8 A.M. SPORTS WAKE UP

BLOG SITE IS CLOSING AND MOVING

2005-04-26T12:33:00.000-04:00

To all the readers who have read and supported this site, there is some bad news to report but with some good news to tell you.

Starting tomorrow, the 8 AM Sports Wake Up or what was formally Sports West Weekly will close down the blogging doors for good. This is a sad day for everyone on the site. I am sad to see this site go but unfortunately not that many people were interested in regional sports coverage on the west coast.

Many of you that have enjoyed the site can go directly to a site that I highly recommend.

It is at http://www.weeklysportsjournal.blogspot.com or THE SPORTS MACHINE.

The Sports Machine is an up and coming site filled with sporting news from around the country. For the west coast fans, this site does offer regional coverage, which is a plus. Please go to this site and support it. It is an awesome site filled with tons of information.

Again thank you for the support over the last three months.

Sincerely and God Bless You,

Bobby W.

ARIZONA BASEBALL GETS RUN OVER

2005-04-25T18:33:00.000-04:00

The No. 6-ranked Arizona baseball team lost its season-high third straight game, falling 7-4 to Sacramento State at Hornet Field in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 27-14 overall and marked the first time this season that Arizona has been held winless over a weekend series.

CSUS’s Brian Blauser hit a two-out, three-run homer off of Arizona reliever Sean Rierson in the fourth inning to provide Sac State with the winning margin. UA’s Derek Decater hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second, to highlight Arizona’s offensive output.

Arizona starter David Coulon (2-2) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs, only two of which were earned, on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. CSUS’s Ethan Katz (5-6) picked up the win with seven solid innings, giving up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and

The Wildcats tied their season high of five errors in a 12-1 loss to UC Irvine earlier on Saturday. The loss was Arizona’s second straight to the Anteaters in Sacramento.

Arizona will return to Pac-10 play next weekend when USC visits Tucson for a three-game series. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday and 12:20 p.m. on Sunday.

2005-04-25T12:41:00.001-04:00

The offense busted out the bats early on Sunday, and Shawn Estes was cruising, as the Diamondbacks built an 8-1 lead by the fifth inning.
Then the game got interesting.
In the end, Brandon Lyon had to shut the door on a Padres comeback, notching his eighth save (tying him for the Major League lead with Francisco Cordero) as the Diamondbacks held on for an 8-6 win, sweeping a three-game series from San Diego in front of 30,471 at Bank One Ballpark.
The Diamondbacks enjoy the home cooking. Coming off of a rough 2-7 record in their first road trip of the season, this three-game series, which culminated in the Diamondbacks winning their seventh in a row at home, was just what the team needed.
"We've played very well at home, especially offensively. It's always nice to know that when we come home, a lot of times if we're a little bit sick, we get well, " said manager Bob Melvin.
"We came out and swung the bats really well today," he said. "Sometimes when you have a couple of wins against a team you want to try and put pressure on them right away, but they didn't quit. It was 8-1 and it looks like the game is out of hand, but here they come, they come battling back."
The Diamondbacks, already up 1-0 thanks to a Troy Glaus RBI double in the first, jumped all over Padres starter Brian Lawrence in the third, chasing him with five runs in the frame, culminated by a three-run homer by Tony Clark, who was in the lineup to give Chad Tracy a day of rest.
"This is a guy that has been a 30-homer guy, and the last couple of years he's hit 16 homers and that's pretty impressive for a guy that doesn't get to play every day," said Melvin of Clark. "He's learned that role and he's learned how to keep himself ready. He's gotten big pinch-hits for us and when he gets a start he does something like he did today."
After the Padres scratched out a run in the fourth on a Dave Roberts triple and an Estes wild pitch, Quinton McCracken put two more on the board for the Diamondbacks to make it 8-1, as the switch-hitter parked just his second career home run from the right side of the plate, with the first coming back in 1997.
"(McCracken's) had success here. Not only is he a good player, he's a consistent player and a safe guy that's going to do all the things right. He's just a solid player," said Melvin.
Armed with some early runs, Shawn Estes kept setting down the Padres hitters en route to the twelfth quality start from an Arizona pitcher in the last 14 games.
"He pitched great, mixing speeds again, and throwing a good curveball, " said Melvin. "He's a veteran guy and he's giving us the performances we expected him to give us. It shouldn't have been that hard at the end, it got a little closer than we would have liked at the end."
The Padres comeback began with a two-run homer by Jesse Garcia off Estes in the seventh.
"He got one ball up, but when he had to make a pitch today he made a pitch. He made one bad pitch today, and that was to Garcia for the homer," said Melvin.
Estes experienced a minor injury earlier in the inning.
"He just semi-tweaked his Achilles, " Melvin said. "It's not a problem, but he felt it when he bounced off the mound one time, and that was going to be his last inning."
Estes escaped the inning without further damage, but the Padres struck again off Brian Bruney in the eighth, scoring three runs after a couple of two-out walks, with Ryan Klesko's two-run homer creating some nervous moments in the stands before Lyon came on to put out the fire.
"Two-out walks end up getting you a lot and (Bruney's) well aware of that," remarked Melvin. "Two outs and nobody on you have to go after guys, and he put himself in a tough position, and I have to bring my closer in (during) the eighth inning."
Still, despite Sunday's anxious moments, the Diamondbacks head out on the road to take on the division-leading Dodgers with some momentum, and serving notice that, unlike last year, they won't be leaving the National League West race anytime soon.

2005-04-25T12:41:00.000-04:00

Two innings away from a sweep of the team with the best record in the National League, the Colorado Rockies' bullpen served up an ugly reminder why Colorado's record hovers at the opposite end of the standings on a drizzly Sunday afternoon.
Three relievers served up a five-run, four-hit, four-hit batsman eighth inning to hand the Los Angeles Dodgers an 8-6 victory -- and ruin a chance at a three-game sweep -- at Coors Field in front of 28,117.
Left-hander Jeff Francis pitched six innings and held a 5-3 lead, giving Colorado another start representative of the rotation's recent work, which was the chief reason the Rockies won four of five going into Sunday.
But mainly because Byung-Hyun Kim (0-3, two blown saves) continued to be more off than on, the bullpen blew its baseball-leading seventh save of the season, putting Colorado a fifth of the way to eclipsing last year's all-time record of 34 blown saves. It was also Colorado's seventh relief loss, after the bullpen lost a record 39 games in 2004.
The Rockies, who face the hot pitching of the Florida Marlins in a three-game series starting Tuesday night at Coors, have reason not to feel blue.
Preston Wilson knocked a two-run homer, his second roundtripper in as many games, Clint Barmes extended his hitting streak to 10 games and Matt Holliday's two-run triple gave him at least one hit in eight of his last 10 games. But the always-struggling bullpen is the difference between a team looking at snippets of progress and one winning at a faster pace than the look of its roster would dictate.
"I don't think there's any doubt," manager Clint Hurdle said. "If somebody had told us we were going to take 2-of-3 from the Dodgers and have the lead in the eighth inning, I'd take it in a heartbeat. It all depends on what you look for.
"I still find a lot of positives. The bullpen has been an issue since Day 1. It was an issue in Spring Training. It will continue to be until some of these guys find that comfort zone where they're going to slow the game down, they're going to repeat their delivery, they're going to pound the zone with strikes and throw secondary pitches for strikes."
Brian Fuentes, who pitched a clean seventh, hit J.D. Drew with an 0-2 pitch to open the eighth. The primary setup man for closer Chin-hui Tsao, Fuentes struggled in Saturday night's 8-6 Rockies victory, giving up a run and having to be rescued with the bases loaded in the eighth after hitting a batter and walking another.
Kim, who threw a simulated game on Saturday to work on his mechanics, hit Jeff Kent with a two-strike pitch, and gave up a Milton Bradley two-run double and an Olmedo Saenz RBI single before heading to the dugout with Colorado's seventh blown save of the season. Kim has more earned runs allowed (10) than hits (six) or innings pitched (9 1/3). He also has more walks (11) than any of those categories.
Ryan Speier gave up Jason Phillips' RBI double and Norihiro Nakamura's two-run single to leave the Rockies behind, 8-5.
"When you have the lead and you lose it, it's tough," second baseman Aaron Miles said. "But there are lots of teams out here that are blowing saves and giving it up in the late innings. Very few teams have that Eric Gagne effect or that John Smoltz effect, last year when he was closing (for Atlanta)."
The Dodgers' Giovanni Carrara (3-0) was effective enough in pitching the seventh and eighth, and holding the Rockies to one run. Drew helped.
With two out and two on in the eighth, JD Closser singled to drive in Matt Holliday. But on the play, Dodgers right fielder Drew threw out Brad Hawpe at third, where Nakamura used his left foot to stop Hawpe's slide before it reached the bag. Yhency Brazoban pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Francis had a chance to become the second pitcher in Rockies history (behind Denny Stark in 2002) to begin his career with four straight winning decisions at Coors. He wasn't nearly as effective as he was Tuesday, when he held Arizona to one run in 7 2/3 innings. But as has been the case several times since breaking in late last season, he showed that he is good enough without his best stuff.
Francis hit two batters, helping Los Angeles tie a 105-year-old franchise record for most times hit in a game with four (last accomplished July 17, 1900, against the New York Giants). Francis also walked two to match his strikeout total.
But all three Dodgers runs off the lefty scored on sacrifice flies, meaning he didn't give up big hits that could lead to bigger innings.
"In situations, I have made good pitches when I've needed to and I've had some great defensive plays behind me," Francis said. "Once you get runners on, you have to bear down and do what you need to do."

