SPORTS
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018
1B
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Baseball
Softball
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Lauren Richards, of Pendleton, jogs
around the bases after smashing a
home run during Saturdays game
against Chiawana at Steve Cary Field.
Bucks blank
Riverhawks
Pendleton smashes 3 HRs
in victory over Chiawana
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Shaw Jerome slides headfirst into home plate as Sandy catcher Jacob Dukart looks for a throw from the outfield
in the Bucks’ 13-5 win against the Pioneers on Monday in Pendleton.
Bower back, Bucks bash
Sandy 13-5.
“It was good to be back, for sure,” Bower
said. “I went to the cages over the weekend
and got my timing back with coach (Wes)
By ERIC SINGER
Armstrong ... but this win is a confidence
East Oregonian
boost, no doubt. Overall I think we played
well today, need to clean up the defense a
ENDLETON — For the first two weeks little bit, but we hit the ball around the yard
of the baseball season, Pendleton senior and anytime you do that you’re going to have
captain Nick Bower was forced to watch a good chance to win.”
each one of the Buckaroos’ six games from
Bower was not the only Buckaroo (2-5)
the dugout, as a minor back injury relegated to hit the ball well. The team tallied 18 hits
him to the bench. For a fierce competitor overall and five different players tallied at least
like Bower, it was irritating to
two hits. Gabe Umbarger
simply sit and watch.
and Daniel Naughton each
BASEBALL
“I like to play sports, that’s
had three hits apiece for the
my whole life, so sitting on
Buckaroos, with Umbarger
the bench and watching my
hitting two triples, scoring
teammates was hard,” Bower
Team
Team
two runs and driving in a
said.
team-best four runs.
However Bower was finally
Umbarger, a switch
able to trade in his sweatpants
hitter, reached base a total
and sneakers for baseball pants and cleats on of four times as he was hit by a pitch in the
Monday afternoon as Pendleton hosted Sandy sixth inning. In seven games, Umbarger has
during Day 1 of the Red Lion Buckaroo Base- now reached base safely 19 times in 28 plate
ball Classic at Bob White Field. Hitting sixth appearances and has scored eight runs.
and patrolling centerfield, Bower tallied three
hits including two doubles, scored two runs
See BASEBALL/3B
and drove in two runs as Pendleton defeated
Bower returns and Pendleton
pounds 18 hits in victory
P
13
5
Pendleton’s Chris Large throws from the
mound for the Bucks in their 13-5 win
against Sandy on Monday in Pendleton.
PENDLETON — On a sunny and
windy afternoon at Steve Cary Field on
Saturday, the Pendleton softball earned a
valuable victory.
After its two previous wins came of the
blowout variety, Pendleton played a game
full of some pressure situation against
Chiawana. The Buckaroos held only a
slim two-run advantage for a majority of
the game but still hung on to win 5-0 over
the Riverhawks in a non-league game.
“Obviously we’d like to go out and
score 10-plus runs every game, but if you
do that every single time, you’re never
really faced with pressure situations,”
Buckaroos coach Tim Cary said. “And
even though we felt like we were in pretty
good shape for most of the game, it was
still only a 2-0 game so there was really no
margin for error and we had to be on top
of our game.”
The Buckaroos (3-1) picked up its
first two runs right off the start, when
Kirah McGlothan and Lauren Richards
hit back-to-back wind-aided solo home
runs. However through the next four-plus
frames Pendleton managed zero runs on
five hits as Chiawana continued to hang
around. In the meantime, the Riverhawks
put pressure on the Buckaroos defense
and pitcher Lauren Richards nearly every
inning, and twice had two runners on base
with one out or less.
See SOFBALL/3B
NCAA Women’s Basketball
Irish dancing back to Final Four
Elite Eight
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
SPOKANE, Wash. — Kathryn
Westbeld scored 20 points, Jessica
Shepard added 18 and Notre
Dame reached the Final Four for
the eighth time in school history
by defeating Oregon 84-74 on
Monday night.
Westbeld came up with the
biggest game of her Notre Dame
career despite being slowed by an
ankle injury from the first round of
the NCAA Tournament. Westbeld
had scored a combined 12 points
in the previous four games, but she
teamed with Shepard for an inside
attack that hurt the Ducks.
Westbeld made 9 of 12 shots.
Notre Dame (33-3) outscored
Oregon 52-38 in the paint and
outrebounded the Ducks 51-29 in
Notre Dame
Oregon
84
74
the Spokane Regional final.
Arike Ogunbowale added 19
points and Marina Mabrey had 15
for the Irish.
Despite a handful of costly
injuries along the way, the Irish
are back in a familiar spot in
the national semifinals. It’s the
sixth Final Four for Notre Dame
since 2011 and old friend UConn
awaits in the semis Friday night in
Columbus, Ohio.
First-team
all-American
Sabrina Ionescu led Oregon (33-5)
with 26 points, but the Ducks
struggled offensively over the final
20 minutes. Oregon shot 8 of 31 in
the second half and Ionescu had
just seven points after the break.
The Ducks were unable to
find other scoring options. Ruthy
Hebard had 12 points in the first
half and just five in the second half.
Oregon also never got into a
rhythm with its outside shooting.
The Ducks were 4 of 15 on
3-pointers after entering as the
No. 2 team in the country at 40.4
percent from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame’s defense was a big
reason why Oregon shot so poorly.
After a first half that was an
offensive showcase, Notre Dame
did a better job of pressuring
Ionescu and getting the ball out of
her hands. When she did get a shot
attempt, it was often a challenged
look.
(AP Photo/Young Kwak
Notre Dame forward Kathryn Westbeld and Oregon forward Satou
Sabally go after a rebound during the first half in a regional final
NCAA women’s tournament Monday in Spokane, Wash.
Sports shorts
“I’m really concerned
about the things I hear that
we can’t get confirmed. I
share with people an old
quotation: ‘In the absence
of fact, rumor must suffice.’
That’s what everybody has
to deal with now.“
— Jay Bowerman
Legendary track coach Bill
Bowerman’s son on the secrecy
of the Hayward Field renovation
plan, as quoted in The Oregonian.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Rams sign DT Suh to 1-year deal
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Decades ago, the Los Angeles
Rams’ defense was fronted by the Fearsome Foursome.
With Ndamukong Suh playing alongside Aaron Donald for
the Rams this fall, NFL offenses are about to experience a
terrifying twosome.
Suh agreed to a one-year contract with Los Angeles on
Monday, joining three-time All-Pro Donald in a remarkable
defensive line pairing.
Suh was released by the Dolphins this month after three
seasons in Miami. He examined several free-agent opportu-
nities before choosing the defending NFC West champion
Rams, who have revamped their already solid defense
with several impressive offseason additions.
Suh’s deal in Los Angeles is worth $14 million,
according to the NFL Network and ESPN.
1939 — Oregon beats Ohio
State 46-33 in the NCAA’s
first national basketball tour-
nament.
1971 — UCLA defeats
Villanova 68-62 for its fifth
NCAA crown.
1998 — Michael Jordan
scores 34 points to lead the
Chicago Bulls to an 89-74
victory over the Atlanta
Hawks before 62,046 at the
Georgia Dome — the largest
crowd in NBA history.
2017 — The UConn’s
women advance to its 10th
consecutive Final Four with a
90-52 victory against Oregon.
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