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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 2016)
SPORTS WEEKEND, APRIL 30-MAY 1, 2016 PENDLETON Sports shorts Lakers hire Luke Walton as coach LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers have reached an agreement with Golden State assistant Luke Walton to become their head coach. The Lakers made the announcement Friday night, fi ve days after fi ring Byron Scott. Walton will join the Lakers after the Warriors’ playoff run. The 36-year-old former Lakers forward returns to become the 26th head coach in franchise history. Walton became a top candidate for coaching jobs earlier this season when he led Golden State to a 39-4 record as the interim head coach, including a spectacular 24-0 start. Scott led the Lakers to the worst two seasons in franchise history, going 17-65 this season. Marlins’ Gordon suspended 80 games for PEDs LOS ANGELES (AP) — Reigning NL batting champion Dee Gordon of the Miami Marlins says he unknowingly took the performance-enhancing drug that led FACES to his 80-game suspension. The startling announcement of the suspension by Major League Baseball came Gordon shortly after the Marlins’ victory at Los Angeles on Thursday night. MLB said Gordon tested positive for exogenous Testosterone and Clostebol. The 28-year-old Gordon led the majors in hits and stolen bases last year. He batted .333, became an All-Star for the second time and won a Gold Glove at second base. The big season helped him earn a $50 million, fi ve-year contract he signed in January. “It just shows you where their head’s at. It just shows you that they can care less that this kid’s world just fell apart in a matter of three hours.“ — Eric Winston NFL Players Association president and Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman voicing his displeasure with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the social media scandal surrounding former Ole Miss player and now Miami Dolphin Laremy Tunsil that led to a slide in Tunsil’s draft spot. Goodell went on ESPN’s Mike and Mike on Friday and said the situation is “all part of what makes the draft so exciting.” THIS DATE IN SPORTS 2002 — Texas Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez becomes the second- youngest player to reach 250 homers during a 10-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. 2010 — Tiger Woods matches the worst nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career and winds up with a 7-over 79 to miss the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Bucks make statement against Bulldogs Softball Pendleton sits alone in fi rst with sweep of Hermiston By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Feather Dick scores the game-ending run as Herm- iston’s Jaime Hinkley waits for the throw in the Bucks’ 11-1 win against the Bulldogs in the second game of a doubleheader Fri- day in Pendleton. The Pendleton Buckaroos wanted to make a statement against the rival Hermiston Bulldogs on Friday, and once the games were played the Buckaroos defi nitely made their point. Pendleton dominated Hermiston from the get-go, sweeping the both games by wide margins taking game one 14-1 and game two 11-1 on a cold, windy day at Steve Cary Field. With the wins, Pendleton (17-4, 6-2 CRC) now sits alone in fi rst place in Hermiston Pendleton 1-1 14-11 the Columbia River Conference. Pendleton center fi elder Alexis Morrison said that the Buckaroos have been waiting to put together a performance like this, but it made it sweeter to come against Hermiston. “We’re really happy, especially getting the wins the way we did I think really proved how we can come together and hit well,” she said. “We’ve been waiting to have games like this in general.” For Hermiston (13-9, 4-4) it See SOFTBALL/2B PENDLETON Hermiston holds on for sweep Robles, Sexton throw complete games for Bulldogs By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian PENDLETON — Hermiston pitcher R.J. Robles had nothing left to prove after tossing seven innings of two-hit baseball against Pend- leton on Friday, but the Bulldogs senior wasn’t ready for his game to be over. After watching his teammates regain the lead in the top of the Baseball eighth inning, Robles asked Hermiston coach Hermiston Lance Hawkins to let him fi nish what he started. The second-year Bulldogs skipper obliged, and Pendleton Robles put away the Buckaroos quickly to earn a 3-1 win in the second half of a Columbia River Conference doubleheader at Bob White Field. Hermiston won the fi rst game 5-3 with Tyler Sexton pitching a complete game as well. “Those guys just grind,” Hawkins said of his pitchers. “They get up and they’re leaders … Another quality start for both of them.” Robles threw a fi ve-inning perfect game earlier this season, but hadn’t gone the distance in a regulation outing until Friday. “I told him, ‘Just give me the ball. I want to go out there and I want to fi nish it off because I haven’t thrown a complete game yet this year,’” Robles said. “Kids look at him and he just keeps going and going,” Hawkins said. “We didn’t want to take him out there and let him throw the 5-3 3-1 Portland Trail Blaz- ers guard Damian Lil- lard shoots in front of Los Ange- les Clip- pers guard Austin Riv- ers, right, during the second half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball fi rst-round playoff se- ries Friday, April 29, 2016, in Portland, Ore. AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Wyatt Morris catches the ball as Hermiston’s R.J. Robles slides into third base in the Bull- dogs’ 5-3 win against the Bucks in the fi rst game of a doubleheader Friday in Pendleton. eighth and he goes, ‘Give me the ball.’ You want that stuff.” Robles fi nished with 12 strike- outs, three walks and zero earned runs on three Pendleton hits. “Every year that I pitch against Pendleton I’m always pumped for it, always,” Robles said. “Honestly, I felt really good. My arm felt really good. I mean, I just tried battling as much as I could. I was kind of off in the middle of the game so I just had to adjust in between innings and just try to fi nd my rhythm.” But despite Robles carrying a shutout into the sixth inning, Herm- iston (12-8, 5-3 CRC) was unable to pull away and stranded runners in scoring position in the fi rst, fourth and fi fth innings. The Bulldogs took the lead in the second inning when Lukas Tolan singled to drive in Sexton from third base. Pendleton (11-10, 2-6 CRC) pitcher James Bradt picked up one of his seven strikeouts to end the inning with two on for the Bulldogs, though, and neither team scored again until the Bucks tied it in the sixth. Kai Quinn, who fi nished with two of the three hits off Robles, started the Bucks off in the sixth with a one-out single on a hard See BASEBALL/2B NBA Playoffs Trail Blazers advance Portland set to face Golden State in Western semifi nals By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND — Damian Lillard scored 28 points and the Portland Trail Blazers advanced to the Western Conference semi- fi nals by beating the resilient Los Angeles Clippers 106-103 on Friday night to claim the fi rst- round playoff series 4-2. Portland will open the second round against the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Sunday. CJ McCollum added 20 points for the Blazers, who became the fi rst team to overcome a 2-0 defi cit since Memphis came back against the Clippers in the fi rst round in 2013. Jamal Crawford had 32 points Game 6 Los Angeles Portland 103 106 •Portland wins series 3-2 and Austin Rivers added 21 points and eight assists despite having 11 stitches above his left eye from a collision in the fi rst quarter. But the Clippers could not recover from injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffi n in Game 4 of the series. Los Angeles didn’t surrender easily in the fi nal game, never allowing Portland a double-digit lead. “We didn’t panic when they put up a fi ght,” Lillard said. The Blazers appeared to pull away when McCollum’s 3-pointer made it 98-91 with 4:49 left, but the Clippers persisted. Already plagued by injuries, See TRAIL BLAZERS/2B