2005-04-25T12:40:00.001-04:00

Sunday was a day of firsts for the Brewers. For the first time in a long time, most of them were welcome.
Carlos Lee clubbed a pair of two-run home runs for his first multihomer game as a Brewer and his first multi-RBI game in nearly two weeks, Derrick Turnbow notched his first career save and the Brewers held off the Giants, 8-5, for their first series win at SBC Park in four years.
Lee homered on a pair of two-strike, two-out fastballs in his best offensive performance in a Brewers uniform and went 6-for-13 in the series with six RBIs and one highlight-caliber catch Saturday.
"I didn't remember what a fastball looked like," said Lee, who has gotten a steady diet of breaking stuff in his first season in the National League. "Then I go to Houston and I come here, and everybody is coming after me with fastballs. It was a matter of time."
But it only happened when Lee started laying off the sliders in the dirt that he had waved at during his first three weeks in a Brewers uniform. His 10th career multihomer game powered the team to a 2-1 series win after suffering three consecutive sweeps.
"He's a special player," Brewers manager Ned Yost said of Lee. "The thing I like about him is his desire and hustle. He's swinging the bat pretty good, too."
Yost switched Geoff Jenkins' and Lyle Overbay's spots in the batting order this weekend, and it seemed to spark the offense. With Jenkins hitting in front of Lee and Overbay behind, the trio combined to go 7-for-14 Sunday with six runs scored.
"Everyone kind of feeds off each other," Jenkins said. "[Third] is my natural slot I've always hit in. Who knows? Maybe it's good for everybody. We had some great two-out hitting today."
Lee began his day with a single in the second inning and scored when Jeff Cirillo hit a two-run single that glanced off the glove of shortstop Omar Vizquel, who celebrated his 38th birthday by finishing a home run shy of the cycle.
That hit gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead, and Lee made it 4-1 in the third inning when he followed a Jenkins single with his second home run of the season on an 0-2 fastball from Giants starter Jerome Williams (0-2). Moises Alou countered with a fourth-inning solo homer off Brewers starter Gary Glover (1-1), but Lee came back in the fifth with another two-run shot. Again, it came on a two-strike fastball from Williams and scored Jenkins, who had doubled.
"I felt comfortable from the first day I was here," said Lee, acquired in a Winter Meetings trade with the White Sox. "That's what you work hard for, to be an all-around player."
Glover threw only 88 pitches in five innings, allowing four Giants runs on seven hits and two walks. He was one of six Brewers pitchers to appear in a game closed out for the first time by Turnbow, who appears to be the team's closer of the moment.
"Closers are sort of like your No. 1 pitcher -- it's an elite role," said Turnbow, who worked around two walks in his 1 1/3-inning stint. "It's definitely a big role [that] comes with a lot of responsibility."
A responsibility Turnbow welcomes. He has 11 Minor League saves but until Sunday had none in 44 career relief appearances since 2000. Against the Giants, Turnbow's fastball topped out at 95 mph on the Brewers' radar gun; in Spring Training it was clocked at 97-98 mph at times.
"Turnbow's a big strong guy. He can handle it," Yost said. "I would say if we had a save situation in the ninth inning, Turnbow is going to be pitching it [on Monday]."

2005-04-25T12:40:00.000-04:00

The Angels managed just one run against A's rookie Joe Blanton on Sunday, but Kelvim Escobar didn't care.
"I always tell myself, keep the team in the ballgame," Escobar said. "You can't worry about how the other guy is pitching."
Making his first start of the year after returning from the disabled list, Escobar followed his own advice. He didn't pick up a win, but he threw six shutout innings. Throw in a seventh-inning Steve Finley solo shot, three scoreless innings by Scot Shields (3-1) followed by Francisco Rodriguez's fourth save, and you have a narrow but nice 1-0 win for the Angels.
"It's all about scoring enough runs to win," said Finley, who raised his batting average to .176. "I've been putting a lot of good swings on the ball [and making outs]. It's nice to put one where they can't get it."
Escobar served notice in the first inning that he was fully recovered from the right elbow strain that placed him on the disabled list at the start of the season. The right-hander struck out the side in the first on 14 pitches and finished with seven strikeouts while allowing just two hits, the fewest he's allowed while with the Angels.
"I felt good warming up in the bullpen and I went up there pitching aggressive and pounding the strike zone," said Escobar, who threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of 21 batters. "When I can command my fastball the way I did tonight. ... I have three out-pitches I can throw in any count and that makes it very hard for the hitters."
Escobar worked in the low-90 mph range all game and threw 82 pitches. But after six innings, the game was deadlocked at zero, thanks to another strong outing by Blanton.
The 24-year-old right-hander struck out just two men in throwing his first Major League complete game, but he kept the Angels off balance at the plate and stranded Angels in scoring position in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
"He knows how to work both sides of the plate, he's got terrific control of all his pitches, and he's got just enough fastball to keep guys honest," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He pitched a great game today."
Blanton only made one significant mistake, a middle-in fastball that Finley jacked over the 365-foot marker in right field to lead off the seventh inning.
"It was the right pitch," Blanton said. "Just bad location."
Poorly located or not, though, Finley was sitting on it.
"I was just looking for a fastball," Finley said. "Leadoff batter, 1-0 count. ... He was throwing strikes all night."
Blanton didn't get rattled, though, retiring the next six Angels in order. But Shields and Rodriguez made the narrow lead stand up, and the hard-luck Blanton fell to 0-2 in four starts despite a 1.75 ERA.
Shields relieved Escobar to start the seventh, and it initially looked like Scioscia might have pulled his starter too soon. Scott Hatteberg -- who was 7-for-11 in the series -- doubled to lead off the inning. Erubiel Durazo grounded to shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who tried to nab Hatteberg heading to third. The ball sailed past third baseman Dallas McPherson and the A's had runners on the corners with no outs.
Bobby Kielty lined a smash up the middle, but Shields knocked it down, looked back Hatteberg to third and got the force out at second. Eric Byrnes hit a hard grounder, but McPherson fielded it and whipped it to catcher Jose Molina, who easily tagged Hatteberg between third and home. Keith Ginter then popped up and Shields was out of the inning.
Rodriguez relieved Shields with two outs and a man on second in the eighth and got Eric Chavez to line out to end the inning. In the ninth, Rodriguez had to face the A's four through six hitters, starting with Hatteberg.
Not only was Hatteberg the hardest man to strike out in the American League last year, he also hit the two-run single on Friday that saddled Rodriguez with his first loss and blown save of the year.
Even so, Hatteberg proved no problem for Rodriguez this time around. The Angels' closer struck out Hatteberg and then got Durazo to ground out. Then, third baseman Maicer Izturis, who entered the game an inning earlier as a defensive replacement, threw away Bobby Kielty's infield single. But even with Kielty on second, Rodriguez wasn't rattled, getting pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse to ground out to end the game.
"It was a great ballgame and I wanted to shut the door," Rodriguez said. "Friday was a rough day, today was a good day."

