SPORTS :EDNESDA<, MA5CH 23, 2016 Sports shorts Pac-12 gets four in women’s Sweet 16 It was a record 24 hours for the Pac-12 as the conference has four teams in the 6weet 1 for the ¿ rst time ever. Oregon State advanced Sunday night and then :ashington got Monday started with an upset of Maryland, 74-65. UCLA and Stanford kept the strong night for the conference going. The conference had three teams reach the regional semi¿ nals three times, in 1988, 1992 and 2009. Making the Sweet 16 is nothing new for Stanford, but UCLA and :ashington are back for the ¿ rst time in a while. The Bruins haven’t made it this far since 1999 and the Huskies since 2001. 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON Buckaroos split at Spring Break Bash Morrison racks up four hits and two home runs on the day East Oregonian HAPP< VALLE< — The Pendleton Buckaroos hit the dirt at Hood View Park for day two of the Putnam Spring Break Bash tour- nament on Tuesday bested the Bucks 2-1 Softball afternoon, where last June. they split a pair of Pendleton head games with a 11-4 coach Tim Cary said Putnam win over Central Pendleton Tuesday’s match up Catholic and a 5-2 simply came down loss to 5ex Putnam. to clutch hitting on The loss to behalf of the King- Putnam marks the ¿ rst loss of the smen. season for the Buckaroos (6-1) and “Both teams played really well ... it came in a rematch of the 5A state it was a clean game with no errors, championship game where Putnam (Putnam) just had a little more 2 5 PENDLETON Pro Baseball Game of diplomacy James enters playoff mode, steps back from social media CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron’s locked in already. Now he’s got to get the Cavs to, ahem, follow him. Following a personal rite of spring he began several years ago, LeBron James has begun preparing for the upcoming NBA playoffs by limiting his access to social media in order FACES to avoid outside distractions as he and the Cavaliers make another run at an NBA title. James, who has coined his James social media blackout “Zero Dark 23,” took some early steps toward sharpening his focus by unfollowing the Cavaliers’ account — and those of some media members — on Twitter. That click, which coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the online social networking giant’s launch, caused a seismic wave on the Internet at nearly the same time James and the Cavs were clinching their second straight Central Division title. And while the four-time league MVP didn’t offer any speci¿ cs :ednesday, he did acknowledge that he’s shifted into playoff mode with several weeks still left in the season. “We don’t have that knowledge and background, and scientifi cally, so there’s no way in the world to say you have a relationship relative to anything here.“ — Jerry Jones Dallas Cowboys owner saying he doesn’t think there is enough evidence to link playing football to the brain disease CTE. 1974 — N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double over- time of the NCAA Tournament semi¿ nals. David Thompson leads the :olfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds. 1994 — :ayne *ret]ky scores his 802nd goal, passing *ordie Howe as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history. The Los Angeles Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record. 2010 — The NFL changes its overtime rules for playoff games to give both teams an opportunity to get the ball. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com Mota takes leash for T-:olves soccer BMCC hires coach for men’s, women’s programs East Oregonian AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais President Barack Obama, center, talks with fi rst lady Michelle Obama as they sit with Cuban President Raul Castro during an exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National team at the Estadio Latinoamericano, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Havana, Cuba. :ith presidents watching, 5ays beat Cuban team By PETER ORSI Associated Press HAVANA — :hen Kevin Kier- maier slid into home for the Tampa Bay 5ays’ ¿ rst run of the day, Pres- ident Barack Obama À ung his arms wide in the sign for “safe.” Then he turned to his left and shook the hand of his seatmate and Cuban counterpart, 5aul Castro. The scene