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
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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