2005-04-25T12:39:00.000-04:00

After a subpar season in 2004 got him demoted to the role of utility infielder, Alex Cintron knows that he's got to make things happen in his diminished playing time if he's going to become an everyday player again in Arizona.
Cintron certainly made things happen Saturday night with three hits in four trips to the plate, including the game-winning single in the ninth in a 2-1 Diamondbacks victory over San Diego that gave Arizona the first two games of the three-game set at Bank One Ballpark.
The third baseman's two-out single off loser Akinori Otsuka (0-1) came on the first pitch he saw and scored Chad Tracy, who easily beat left fielder Xavier Nady's high throw up the third-base line. Cintron also drove in Arizona's other run with a two-out double in the seventh off Padres starter Jake Peavy that tied the game at 1.
"When you're in a situation like that, and you come off the bench and you get some playing time, you've got to take advantage of that," Cintron said. "You've got to do your best and help yourself."
Cintron's offensive heroics might have overshadowed a splendid performance from right-hander Brandon Webb, who literally grounded the Padres' hitters. Webb limited the Padres to five hits and one earned run in eight innings, using his sinker to record 18 of his 24 outs on the ground. He struck out five.
Mark Loretta's fly ball that ended the Padres' eighth was the only aerial out Webb allowed.
Webb, however, picked up a no-decision. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth after throwing 105 pitches.
Reliever Mike Koplove (2-1) worked a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.
"I was getting tired, but I still felt good getting outs in the later innings," Webb said. "My changeup was working well over the last three or four innings. Maybe we could have put everybody in the infield and made sure nothing got through."
Peavy also was solid, leaving the game for a pinch-hitter after tossing seven innings and allowing only four hits and a run with eight strikeouts.
"Both those guys pitched unbelievable," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said. "We weren't getting good swings, let alone a hit, off Peavy for a while there."
Peavy retired the first two Arizona hitters in the seventh before Shawn Green doubled to right-center. Cintron then belted a double into the right-field corner that scored Green with the D-Backs' first run.
Before the game, Melvin opted to give third baseman Troy Glaus a rest after 17 consecutive starts at third base. Melvin replaced him with Cintron in the sixth spot of the batting order, with Tracy moving into Glaus' cleanup spot.
There was mention about Cintron's work ethic in 2004, when he fell to .262 with four homers after a brilliant rookie season in 2003, when he hit .317 with 13 homers.
Melvin was raving about Cintron's work ethic Saturday night.
"It shows you that the kid is working hard," Melvin said. "And we told all our guys -- you have to stay ready. We told Alex for some time that when you're opportunity comes, you need to be ready. This is a guy that could be an everyday player somewhere else."
Cintron lost his starting job at shortstop when the D-Backs raided available infielders in last year's free agent crop, acquiring Glaus, Royce Clayton and Craig Counsell.
"I'm a young guy and I would like to play every day," Cintron said. "This gives me a lot of confidence in myself. I showed everybody that I'm ready to play, and that's what I did tonight."

2005-04-25T12:38:00.001-04:00

Russell Branyan needed all of two swings to announce his return to the Brewers' lineup.
In his first-ever game at SBC Park and his first game back from a shoulder injury, Branyan launched a solo home run over the right-field arcade and portwalk and into McCovey Cove on the fly. He was the eighth visitor to accomplish the feat, and it was only the 47th baseball hit that far in five-plus seasons at Barry Bonds' bayside ballpark.
It also put Milwaukee ahead, but they could not hold off old nemesis Brett Tomko and the Giants, who sent the Brewers into a last-place tie by beating them Saturday, 6-2, in front of 37,341 fans.
Yorvit Torrealba, San Francisco's catcher and No. 8 hitter, matched a career high with three hits, including a game-tying solo home run in the third inning and an RBI double and run scored in the Giants' four-run fourth.
The game left the Brewers searching for positives. They found one in Branyan.
"Did it go in the water?" Branyan asked later.
It did, even though Branyan hit a down-and-away pitch from Tomko off the end of his bat and hit a ball that many of his teammates thought was hooking foul. Because of rain Friday and a Giants pregame event on the field Saturday, Branyan had never even taken batting practice at SBC Park.
Lyle Overbay knew how hard it is to put one into the cove.
"I've tried every batting practice since I've been here and I think I've hit one, out of probably 200 pitches," Overbay said.
But the Brewers did not muster much else against Tomko (1-3), who worked 6 1/3 innings, chipped in a two-run single and ran his winning streak against the Brewers to five games. Milwaukee has not beaten Tomko since 1998.
The game came down to one bad inning on both sides of the ball for the Brewers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak Friday but have lost 11 of 14 games since being the only Major League team off to a 3-0 start.
Brewers left fielder Carlos Lee hit an RBI single for a 1-0 lead in the third inning, and Branyan's third home run of the season made it 2-1 in the fourth. But the Giants rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning against Milwaukee left-hander Chris Capuano (0-2).
Capuano surrendered five runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings and lost his second straight game. Again, command was an issue.
"He was better than last time," manager Ned Yost said. "Still, command-wise, he was getting too many pitches where he didn't want them."
Yost said one of those mistakes was a pitch to Tomko. After the Giants tied the game on a sacrifice fly and went ahead on Torrealba's RBI double, Tomko fought off a 2-1 pitch and dropped it into shallow right field, scoring two runs and giving the Giants a 5-2 lead.
"We didn't really make the pitches we wanted on Tomko," said Yost, who thought the pitch was too high in the strike zone and said, "It wasn't in a quality location."
Capuano disagreed.
"I didn't think it was elevated," Capuano said. "I thought it was down and away. He hit it off the end of his bat. I actually felt I made a pretty decent pitch there."
To be fair, the Giants' fourth-inning rally was aided by a pair of infield hits to Branyan that may have been playable. Branyan has been held out of infield and batting drills the past five days because of soreness in his throwing shoulder and said Saturday, "I felt kind of new out there."
"I threw the ball, I felt, the best today of any of my four starts and had the worst result," Capuano said. "I just had some bad bounces out there."
The Brewers rallied but could not cash in three innings later. After J.J. Hardy's seventh-inning sacrifice pushed runners to second and third with one out and prompted a call for reliever Jason Christiansen, Bill Hall was caught off third base in a rundown when Geoff Jenkins hit a bouncer to the pitcher.
"I should have waited longer to make sure it was going to get by the pitcher," Hall said.
But that was only the second out, and had Hall held, the Giants would have probably intentionally walked Carlos Lee to load the bases. When Lee drew a walk from reliever Jim Brower, the Brewers found themselves in the identical situation.
Giants manager Felipe Alou called for left-handed reliever Scott Eyre, who escaped potential damage by inducing a Lyle Overbay flyout.
Yost shook up his lineup this weekend and is hoping Branyan's return sparks some more offense. Branyan had a cortisone injection in his right shoulder early in the week and said he still feels some soreness.
"I'm not out of the woods yet," he said. "I think we've got it under control."
Branyan became the eighth Giants opponent to hit a homer on the fly into McCovey Cove. Arizona's Luis Gonzalez has done it twice, and the Mets' Cliff Floyd was the last to do it, last Aug. 21 off Tomko.
"He's another big bat we can put in there," Yost said.

