Amy Harris has been pitching great
for the Ducks and still boasts a very respectable
1.40 ERA, but she only has a 12-9 record to
show for it. While Harris has been on the
mound this season, the Ducks have given up
17 unearned runs in 139 2/3 innings pitched
(she has only given up 28 earned nms).
Offensively, the Ducks have shown promise,
led by their youngsters. Freshman Lovena Cha
put has been the most consistent hitter, batting
.339 on the season. Fellow freshman T.J. Eadus
has also stepped up and leads the team with a
.360 average, though that number has dipped a
bit since starting Pac-10 play.
One player for the Ducks that doesn’t seem
to get a lot of notoriety is sophomore Kristi Leit
er. Usually relegated to designated player or
pinch hitting duties, Leiter is the second-lead
ing hitter on the team with a .354 average and
always seems to get a hit when needed. The
only obstacle for her and head coach Kathy
Arendsen is finding a place for her to hit.
The Ducks are also featuring maybe the
best .190 hitter in the conference. Senior sec
ond baseman Erin Goodell may be sporting a
batting average below the Mendoza line, but
she gets hits when they’re needed. She actual
ly has more RBIs (17 — third on the team)
than hits (16).
So if the Ducks not only want to contend but
make it to the world series this season, the de
fense must get better or they could be destined
for the bottom of the conference.
And going against their in-state rivals gives
them the perfect chance to turn it around.
clay tonjones @ daily emerald, com
■ Men's track and field
Lauren Wimer | Photographer
Oregon senior and All-American Eric Logsdon, the Ducks' top returning distance runner, is on the verge of
breaking into Oregon’s all-time top-10 in the 5,000 meters.
13:43.82
Senior Eric Logsdon is vying for a spot on
Oregon's all-time 5,000 meters top-10 list
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
13:43.82.
It’s one of the more herald
ed marks for Oregon harriers.
Breaking it means a place
on Oregon’s all-time 5,000
meters top-10 list among
legends such as Bill McCh
esney Jr., Alberto Salazar
and Steve Prefontaine.
Oregon senior Eric Logsdon
not only wants to add his
name to that list but get it up
as high as he can before the
end of the year.
Even after his coach and re
cruiter resigned in the middle
of the season.
Even after a volunteer
coach jumped on board a few
weeks later.
Logsdon isn’t going to let
those distractions keep him
from running a time of
13 minutes, 43.82 seconds.
Former head track and field
coach Martin Smith wouldn’t
let that happen.
But if you ask Logsdon, per
sonal records are only a good
side note to helping the team
as a whole. The goal is helping
the team finish as high as it
can at nationals. The byprod
uct, he’ll tell you, is that a run
ner needs to run fast to
accomplish that.
Logsdon’s desire to focus
on the team, rather than him
self, came from the recently
departed Smith.
“One of the things that was
emphasized with Coach
Smith was that you can never
lose your focus for a second,
you can never break down,”
he said. “No matter what’s
happened around you,
whether it is on the track or
just in general in your life, you
can never let anything distract
you from what your goals are.
“Just because he’s not here
doesn’t mean that we’ve lost
that lesson, and we are no
longer able to do that.”
After the resignation of
Smith, Logsdon and his team
mates seriously contemplated
quitting the team. A few days
later, they came back refo
cused and ready for the out
door season with former
Oregon runner Pat Tyson vol
unteering his services to the
distance runners.
Logsdon responded by win
ning the 3,000 meters in the
Pepsi Invitational, the Ducks’
second outdoor event of
the season.
“Honestly, he is a man
about it,” Tyson said of Logs
don’s focus. “He’s not a
whiner and he’s not going to
let this change ruin his clos
ing time at Oregon. We all
have challenges and what I
think that says about Eric
and Brett (Holts) is that
they’re survivors. They know
what’s really important is the
team and they want the team
to do really well. He could
have easily taken a negative
stance and pouted and got
moody and made it hard on
me, but I think he realizes
that we are going to make
this thing work.”
The Canby native came to
Oregon during the 2000-01
season, two years after Smith
had taken over as head
coach. Smith brought a de
sire to turn around a storied
program that had fallen un
der the radar, something
Logsdon identified with.
“I’m a native Oregonian
and having grown up and
TRACK, page 10
IN BRIEF
Basketball assistant leaves
Oregon after 10 seasons
Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach
Fred Litzenberger announced Thursday
he will retire from the University
effective Aug. 1.
Litzenberger leaves Oregon after four sea
sons working beside head coach Ernie Kent.
The 58-year-old was also an assistant coach
with the Duck women from 1995 to 2001,
during which time Oregon led the Pacific-10
Conference in defense three times.
A search for his replacement will begin
in the near future.
“Fred has done a tremendous job for us
in terms of the experience and tactical ex
pertise he brought to the table,” Kent said.
“We’re going to miss that. On a personal
level, I’ve known Fred since 1987 when we
were both assistants under Boyd Grant at
Colorado State. That’s an 18-year relation
ship, and I am certainly going to miss hav
ing him in the gym with us.”
“Litz” has been part of 10 consecutive
winning seasons at Oregon, including the
men’s trip to the Elite Eight in 2002.
Before arriving in Eugene, Litzenberger
held several men’s head and assistant
coaching jobs, including the head coach
ing position at Western State College of
Colorado (1994-95) and the associate
men’s head coaching spot at Northwestern
State (1993-94). His first coaching job
came in 1966 at Berthoud High School
in Colorado.
Litzenberger said he plans on remaining
active in the coaching profession.
“I love coaching basketball,” he said.
“It’s what I’ve done for 40 years. At the
same time, I think it’s time for me to look
at some other things and find some
new challenges.”
— Jon Roetman
Women's golf finishes eighth
at Pac-10 championship event
The Oregon women’s golf team wrapped
up the 2005 Pacific-10 Conference Champi
onships on Wednesday, finishing eighth
place on the shoulders of senior Johnna
Nealy, whose team-leading final score of 227
placed her in a tie for 18th place.
Following the tournament, Nealy was
named to the All-Pac-10 second team — the
third golfer in school history to be named
to the conference’s first or second team.
Nealy finished 20 strokes behind first
place finisher Louise Stahle (220) of Ari
zona State. The freshman from Sweden
came into the tournament as the No. 1
golfer in the nation, but had to climb out
of a four-stroke deficit in the final round to
claim the individual title.
Kim McCready had the best final-round
score for Oregon. The sophomore from
Placerville, Calif., shot a 74 on Wednesday,
good enough to tie for 37th. Teammate
Erin Andrews tied for 28th with a 231.
Freshman Victoria Wenslow (232) fol
lowed for the Ducks by tying for 31st, and
Michelle Timpani (246) claimed sole pos
session of 47th. The eighth-place finish for
Oregon came as an upset to No. 18 Stan
ford (932), who finished ten strokes be
hind the Ducks in ninth place.
No. 2 UCLA (874), the highest ranked
team in the Pac-10, further legitimized it
self as one of the premiere teams in the na
tion by holding off a late run by No. 6 Ari
zona State and taking home its second
straight conference title. The Sun Devils
(878) settled for second, followed by
No. 20 Southern California, which stunned
a number of other top-20 teams in the field
that seemed guaranteed a top-three finish
going into the tournament.
Oregon has a good chance of earning a
spot at the NCAA Regionals, but will have to
wait until noon Monday to find out the offi
cial postseason bids. The NCAA West Re
gional is scheduled to start May 5.
— Scott J. Adams