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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2017)
SPORTS TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Women’s College Basketball Ducks can’t deny Huskies Bulldogs split with Cougars UConn routs Oregon, heads to 10th straight Final Four By DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Everything UConn lost to graduation made another Final Four even more special for Geno Auriemma and his Huskies. Napheesa Collier scored 28 points, Gabby Elite 8 Williams had 25 and the Huskies advanced to the national semifi nals for the 10th straight year #10 Oregon with a 90-52 victory against Oregon on Monday night. “There were a lot of question marks going into the season and #1 UConn maybe they didn’t have any in their own minds,” Auriemma said. “They seemed to answer every single one of those questions. They deserve to be in the Final Four. They earned it.” 52 90 See UCONN ADVANCES/3B Monday Prep Roundup Buckaroos win two Berhaut powers Pendleton at tournament East Oregonian PENDLETON — Alexi Brehaut hit two home runs, one of them a grand slam, and Pendleton softball opened the Spring Break Challenge with wins over Putnam and Forest Grove on Monday at Hood View Park in Happy Valley. Brehaut clubbed a solo shot in the Buckaroos’ 6-2 win over Putnam, which featured an 11-strikeout performance from Lauren Richards in the circle, then repeated the act with the bases loaded to help her own cause in a 7-2 win over Forest Grove. Kila Solomon (2 for 3) also went yard against Forest Grove (3-4), hers a three-run See PREPS/2B Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston pitcher Brylee Dufl oth waits for the ball as Mountian View’s Carson Corrigan (5) steals home in a non-league base- ball game against the Cougars on Monday in Hermiston. Hermiston won 7-6. Hermiston avoids doubleheader sweep with walk-off hit By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian The Hermiston baseball team gathered at Armand Larive ball park on Monday, hoping begin its spring break with a pair of wins as it hosted Mountain View for an afternoon doubleheader. However, the Bulldogs played sloppy in the fi rst game, resulting in a 13-2 defeat and then stared at a 5-0 defi cit after three complete innings of the second game, resulting in the pre-game hope shifting to uneasiness. And before Hermiston came to bat in the fourth inning, senior Slade Gritz saw his teammates’ body language and realized he needed to step up and say something. “I called everyone together in the dugout and said ‘We’re not going to lose two to this team,” Gritz recalled. “We have to fi gure it out and start putting the ball in play.” The meeting worked for the Bulldogs, as Hermiston began to chip away at the Mountain View lead and ended up winning the game 7-6 on a walk-off single by Baseball Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez throws the ball to fi rst base in the Bulldogs’ 7-6 win against Mountain View on Monday in Hermiston. Gritz to split the doubleheader. Gritz came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out inning while tied at 6-6, and on the fi rst pitch he ripped a hit up into the wind that carried it over the Mountain View outfi elder’s head for the win. Mountain View (2-4) had intentionally walked Lukas Tolan to bring Gritz to the plate to make it a force out at home plate, which made Gritz determined to end the game with a win for his team. “I remember as soon as they (Mountain View) said they’re going to put (Lukas) on I thought ‘Well, they messed up,” said Gritz, who fi nished 2 for 3 with three RBI in Game 2. “I just knew I needed to get my job done and he (the pitcher) threw Mountain View Hermiston 13-6 2-7 a fastball right down the middle, made a mistake and I capitalized on it.” Hermiston (2-2) was the ones making the mistakes in the fi rst game, as the Bulldogs tallied six errors defensively while the pitchers put 12 Cougars on base via a walk and hit-by-pitches. And at the plate, Hermiston managed just four hits, two of which came within the fi rst two at-bats of the game. The Bulldogs were playing for the fi rst time in 13 days, though Hermiston coach Lance Hawkins said that he hoped that having a break would allow the Bulldogs to be roaring and ready to go instead of showing rust. “We work really hard in practice and when I don’t see any of that hard work paying off, See BULLDOGS/2B Saturday Prep Roundup Tigers sweep TigerScots Stanfi eld’s Grogan, Bailey combine for perfect game East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Adrian Renner, of Stanfi eld, slides into second base ahead of the ball as Weston-McE- wen’s Travis Hendley waits for the throw Saturday during their high school baseball game in Stanfi eld. STANFIELD — The Stanfi eld Tigers welcomed the Weston-McEwen TigerScots to Madigan Field for a doubleheader on Saturday and sent the TigerScots back to Athena with a pair of losses. In Game 1, Stanfi eld’s Dylan Grogan and Ryan Bailey combined to throw a fi ve-inning, perfect game on the mound and the Tiger (4-1) bats backed them up well for a 13-0 victory. Grogan started the game and tossed 58 pitches in four complete innings, striking out 11 TigerScots while Bailey threw a perfect fi fth inning with one strikeout. In Game 2, Weston-McEwen battled throughout the early stages of the game, but the combination of Stanfi eld’s offense and own defensive miscues led to a 12-run fourth inning to lead Stanfi eld to an 18-4 victory. The Tigers offense belted 25 hits between the two games and seven of the starters had at least two hits. Tony Flores had perhaps the most productive day going 5 for 8 with three See SATURDAY PREPS/2B Sports shorts Jeanie Buss to control Lakers LOS ANGELES (AP) — A battle over control of the Los Angeles Lakers is over after an agreement was reached to have Jeanie Buss serve as controlling owner of the storied NBA franchise for the rest of her life, making permanent the arrangement her late father and longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in his will that he wanted. The agreement was fi led in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday and states that Jim and Johnny Buss have agreed that their Buss sister will serve as the controlling owner. The fi ling ends weeks of uncertainty about control of the Lakers as the franchise tries to put several losing seasons behind it. Earlier this month, Jeanie Buss went to court seeking an order to control the team after her brothers called for a board meeting that she interpreted as a challenge to her power. “We’re sick and tired of just being pawns. Putting up with 13 years of bad football, embarrassing football and we stayed loyal to this team. When they needed something to hang their hat on, it was us who was there. For the team now to turn the corner and look to skip town, it’s just devastating.“ — Rob Rivera Black Hole fan club president on the NFL owners’ decision to ap- prove a move to Las Vegas by the Oakland Raiders. MORE ON 3B Beavers baseball ranked No. 1 Oregon State is No. 1 in the nation this week, according to D1Baseball.com, Baseball America and the USA Today coaches poll. The Beavers swept visiting Arizona last week and improved to 20-1, while Louisville, which was No. 1 according to some last week, dropped a couple of games and slipped to 21-2. The coaches gave 30 of 31 fi rst-place votes this week to OSU. The Beavers received 774 points to lead No. 2-ranked Texas Tech (22-4), which got 724 points. Louisville, which drew the other fi rst- place vote, was third with 718 points. Arizona (16-7) went from sixth to 11th. Stanford (13-6), which will play host to Oregon State this weekend for three games, is 14th. OSU went from second to fi rst in the Baseball America rankings, with Louisville dropping a notch to No. 2. TCU is third, Arizona 13th and Stanford 15th. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1939 — The barnstorming Renaissance Five beat the NBL champion Oshkosh All-Stars 34-25 to win the fi rst annual World Profes- sional Basketball Tournament in Chicago. Accounts of the game make no mention that the Rens are all black and the All-Stars all white. 1982 — Louisiana Tech downs Cheyney State 76-62 in the NCAA’s fi rst women’s basketball championship. 1992 — Christian Laettner hits a 15-foot turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give defending champion Duke a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky in the Elite 8. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