2005-04-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

One peculiar trait of last year's Dodgers team was its streakiness, and here they go again.
After a four-game win streak the first week and an eight-game roll that ended in San Diego, their losing streak reached three on Saturday night with a wasteful, 8-6 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies.
Starter Odalis Perez spotted the Rockies a 7-0 lead after two innings, and the Dodgers spent the rest of this typical Coors Field scramble mounting a sputtering comeback. They scored six but stranded a staggering 16 baserunners. Four batters came to the plate with the bases loaded, and only Ricky Ledee got a hit, a two-run bloop single.
"Blame it on me," said Perez. "I let my team down, 7-0. It was a tough game for me. It's tough to pitch in Colorado, for real. You leave a pitch up, you're going to pay for it."
Perez was one of those batters with the bases loaded, as manager Jim Tracy allowed him to hit with two out in the top of the fifth, with the Dodgers trailing, 7-4.
Tracy succeeded with a similar tactic in last year's division-clinching win over the Giants, allowing reliever Wilson Alvarez to bat in the fifth inning with runners on second and third, trailing by two runs, because he was short in the bullpen that day, as he was on Saturday night.
Agree or not, he explained the method to his madness.
"With a good-hitting pitcher, I don't know you'd get a much better at-bat than the vicious line drive he hit to right field," said Tracy of Perez's lineout to end the inning. "With what happened later [an injury to Jose Valentin], we'd run out of players. And if you're quick on the trigger in this park, you can wreck a bullpen.
"There's no guarantee you win this game, and you could mess yourself up for three days. Tomorrow we've got a pitcher with a pitch count [issue] and no day off Monday."
Because of roster juggling to cover for six disabled players, Tracy is already short a position player and narrowly escaped losing another in the eighth inning. Valentin was struck by a Brian Fuentes pitch on the right wrist and hand, but X-rays were negative, and he was diagnosed with a contusion.
Tracy's bullpen was also short two relievers, Elmer Dessens and D.J. Houlton. Dessens will go on the disabled list on Sunday if Brad Penny is activated to start the series finale. If the predicted inclement weather scratches Penny, D.J. Houlton will replace him, thus Houlton also was unavailable on Saturday night.
In addition, Buddy Carlyle had pitched in three of the previous four games. As it was, Tracy used four relievers (Steve Schmoll, Duaner Sanchez, Kelly Wunsch and Giovanni Carrara) to stop the bleeding with a combined three scoreless innings.
Tracy milked one more inning out of Perez after that bases-loaded at-bat, but the left-hander allowed one more two-out run in the bottom of the fifth.
Still, the Dodgers had 11 baserunners in the final four innings and scored only twice. They left the bases loaded in the eighth when pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz flied to center off Ryan Speier, and they ended the game with the bases loaded when Jeff Kent grounded to short against Chin-hui Tsao.
"We had genuine opportunities in the eighth and ninth, and the hitters you want at the plate," said Tracy.
Milton Bradley had two of the Dodgers' 11 hits and drove in a run, but he flied out with two on in the fifth and popped out with runners on second and third in the eighth.
"Somehow, some way, their pitchers got out of it," said Bradley. "They must be Houdini. I'd trade the couple I did get for the one I didn't get in the eighth, but the game doesn't work that way."
Perez was charged with eight runs and 10 hits in five innings, but the tone was set in a four-run first inning, when first baseman Hee-Seop Choi booted Aaron Miles' grounder and Perez failed to cover first. Clint Barmes then bunted for a single, Todd Helton singled in a run, Preston Wilson doubled in two and Todd Greene singled home Wilson.
Barmes doubled in the second, was singled home by Helton and Wilson homered. It was the third consecutive game in which a Dodgers starting pitcher had allowed at least five runs by the fifth inning.

2005-04-25T12:37:00.000-04:00

Holding a 3-0 lead after four innings Saturday, Angels starter Paul Byrd yielded five runs before exiting the game. It was the biggest inning by an Angels opponent all season, and in order to avoid another loss, the Angels' still had to contend with A's starter Dan Haren, who swiftly retired the Angels over the first two innings.
In their half of the fifth inning, though, the Angels didn't try to do anything big. They did, however, patiently turn six hits, two stolen bases, a sacrifice fly and a two-run error into six runs -- their most productive inning of the season.
Three relievers and four scoreless innings later, the Angels had themselves a surprisingly comfortable 9-5 victory.
"A lot of things fell into place tonight," manager Mike Scioscia said. "The bullpen was there to pick us up [and] we had some nice things happening on the basepaths."
The Angels stole a season-high five bases, all off Haren and All-Star catcher Jason Kendall. In a three-run third and the six-run fifth, it was like clockwork: base hit, steal, run-scoring single. The Angels didn't hit many balls hard, but they still touched Haren (1-2) for nine hits and eight runs in 4 2/3 innings.
"We're not a team built around the home run," Scioscia said. "We have a lot of situational hitters, our team speed is an asset and we have to use it in different ways."
In the third inning, the Angels put on a clinic in offensive efficiency. Jeff DaVanon worked a walk, stole second and scored on Darin Erstad's single to center. Erstad took second on the throw home and scored on Chone Figgins' opposite-field single. Figgins, in turn, scored when Vladimir Guerrero dumped a ball in the right-field gap for a soft double to give the Angels a 3-0 lead.
Byrd and Haren traded perfect fourths, setting the stage for two equally improbable half-innings.
In the top of the fifth, the A's erased their deficit with one swing. After Scott Hatteberg doubled and Mark Ellis walked to lead off the inning, Bobby Kielty -- who entered the game 1-for-16 -- corked his first homer of the year to right-center to tie the game.
After a groundout, a single and a fielder's choice, Kendall slapped an RBI double on the 11th pitch of his at-bat. Eric Chavez followed with his first hit of the year with a runner in scoring position, singling to center to put the A's up, 5-3, and chasing Byrd -- who had allowed just one hit in the previous four frames.
"[Byrd] lost a little bit of his command in that one inning," Scioscia said. "There were a lot of pluses going in his game early, but he missed with a few pitches [in the fifth]."
The Angels got the lead back in an awful hurry. DaVanon again singled and stole second, scoring on Figgins' RBI single. On the next pitch, Figgins stole second. Two pitches later, Guerrero's double tied the game. Anderson singled on the next pitch, and on the pitch after that, Steve Finley hit a sacrifice fly to give the Angels the lead. Orlando Cabrera followed with a single to chase Haren and bring in Justin Duchscherer and his 0.90 ERA.
No matter -- Dallas McPherson singled to score Anderson and Josh Paul hit a drive into the left-field gap which Charles Thomas dropped for an error, allowing Finley and Cabrera to score, making it 9-5.
The production didn't stop at the plate, though. Having seen its scoreless-innings streak snapped at 22 Friday, the bullpen started building another one. Jake Woods got the last out of the fifth inning and pitched into the sixth for his first Major League win; Esteban Yan added 1 1/3 shutout innings of his own and Brendan Donnelly didn't allow a hit in the final two frames.
Thanks to the hitters and the bullpen, Byrd's lackluster effort -- 4 2/3 innings, six hits, five runs -- didn't cost the Angels a win.
"I was very disappointed in my performance, but very excited my teammates came back," Byrd said. "The starting pitching will get going here and then we'll be a complete team."
The Angels couldn't have had a much more complete offensive effort Saturday. All nine starters reached base and eight of them scored. Figgins, batting second led the way with a two-hit, two-run, two-RBI day at the plate, while nine-hitter DaVanon walked, singled, scored twice and stole two bases.
"It's a team effort and you just never know what you'll need on a particular day," Erstad said. "You can't just rely on the middle of the lineup every night. You need to get production from everywhere, and we did tonight."

