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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 2016)
SPORTS THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016 Sports shorts Hernandez tosses ¿ nal tXneXS Ior 2SeninJ 'a\ PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Seattle ace Felix Hernandez pitched three innings in the Mariners’ 7-5 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in his ¿ nal start before opening day. Hernandez allowed four runs — all in the ¿ rst inning — and four hits. He struck out one and walked one. Tyson Ross, who is slated to start for San Diego on opening day on Monday against the Dodgers, also pitched three innings and was charged with one run and two hits. He also drove in a run with a fourth-inning single. Derek Norris doubled in two runs and Matt Kemp had two hits for the Padres, including an RBI double. Mid-game sub Adam Rosales hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning. 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON 7imEerZolYes sSlit reJion oSener Oldham grand slam boosts Blue Mountain The T-Wolves said he ¿ gures there Baseball won their sixth game could be a lot of since the vernal days like this in the equinox to open East Region, which NWAC East play Wenatchee Blue Mtn leads the NWAC against Wenatchee with a .610 winning Valley in Pendleton percentage. on Wednesday. “That’s how this Trevor Oldham hit a grand slam in region is. There’s no bad teams in the third inning and BMCC held on the region and there’s no team that for the 10-7 win in the ¿ rst half of we can’t beat either,” he said. “It’s their doubleheader. how we play, and one game we But the T-Wolves couldn’t keep played well and then the other game it going in the second game and fell we didn’t.” 13-3 in seven innings. It was Blue Mountain’s ability T-Wolves coach Brad Baker to one-up Wenatchee Valley that 7-13 10-3 By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Fragrant blooms, evening sunlight and mailmen in short pants: spring brings us many things. For the Blue Mountain Timber- wolves it has come bearing wins. HERMISTON Women’s College Basketball Open tryouts to Final Four: 'aZJs Oregon State’s dramatic rise Iall to Falcons La Salle scores four in the ¿ fth to grab the win Former Seattle Storm star retires CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Lauren Jackson announced her injury-forced retirement on Thursday, ending an illustrious basketball career which saw her star for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm lead FACES and Australia to four Olympic medals. At a Basketball Australia media conference, the Jackson 34-year-old Jackson, the WNBA’s most valuable player in 2010, said right knee and left Achilles tendon injuries forced her to end a career that began in 1997. She had been named on Australia’s squad for the Rio Games in August, but recent ¿ tness testing convinced her she would not be able to play in a ¿ fth Olympics. The 6 foot, 5-inch Jackson spent her entire WNBA career with Seattle, helping lead the Storm to a pair of titles in 2004 and 2010. “Might as well put us in skirts and back in the kitchen.“ — Diana Taurasi WNBA star for the Phoenix Mercury to ESPNW.com on the idea of lowering the baskets in women’s basketball to eight feet instead of the regular 10 feet. Reigning WNBA MVP Elena Delle Don- ne recently sparked the debate when she told USA Today that she was in favor of lowering the hoops, as it would bring a new aspect to the game and “show off the athleticism of our women.” 7H,S '$7( ,1 S3257S 1975 — UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85 for its 10th NCAA basketball title under head coach John Wooden. Wooden ¿ nishes with a 620-147 career record after announcing his retirement two days earlier. 2013 — In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA women’s tournament, sixth-seeded Louisville stuns defending champion Baylor in the regional semi¿ nals, 82-81. It’s the end of a remarkable college career for Baylor’s Brittney Griner. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com allowed it to hold on for the win in the opener. When the Knights (3-11, 1-1 East) scored three in the top of the third, the T-Wolves (7-9, 1-1) answered with four in the bottom of the inning. The Knights picked up two outs right away, but Jared Rogers, Logan Cordiero and Ben Ross all drew walks to load the bases for Oldham. He swung at the ¿ rst pitch he saw, pulling it foul. Two pitches later he hit his second home run of the season to give the T-Wolves a See T-WOLVES/2B By SAM BARBEE East Oregonian MILWAUKEE — The Hermiston Bulldogs baseball team allowed four runs to the La Salle Prep Falcons in the bottom of the ¿ fth inning on Wednesday, letting the game slip away to earn the Baseball 5-2 loss in non-league action. Hermiston Until that point, the Bull- dogs (4-3) and Falcons w e r e La Salle deadlocked in