was a remarkable milestone for sports diplomacy as the two presidents try to set aside more than 50 years of Cold :ar hostility during which about the only thing the countries agreed on was a shared love of baseball. Obama and Castro even joined in when fans were doing “the wave.” In the landmark game, the ¿ rst visit by a major league team to the communist island since 1999, the Tampa Bay 5ays beat the Cuban national team 4-1 on Tuesday. James Loney homered and drove in three runs, and Matt Moore and the Tampa Bay pitchers shut out the Cubans until 5udy 5eyes homered in the ninth inning. But the day will be remembered less for the ¿ nal score than for the two See DIPLOMACY/2B HERMISTON Hermiston splits at Putnam tournament Bulldogs go 2-2 at Spring Break Bash By SAM BARBEE East Oregonian HAPP< VALLE< — At the Spring Break Bash at 5ex Putnam High School in Milwaukie, the Hermiston softball team split four games with 6A opponents on Monday and Tuesday. The Bulldogs split their match-ups on both Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, Hermiston Softball Aloha Hermiston 2 10 beat Madison 10-2, then lost 10-5 to a talented Franklin team. On Tuesday, Hermiston beat Aloha 7-4, then dropped its ¿ nal game of the tournament 9-0 to David Douglas. “:e’re leaving spring break with our heads held high,” Hermiston coach Kate *reenough said. Against Franklin (4-1), Herm- iston (4-3) endured constant rain on a turf ¿ eld, leading to some turf-related miscues. Batted balls skipped on the turf unfamiliarly, and girls slid past bases, only to be easily tagged out after initially reaching safely. “It doesn’t turn out that way if the weather (is better),” *reenough said. “All things that could go wrong weather-wise did. :e were right there with them. I would live to play them again. “:e learned a lot from it. :e had opportunities to be successful. It wasn’t a discouraging loss.” See HERMISTON/2B Prep Roundup THIS DATE IN SPORTS timely hitting and a few more base runners,” he said. Kingsmen pitcher Sarah Abramson out-dueled the Bucks’ Lauren 5ichards in the game, allowing four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks, while 5ichards allowed 10 hits with seven strikeouts as well. Pendleton’s lone runs came in the ¿ rst inning off of a ¿ rst-pitch See BUCKAROOS/2B 3LUDWHVJXQGRZQ7URMDQVIRU¿UVWZLQ 5iverside beats Kennedy in Columbia Bash East Oregonian BOA5DMAN — 5iverside third baseman Jesus Onate threw out the tying run at home plate in the top of the seventh inning as the Pirates held on to beat the Kennedy Trojans 6-5 for their ¿ rst win of the season on Tuesday in the Columbia Bash Tournament. Derek Bingaman tossed 5 1-3 innings and struck out six, walked two and allowed two runs to get the win. No 5iverside (1-2) batter had more than one hit, and coach Jarret Thompson said his team created most of its runs by taking advantage of opportunities on the base paths. “It was passes balls, wild pitches, ¿ elder’s choice type situations,” he said. “:e were just being aggressive and forcing them to make a play. “Because we were aggressive we dictated the tempo if the game.” 5iverside will play Kennedy again today at 1 p.m., but ¿ rst faces Stan¿ eld at 11 a.m. ——— R H E KHS 100 002 2 — 5 4 4 RHS 132 000 X — 6 6 3 J. Suing, J. Valladares (5) and D. Arritola. D. Bin- gaman, A. Corpus (6) and S. Bither. W — Bingaman. L — Suing. STANFIELD 11, WESTON- MCEWEN 4 — At Irrigon, the Stan¿ eld Tigers scored eight runs in the third and fourth innings to distance themselves from the :eston-McEwen TigerScots on Tuesday at the Columbia Bash. Tony Flores (2 for 4) hit a bases- loaded double in the third and 5yan Bailey followed with an 5BI single before Dylan *rogan’s (3 for 4) sacri¿ ce À y made it 4-0. The TigerScots (1-2) fought back with three runs in the bottom of the frame scoring on an error and a Hunter Sater two-5BI single, but the Tigers (4-0) added four more in the fourth. See PREPS/2B If you’re going to get one coach to do two jobs, you’d better get a good one. That’s the approach Blue Mountain Community College took to ¿ ll its posi- tion for women’s and men’s soccer, new programs that will begin play in 2016 for the women and 2017 for the men. Leading the Timber- wolves on the pitch will be former N :A C South Coach of the