2005-04-25T12:36:00.000-04:00

Bob Melvin said before Friday night's game that he thinks that Brad Halsey is one of those pitchers that just knows how to win.
Halsey then did his best to prove his manager right, hurling seven strong innings to pick up his second win of the season, 5-3 over the San Diego Padres, before 26,407 at Bank One Ballpark.
"If you look at the record of this guy, he wins, and he had good numbers in the Minor Leagues," said Melvin. "He has certainly proved all the way up through the Minor Leagues that he's a winner and I think that's kind of his focus when he goes out there...whatever he needs to do to win. He has a good idea of how the game is going along and he's going to pitch according to the score and he's going to the pitch according to the bottom line, which is a win or a loss."
Halsey required just 86 pitches to post his third quality start in as many outings this season, allowing just seven baserunners and two runs in his seven innings of work to lower is ERA to 2.74. He's allowed just five run total in his three starts thus far.
Melvin considered leaving him in the game for more with that pitch count, but pinch-hit for him with a man on first and two out in the eighth inning. Scott Hairston singled, but the Diamondbacks were unable to pad their lead.
"There was a thought, "said Melvin. "But the way things were going with us we'd like to try and score another run or two."
The Diamondbacks offense, which struggled mightily on its recent seven-game road trip, averaging less than three runs per game, put up three in the first inning against Padres starter Tim Redding on a solo home run by Royce Clayton, and a two-run shot by Troy Glaus, his National League-leading sixth, two batters later.
In fact, most of the runs in the game came via the long ball, as the Padres tallied their runs with three solo shots from Phil Nevin, Ramon Hernandez, and a ninth inning blast from Xavier Nady off closer Brandon Lyon. Royce Clayton's bases-loaded infield single in the fourth and Luis Gonzalez's ensuing sacrifice fly were the only runs that were not a result of a baseball leaving the yard.
Outside of a fourth inning where the Padres loaded the bases after Nevin's home run, before he was able to get out of it, Halsey didn't have much trouble.
"He's one of those guys that shows a different look from a lefty and until you face him you don't realize it," said Melvin. "It's the (Andy) Pettitte effect; if he throws that pitch where he wants to, if you get the barrel on it you're going to hit it foul. If you don't you're going to get jammed. He reads pretty well about when to pitch inside and when to go away. He's not afraid to shake off. He definitely knows what he wants to do out there. His poise is very impressive. Even if he is rattled a little bit he goes out there and shows no signs of anything."
Mike Koplove worked a scoreless eighth, and despite the home run by Nady, Lyon shut the door in the ninth for this National League-leading seventh save.
The Diamondbacks racked up fourteen hits, but were also just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Though they left 12 men on base, that didn't concern Melvin.
"Not when we win," he said.
Still, he was happy to see his team's bats wake up with the home cooking.
"We had some success hitting in (this park) in the first homestand. Maybe when you get home after a not-so-great road trip where you don't hit, you feel back at home where you've had some success offensively, and (success) happened tonight," he said.
The Diamondbacks, coming off of a 2-5 mark in their initial road trip of the season, won their fifth in a row at home, and play five more games in the next week against this tough division rival.
"They have a good team," said Melvin. "They also have a balanced team. They have a good pitching staff and some guys that can hit. They were forecasted to win this division going in by a lot of speculators out there. They are one of the stronger, more balanced clubs not just in the division but the league."
But at least for this night, a strong and balanced effort from Halsey and the Diamondbacks offense was enough to win.
THE REST OF FRIDAY'S SCORES CAN BE SEEN AT THIS LINK: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/scoreboard/sb_20050422.html

2005-04-25T12:35:00.000-04:00

Urgency is a word better left for September. Must-wins are months away. Every game is important; none more important than the next.
But as much as they try to stick to the conventional wisdom of running the 162-game marathon, this was one April game the Padres really wanted, there's no mistaking that.
Having lost their first four meetings to the red-hot Dodgers, the Padres entered Thursday night's finale of a two-game set at PETCO Park wanting to avoid an 0-for-5 start against their rivals to the north.
"We didn't want to go up against them in June and not have a win against them by then," slugging first baseman Phil Nevin said.
Mission accomplished. San Diego battled on the mound and at the plate, riding a 15-hit attack to take a 6-1 victory over the Dodgers that sent the Padres out on a six-game road trip in a much better frame of mind than the alternative.
"They're all big games, but we probably had to have this one just to stop that little streak there," said Padres manager Bruce Bochy.
After playing well enough to win the night before but coming up short, the Padres played a winning brand of baseball again, using all phases of the game to put together one of their strongest games among their first 16 contests.
They did it with pitching. Starter Adam Eaton took a shutout into the sixth inning and got spotless relief from Chris Hammond and Rudy Seanez the rest of the way.
They also did it with hitting, unleashing their highest hit total of the season. Ryan Klesko and Ramon Hernandez led the Padres' offense, each with his first three-hit night of the year and each driving in a pair of runs. Leadoff man Dave Roberts, Mark Loretta and Sean Burroughs each collected a pair of hits as the Padres got a measure of revenge against Dodgers starter Scott Erickson (1-1), who defeated them last weekend.
The common denominator? The Padres battled, whether it was Eaton getting through a night when he didn't have his best stuff or it was Hernandez delivering two of his three hits with two strikes on him.
Eaton (2-1) allowed one earned run on five hits in five-plus innings, and Hammond and Seanez each pitched two shutout innings behind him. The Dodgers scored their lone run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly after Eaton had left the game.
It wasn't the most efficient of outings for Eaton, who came out after two batters in the sixth with 102 pitches thrown.
Adam Eaton / P
Born: 11/23/77 Height: 6'2" Weight: 190 lbs Bats: R / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

"My goal was just to get to five innings once I saw I had 50-some pitches after two," Eaton said.
But it was ultimately an effective night from Eaton, judging from the five zeros he put up before allowing just the one run.
"Even though I had some of the worst stuff I've had in a long time, I can take some pride in how I battled and put up some zeros," Eaton said.
And with the veteran tandem of Hammond and Seanez wrapping things up, the Padres finished out their eighth home game with a collective 1.78 ERA at home thus far. The Padres have yet to allow more than three earned runs in a home game.
"That's our strength -- our pitching," Bochy said. "I think it can be our offense, too. We'll get some more consistency out of this offense as we go along."
This time, the Padres' bats were in the battle from the very outset of the game.
Roberts and Loretta both singled and scored in the first inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Nevin and a single by Klesko. The Padres have scored the bulk of their runs in the later innings, so a good start was a good sign.
And it all began with Roberts, who looked sharp throughout his third game since being activated from the disabled list.
"He changes the lineup," Bochy said. "We go as he goes."
After Eaton held off the Dodgers and his own internal struggles through the early innings, the Padres tallied three in the fifth, with Klesko's RBI double and Hernandez's two-run single driving in the runs. Roberts tacked on an RBI double in the sixth.
Just like that, the Padres have a win against the Dodgers and a 3-for-4 homestand.
"It's a long road," Roberts said. "We had a good homestand. We've still got to be ready to play our division rivals in Arizona and San Francisco, and keep playing this brand of baseball."
THE REST OF THURSDAY'S SCORES CAN BE SEEN AT THIS LINK : http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/scoreboard/sb_20050421.html

2005-04-25T12:34:00.000-04:00

With his shaved head and comfortable demeanor, Colorado's Clint Barmes seems older and more distinguished than the 25-year-old rookie shortstop he is.
On the field since the season started, he's been an all-seeing, all-hitting force well beyond his years.
Barmes went 4-for-5 to extend his torrid hitting streak to six games, and he made a dazzling catch and throw for a double play when the Rockies' 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies was still a one-run game.
The list of reasons Colorado is 4-10 is as obvious as the scant stat tables on the back of most of the players' baseball cards, as well as some bullpen stats that didn't get better as Jose Acevedo, Brian Fuentes, Byung-Hyun Kim and Chin-hui Tsao provided a scary finish. But the early consistency of Barmes is one of the reasons Colorado believes things will get better.
"It looks like he's slowing the game down at times, and it does look like there are a couple of him out in the field at times," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's a special time for him right now."
A Citizens Bank Park crowd of 25,961 unhappily watched the Rockies win for the first time in seven road games, ending a franchise-record-tying 10-game road skid dating to last season, and fashioning their first two-game win streak of the season.
As the fans booed, they probably didn't realize they saw another tough streak came to an end. Jamey Wright (1-1) held the Phillies to one run -- a Jimmy Rollins leadoff homer in the first -- in six innings, and the bullpen held on to give Colorado its first win by a right-handed starter since Wright, who gave up five hits and walked four but struck out five with a seemingly bottomless sinker, won last Sept. 1 at San Francisco. A run of bullpen blowouts is a huge part of that streak.
But add the Philly fans to the growing list of witnesses to what's looking like a coming-out party for Barmes, Colorado's 10th-round pick in 2000 out of Indiana State. During his streak, Barmes is batting .652 (15-for-23).
Barmes raised his overall average to .463, well above the .438 that San Francisco's Edgardo Alfonzo carried into the day to lead the Majors.
The defensive play came with Wright trying to protect a 2-1 lead with one out and two on in the bottom of the sixth. Barmes sprinted down David Bell's soft liner near the foul line in short left and made a leaping throw to second to double off Jim Thome and end a threat.
"I thought the whole time I was going to have to dive for it," Barmes said, before revealing how all-seeing he was at that point.
"I saw him [Thome] take off," he said, even though he couldn't have seen Thome for long because he had to turn and run for Bell's ball. "I should have set my feet, turned and made a decent throw, but I was surprised I got to it."
Barmes is surprising himself somewhat with the bat. Last year at Triple-A Colorado Springs, he had six hitting streaks of at least seven games. But this is the Majors.
Clint Barmes / SS
Born: 03/06/79 Height: 6'0" Weight: 175 lbs Bats: R / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

