SPORTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2017
1B
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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.
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