a 0-0 tie as both offenses were struggling to get anything going against each teams’ pitchers. Tyler Sexton got the start for Hermiston and was solid through the ¿ rst four innings, but in the ¿ fth inning he left some pitches up in the zone and the Falcons capitalized for those four runs. Sexton ¿ nished his outing with a respectable line, tossing 4.2 innings while allowing four earned runs on ¿ ve hits, three strikeouts and three walks. Slade Gritz relieved Sexton in that ¿ fth inning, and allowed one unearned run on four hits over the last 1.1 innings while striking out one and walking two. Gritz also had two hits on offense, leading the team. “We hit some balls hard and they caught them,” Hermiston assistant coach John Christy said of the teams’ ¿ ve-hit offensive performance. “There were too many rollovers and four-, ¿ ve-hoppers right to guys. We need to be more balanced at the plate.” Hermiston next hosts Rex Putnam for a doubleheader on Friday at 4 p.m. ——— 2 AP Photo/Brandon Wade Oregon State celebrates winning 60-57 over Baylor after a regional fi nal of the women’s NCAA basket- ball tournament Monday, March 28, 2016, in Dallas. Beavers turnaround complete with postseason run By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer CORVALLIS — When Oregon State defeated mighty Stanford in January for the ¿ rst time in 29 tries, Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer gave credit to Beavers coach Scott Rueck. In the six seasons since Rueck took over, Oregon State had steadily ticked off the milestones. Beating Stanford was the latest. There were more to come. “He’s put them into the national conversation, which is fabulous,” VanDerveer said. Oregon State’s most recent accomplishment is the program’s ¿ rst-ever NCAA Final Four appear- ance. The Beavers face undefeated defending champion Connecticut in Indianapolis on Sunday for a chance to play for the national champion- ship. “Did I ever think we could be here in six years?” Rueck said Wednesday. “No way.” To fully appreciate how far the Beavers have come, consider that when Oregon State hired Rueck, the team was down to two players and three recruits who were on the fence. The Beavers were in disarray amid reports of player mistreatment, including verbal abuse, by the former coach. Oregon State had lost 17 straight at one point during the previous season. Godofredo Fasquez/The Gazette-Times via AP Oregon State forward Samantha Siegner (5) signs an autograph for Ashton Van Velzer, 8, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State plays Connecticut on Sunday in the semifi nals in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament Final Four in India- napolis. Rueck had spent 14 seasons at George Fox, a Division III Christian college in Newberg, Oregon, leading the Bruins to six overall D-III tourna- ments and the national championship in 2009. Coaching at his alma mater Oregon State was a dream. Rueck was able to convince the three recruits to stick with Oregon State despite the uncertainty. But then he was left to build a Division I roster nearly from scratch. Taking a bold step in holding an open prospect camp for players, he could only promise walk-on status with a chance at earning a scholarship somewhere down the road. Fifty-¿ ve young women showed up. At a rally on campus Tuesday, Oregon State athletic director Todd Stansbury marveled at how far the See BEAVERS/2B College Football 3rXNoS tKinNinJ EiJ tKinJs Ior 'XcNs in 201 Transfer 4B has ¿ rst practices with team By RYAN THORBURN The Register-Guard EUGENE — Marcus Mariota let his game do most of the talking at Oregon. Moments after the Heisman Trophy winner and current Tennessee Titans star watched the 2016 Ducks’ ¿ rst spring practice on Tuesday, Dakota Prukop made quite a statement about why he decided to transfer into the program. It certainly wasn’t because the former Montana State quarterback wants to play in the Alamo Bowl. “I came here because this is a team that expects to win the national championship,” Prukop said. “I’m not out here like, ‘Oh, we’re winning the national championship’ This is my ¿ rst practice here. But this is a team that expects to be No. 1. Without that expectation, you can’t be No. 1. You can’t reach a goal you don’t set for yourself. “That’s one of the reasons I came here, and I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to be in a program that expects success. They know how to achieve success, they’ve been there. They’ve been in the national See DUCKS/2B 5 R H E HHS 000 002 0 — 2 5 3 LSP 000 041 X — 5 9 1 T. Sexton, S. Gritz (5) and K. Caldwell; O. Arnston and J. Lynch. W — O. Arnston. L — T. Sexton. Oregon quar- terback Da- kota Prukop speaks on the opening day of spring football work- outs, Tues- day, March 29, 2016 in Eugene, Ore. Oregon will open their 2016 season on Sept. 30, 2016 against UC Davis. Andy Nelson/The Reg- ister-Guard via AP