"Last year's season was by far my best career season, and I started off hot then," he said. "This is by far the best I've ever swung the bat."
Barmes doubled off Cory Lidle (0-2) and scored on Preston Wilson's single in the first, and singled in a run with two out in the second.
"Barmes is locked in right now," said Lidle, whose club has scored just three runs in his last two starts. "I tried to go hard in, soft away. I tried to double up with soft. He was just on everything."
Fresh off his play to end the sixth, Barmes' seventh-inning single off Lidle drove in the first run of a four-run seventh inning that also included one of Matt Holliday's three hits -- he has seven over the last two games -- and rookie Brad Hawpe's second homer in three games, a two-run shot off Ryan Madson.
Barmes' was one of two key defensive plays from the middle of Colorado's infield.
Aaron Miles, who tripled off Lidle in the seventh and added an RBI single off Rheal Cormier in the eighth, helped rescue a struggling bullpen in the bottom of the seventh.
Acevedo served up a two-strike leadoff homer to Mike Lieberthal, a double to Jose Offerman and a one-out RBI single to Kenny Lofton. Fuentes hit a batter and walked one to load the bases with two out, but escaped with a Chase Utley popup that Miles caught while crashing into right fielder Cory Sullivan.
Kim pitched a scoreless eighth despite a walk and two wild pitches. Tsao, repeatedly throwing his fastball at 97 and 98 mph, gave up a run in the ninth on a hit, a walk and a wild pitch.
Miles said the victory, however it came, was bigger than just a single win.
"Anytime we're winning a game right now, it's a big spirit-lifter," Miles said. "Winning two in a row, the guys are going to settle back down and say, 'Hey, we can play.'
"We've still got to get better in some areas. But confidence is a big key, and I think we're going to get a lot of that back now."

2005-04-25T12:33:00.001-04:00

Prior to the series opener with the Indians on Wednesday, manager Mike Scioscia said his team's success begins with the starting pitching and follows suit from there.
If the starters can open games by throwing zeros, the offense is fully capable of generating some runs. Or so the theory goes.
Fortunately for the Angels, Bartolo Colon understands the mission. Wednesday night the former Tribe hurler tossed a little déjà vu their way with eight zeros and four hits in the 2-0 shutout of the Indians at Angel Stadium.
Darin Erstad and Chone Figgins supplied the offense. Erstad knocked in a run with a shallow single in the third and Figgins provided some insurance with his second homer of the year in the eighth.
But it was Colon who carried the evening and it didn't go unnoticed as he left to a standing ovation from a crowd that clearly would appreciate a command performance.
"It feels really good because I know I let them down the last time I pitched here," Colon said through an interpreter. "I try to do my best every time."
Colon (3-1) has been at his best lately, putting together a pair of solid outings in his last two starts.
Last Friday in Oakland, the right-hander was dominating as he gunned his fastball repeatedly into the mid 90s. On Wednesday, Colon did not possess the same velocity but instead relied on savvy, location and his full repertoire of pitches.
"He threw every pitch good tonight and that is the key," said Jose Molina, who started behind the plate and was given credit by both Colon and Scioscia for the success the Angels had on the mound. "He threw everything for strikes."
Colon was never really in trouble, but he had his roughest moments early in the contest. After two quick outs to open the game, Victor Martinez roped a double to right-center. Colon then walked Travis Hafner and it appeared the Indians had some momentum. But he got a ground ball from Casey Blake to end the inning.
He struck out the side in the second, but then allowed a one-out double down the left-field line to Coco Crisp in the third and issued a two-out walk to Martinez. Colon again appeared close to giving up the big hit, but he rallied and then rolled.
Colon would retire the next 10 batters before Blake singled to lead off the seventh and was quickly erased by Molina while attempting to steal second.
"Early on he got in some deep counts and he had to work through it," Scioscia said. "I thought the way he used his fastball command was key, moving it in and out."
Colon left his last start after seven innings with a sore left ankle. That did not bother him Wednesday and he had gas left to go the distance, but Scioscia opted for Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth.
"Where the game was coupled with the fact that Francisco needed to pitch," Scioscia said of calling on his closer. "It was time to give the middle of their lineup a different look."
Rodriguez needed 13 pitches to convert his third save of the season.
For Colon, it was a night where he felt a little more complete. Though he has that rare ability to command a mid-90s fastball in the strike zone, he realizes he needs more than the heater. Colon threw more breaking balls and offspeed pitches Wednesday and Molina was there to guide him through the process.
"He has to move the ball in and out to be effective," Molina said. "That was the thing. He was moving the ball in and out and throwing strikes."
Colon prefers to work that way and would like to be known more as a pitcher than just another hard thrower.
"Today I followed Jose really well," Colon said. "That is the type of pitcher I want to be. Not just a one-pitch pitcher."
Colon is also aware that his current success is not a guarantee of a great first half, but he is encouraged by what he sees.
"I feel really good the way things are going right now," Colon said. "But I know I have at least 14 more starts in the first half so I'm not going to let up."

2005-04-25T12:33:00.000-04:00

A's outfielder Eric Byrnes was talking about whether he and Eric Chavez had commiserated over their early season struggles.
He might have hit on Chavez's reason for ducking out of the clubhouse before the media was allowed in Wednesday night rather than sticking around to discuss his crucial eighth-inning at-bat.
"In this game," Brynes said, "trust me, misery does not love company."
With the bases loaded and two out, Oakland trailing by two runs, Chavez had Mariners reliever Ron Villone in a tough spot, down 3-1 in the count.
Two called strikes later, Chavez was flipping his helmet toward the dugout in frustration, his season-long drought with runners in scoring position extended to 0-for-15.
An inning after that, the A's trudged off the field with a 7-6 loss in the opener of a two-game series at Safeco Field.
"He's our money guy," A's manager Ken Macha said of Chavez. "I didn't see where the pitches were, but apparently [Chavez] questioned where the 3-1 pitch was."
Replays showed that it was well off the outside corner of the plate. The punchout pitch was right on the black, dropping Chavez's batting average for the year to an even .200.
Pressed, Macha said simply, "I want my guys to swing the bat."
Some of them did. For instance, it was another good night for the two Marks and Marco. Kotsay went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, raising his average to a team-high .355. Ellis went 2-for-5 and scored twice, bumping his average to .333. And Scutaro, the team's hottest hitter of late, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He's 7-for-12 (.583) over the past four games and up to .325 overall.
"There were some positive things offensively," Macha said, adding Erubiel Durazo's solo homer in the ninth to the list.
But there was just enough negative, particularly from the Erics, to lead to a loss.
Byrnes, whose 0-for-3 night dropped his batting average to .195, was lifted for a pinch-hitter when his fourth turn came up.
"If I want that fourth at-bat, I sure as [heck] better do something with my first three, and I didn't."
Being lifted added insult to the figurative injury that was his failed attempt to keep the score tied at 4 with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh.
With pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs' soft liner sinking toward the turf in left field, Byrnes came up about a foot and a half short with his dive, and the ball bounced past him and to the wall.
"When it was hit, I knew I was gonna have to take a chance," Byrnes explained. "I just came up short. If I got that same ball again, I'd take that same chance."
Added Macha: "I'm not gonna question one way or another on that. ... He was trying to put a zero up there."
Instead, all three runners scored, the third being what turned out to be the game-winner, and Byrnes took full responsibility.
"It's one of the worst feelings you can have on a baseball field," he said. "That was the game. ... I've got nobody to blame but myself."
It all served to sour what was shaping up as a pretty nice night for the A's. Lefty Barry Zito gave up a first-inning grand slam to Bret Boone, but he was excellent thereafter, throwing five shutout innings -- with the help of his new "slurve," which buckled no less a hitter than Ichiro Suzuki -- before closing his night by striking out Randy Winn with runners on the corners to end the sixth on the same kind of pitch.
"It's a new little wrinkle," said Zito, who unveiled the new weapon last Friday against Angels star Garret Anderson. "I throw it mostly to lefties, and I only want to throw it a few times a game as a 'show' pitch, but it's something different to go to when I need a big out, and it felt pretty good tonight."
While Zito righted himself, the A's offense chipped away at Mariners starter Joel Pineiro. They picked up three runs on RBI single from Scutaro and a two-run double from Kotsay in the second, and Scutaro tied it up with another RBI single in the sixth.
After Byrnes' ill-fated dive helped put the Mariners back on top, Oakland loaded the bases in the top of the eighth against reliever Jeff Nelson. Nelson was replaced by Villone with one out, and Villone hit Kotsay with a pitch to make it 7-5.
Then came Chavez's strikeout, and despite Durazo's first homer of the year to open the ninth, Mariners closer Eddie Guardado closed things out for his fifth save.
"I liked the way things were going there for a while," Zito said. "It just kind of fell apart there at the end."

2005-04-25T12:32:00.000-04:00

They knew they hadn't seen the real Javier Vazquez yet.
Three times he took the ball for the Diamondbacks and while he maintained he had good stuff, it didn't show up on the scoreboard as Arizona lost all three games.
Wednesday, though, at SBC Park, the Diamondbacks saw the Vazquez they had seen all those years with the Expos. The right-hander tossed seven shutout innings as the Diamondbacks beat the Giants, 2-1, in front of 36,955 on a chilly night by the bay.
"Three starts and you don't have a win, so I needed that win," said Vazquez, who improved to 1-2 on the year.
It was a win the Diamondbacks needed as well. SBC Park has been a house of horrors for them over the past couple of seasons as the Giants turned what had been a heated rivalry into a one-sided affair. Arizona had lost 10 of 12 to San Francisco and 16 of the last 19 here.
"Today was right on time," D-Backs manager Bob Melvin said of Vazquez's outing, with the Giants sending their ace, Jason Schmidt, to the mound Thursday in the series finale.
Vazquez was matched up against Noah Lowry, who had not lost in his 16 prior starts at the big league level. Like most teams, the D-Backs struggled trying to square up Lowry's changeup, but the young left-hander was let down by a defensive lapse in the third.
Vazquez led off the third inning by coaxing a walk and Craig Counsell then hit a grounder to first, with Lance Niekro throwing to second to start a double play. His throw was a bit wide, and Vizquel fielded it off the bag and couldn't touch second before throwing to first, where Counsell was also safe.
After Royce Clayton grounded into a fielder's choice, Luis Gonzalez stepped to the plate. Gonzalez had not seen much of Lowry before Wednesday, and after seeing how effective his changeup was in his first at-bat, he started his at-bat in the third by getting into a two-strike stance and proceeded to line a double to center that scored Counsell.
"He left a slider out over the plate," Gonzalez said.
Troy Glaus then followed with a sacrifice fly, and the D-Backs led, 2-0.
Meanwhile, Vazquez mixed up his pitches and had his two-seam fastball working throughout the evening. He pitched out of jams in both the sixth and seventh innings, a necessity given the limited options Melvin had available to him in the bullpen Wednesday.
With Mike Koplove, Lance Cormier and Michael Gosling pretty much unavailable, Melvin stuck with Vazquez even after the Giants loaded the bases with two out in the seventh. Vazquez wound up getting Ray Durham to ground to first to end the frame.
"Javy was outstanding," Melvin said. "We knew we were going to get a game like this out of him pretty soon. We really needed him to get through that [seventh] inning. We were a little limited down there in the bullpen today and for him to give us seven full ... really picked us up big time."
Defense picked up Vazquez throughout the game as Arizona turned a pair of double plays to end the first two innings and Counsell at second turning in his usual stellar glove work.
"Great defense behind me," Vazquez said. "I know the guys are going to catch the ball."
And the Diamondbacks knew Vazquez had a game like this in him when they received him in a trade this winter that included sending ace Randy Johnson to the Yankees.
"We got him because we know he's a good pitcher," Gonzalez said.
Brian Bruney started the eighth for Arizona, but he couldn't finish it as he was removed in favor of closer Brandon Lyon with runners at first and third and two out.
Lyon struck out Marquis Grissom looking to end the inning and, despite allowing a run in the ninth, held on to pick up his sixth save.

2005-04-25T12:31:00.000-04:00

WEDNESDAY'S WESTERN DIVISION MLB HIGHLIGHTS: Continuing their start for the ages, the Dodgers did it again on Wednesday night, rallying for another 10th-inning comeback victory, 3-1, over the Padres.
An eighth consecutive win raised the best record in the Major Leagues to 12-2, the franchise's best beginning in 50 years. The 1940 and 1955 clubs are the only other Dodgers teams to do it.
Whether Jose Valentin and J.D. Drew take their place in Dodgers lore alongside the Boys of Summer might be a reach, but they were heroes on this night.
Drew got the Dodgers even in the eighth inning with his second home run of the season en route to a four-hit game, and Valentin won it with a two-run triple off Scott Linebrink, atoning for a questionable throwing error in the first inning that led to San Diego's unearned run.
The Dodgers overcame the Padres and what they felt were dubious umpire calls to record their fifth come-from-behind win and retain their lead in the National League West of 4 1/2 games.
"It was an intense game for April," said catcher Jason Phillips, a native San Diegan. "It was like an intense football game. If you can withstand the first quarter, you've got a game. We feel confident we can hang with anybody and win later in the game."
Derek Lowe, who followed his shutout on Sunday with eight innings and one tainted run, said this bolt from the gate has caused less surprise inside the clubhouse than outside it.
"The people that were brought in here during the offseason didn't get enough respect, as far as the talent goes," said Lowe, echoing a theme that has provided internal motivation. "Look around the room. There's a different guy every game.
"It plays into the guys' style. The last seven years I'd been told the Red Sox would never win a World Series. This team has the same trait as that one -- starting pitchers one through five; the middle of the lineup is loaded; the bullpen is awesome."
The Dodgers believe they can win any bullpen game, and they pretty much have this young season. Dodgers relievers are 5-1 this year.

"It's not about luck. It's the way we play. Our pitchers keep us in the game and we get clutch hits."
-- Jose Valentin on the Dodgers

This one was complicated by what the Dodgers considered to be a series of umpire calls that went against them, starting with the first inning, when first base umpire Andy Fletcher ruled that Norihiro Nakamura came off the bag too soon when receiving Valentin's throw on Mark Loretta's grounder. One out later, Phil Nevin singled home Loretta.
"I don't think he came off the bag, but he flinched after he caught it and moved out of the way of the runner, and he came off quick and maybe that's how it looked to the umpire," said Valentin. "But Lowe did a great job after that, and the bullpen shut them down."
Duaner Sanchez pitched the ninth for the win, and Yhency Brazoban pitched the 10th for the save, striking out Nevin and Miguel Ojeda after Brian Giles singled, stole second and took third on Phillips' throwing error. That was one of the Padres' five stolen bases.
The key at-bat for the Dodgers belonged to Drew, who came into the game hitting .159. He tied it with an opposite-field homer off San Diego reliever Akinori Otsuka.
"You've really got to hit the ball here to get one out of the park," Drew said of spacious PETCO Park. "When I reached first and saw [Ryan] Klesko at the wall, I was lucky it snuck out of here."
J.D. Drew / RF
Born: 11/20/75 Height: 6'1" Weight: 200 lbs Bats: L / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

The Dodgers' winning rally in the 10th came off Linebrink, and it began with a trickler from Drew back to the mound with one out.
Linebrink bobbled the ball, then threw it into the Dodgers' bullpen, allowing Drew (credited with a single after a scoring change) to take second. Jeff Kent walked for the third time, Milton Bradley popped out and Valentin guessed correctly on a 1-1 changeup, launching it off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field.
"It's not about luck. It's the way we play," said Valentin, who has balanced five errors as Adrian Beltre's replacement at third base with 10 RBIs and a .308 average. "Our pitchers keep us in the game and we get clutch hits."
Valentin punctuated his pop-up slide at third by pumping his fist as the Dodgers' dugout erupted, as it's been doing pretty much all season.
"I don't try to show anybody up," said Valentin. "You have to react that way. We feel confident and happy."
The Dodgers were so happy, they bit their tongues about the calls that had them chirping from the dugout all game.
"As bad as things were going, we're still in a one-run game, and you can't let such things affect you," said Lowe, who disagreed with some of plate umpire Paul Schreiber's ball-and-strike calls. "When Boston goes into Yankee Stadium, you're not going to get calls. You get squeezed on some pitches -- that's nothing."

2005-04-25T12:26:00.000-04:00

The Phoenix Suns didn't plan on slowing down in the postseason. It remains to be seen if anyone else can slow them down, either.

With Steve Nash at the controls, the Suns continued their season-long sprint with a 114-103 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the opener of their Western Conference first-round series.
Entering the postseason, many believed the Suns would see their relentless running game limited, forcing them to slow down and use more halfcourt sets. However, the eighth-seeded Grizzlies had no success in that area.

"We are going to play that way," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We can play that way and it does work. If we D it up and rebound, we can be pretty damn good. As everyone says, the key is defensive rebounding, and sometimes we relax and have mental breakdowns. But the style of play does not dictate if you can't play defense. There is no reason why we can't run and fire them up."

The Suns ran at every opportunity, scoring 25 fast-break points and sinking 15-of-32 3-pointers. Phoenix had five players in double figures, including reserve center Steven Hunter , who scored a playoff career-high 16 points.

"You can say what you want to about the 3-point line, but you still have to make the shot," Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello said. "To stop them, you have to rebound first, run back second, know who is guarding who. It is not like there is an easy answer solving what they do because they do it so well."

Nash handed out 13 assists and scored 11 points. The All-Star point guard, who heard chants of "MVP" from the America West Arena crowd, directed the offense to 39 points in the first quarter, when the Suns made 7-of-8 shots from the arc and took the lead for good.

"They made their shots in the first quarter and we knew they would with the excitement of the building," Grizzlies guard Mike Miller said. "They scored entirely too many points in the first quarter and it is tough when you start in a hole like that. After that every time we made a push, they made big shots."

The only time the Grizzlies appeared to be in the game was when Nash was out of it. They made a push in the second period before Nash returned to help rebuild the lead to 59-50 at halftime.

Memphis closed to 81-76 late in the third quarter before Phoenix widened the lead to 87-78 entering the final period, this time with Nash on the bench.

"We were teasing ourselves," Fratello said. "We stayed in striking distance but never got the big stop that we needed."

Backup Leandro Barbosa made a 3-pointer for a 96-84 bulge and was replaced by Nash at the 7:24 mark. Nash made a 3-pointer with 5:27 left, then added the finishing touches with a 35-foot lob pass that Amaré Stoudemire hammered home while drawing a foul for a 107-91 lead with 4:18 remaining.

Quentin Richardson scored 22 points and Joe Johnson added 16 for the Suns, who host Game 2 on Wednesday and fully intend to press the pace.

"We kind of expect we will get some open shots," Richardson said. "They help out a lot so a lot of times you catch guys running at you and trying to rotate out of the rotation. We just honed in tonight and hit some big shots."

Miller made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points for the Grizzlies, who dropped to 0-5 all-time in the postseason. Jason Williams added 17 points and Pau Gasol 16.

In the regular season, Memphis held Phoenix below 100 points three times. It was thought to have an advantage with its 10-deep rotation compared to Phoenix's shorter bench, but held just a 38-30 edge in bench points.

"I think we do have depth," Hunter said. "We have Leandro Barbosa, who does a great job for us with his speed. Jimmy Jackson is a veteran who can score and myself. I can come in and supply energy, block some shots and play some defense. I don't think you win 63 games without having a bench."

Hunter made 7-of-11 shots and shattered his previous playoff high of four, helping Phoenix to a 19-9 advantage in second-chance points.

"I just wanted to come out with a lot of energy," Hunter said. "I saw Amaré struggling out there because Memphis really packs the lane. I wanted to go out there and get some hustle points and play good defense."

About the only thing that slowed down the Suns was Marion's frightening tumble. His 3-pointer gave Phoenix a 72-59 lead and was looking to add more when he elevated on a drive and was fouled by Shane Battier .

Marion tried to break his fall and nearly broke his right wrist. He remained down for a couple of minutes but shook it off and made 1-of-2 free throws as Battier was called for a flagrant foul.

2005-04-25T12:25:00.000-04:00

Denver 93, San Antonio 87
Marcus Camby stared down Tim Duncan and the Denver Nuggets stood up to the San Antonio Spurs.

Camby held Duncan scoreless in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets made all the plays down the stretch in a surprising 93-87 victory over the Spurs in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.
A two-time MVP, Duncan missed 12 games late in the season due to a sprained ankle. Although he had 18 points and 11 rebounds, he was not at full strength and wilted against Denver's fleet of big men, most notably Camby, who had 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

"We felt confident," Camby said. "Everyone thought that the Spurs would run through us and everyone is talking about the Spurs vs. the Suns in the conference finals. This team has a lot of heart and a lot of pride."

Second in the NBA in blocked shots, the 6-11 Camby helped harass Duncan into 7-of-22 shooting. Three of those misses came in the final minute, when San Antonio had to have a basket from its superstar.

"There were a lot of shots around the basket that I should have made," Duncan said. "We were just missing our shots tonight. I felt like we had some great looks."

"I thought we benefited a little bit from Timmy being rusty," Nuggets coach George Karl said.

2005-04-25T12:24:00.000-04:00

Jerome James was there to clean up after his teammates.

James had the game of his life with 17 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks as the Seattle SuperSonics held on for an 87-82 victory over the Sacramento Kings in Game One of their Western Conference first-round series.

2005-04-25T12:23:00.000-04:00

Houston 98, Dallas 86
Many were wondering how the Houston Rockets were going to guard Dirk Nowitzki . They should have been wondering how the Dallas Mavericks were going to guard Tracy McGrady .

McGrady scored 34 points and helped harass Nowitzki as the Rockets surprised the Mavericks, 98-86, in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.
With power forward Juwan Howard sidelined by a heart ailment, the Rockets do not have a viable defender for Nowitzki, a 7-footer with the ballhandling and range of a guard who led Dallas to 58 wins this season.

Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy opted for 6-8 Ryan Bowen , a journeyman forward who appeared to be overmatched. But Bowen battled, managed his fouls and got some help from McGrady as they held Nowitzki to 21 points on 5-of-19 shooting with six turnovers.

Ghost Trees Pebble Beach Tow Surfing Spot

2005-04-23T02:40:00.000-04:00

It will be remembered as the day Ghost Tree, the mysto deep-water break off Pebble Beach, California, went huge, perfect and nearly homicidal. And if personal watercraft (PWCs) are eventually banned in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary, tow-surfers may look back on March 9th as the most memorable day of a short-lived golden era.

At first light, Ghost Tree saw a 17-foot swell approaching from due west at 20-second intervals. Roughly two hours later, Don Curry, the man who named the wave, and his partner Ed Guzman rolled up on the channel just in time to watch a pair of 30-foot wave faces boom over the spot’s infamous boneyard and into Stillwater Cove. Not far behind them were Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft.

After trading off on some mid-size sets with Craft, Curry caught a solid one with a face estimated at 45 feet, and Craft followed with one that was slightly larger. Then the set of the morning rolled through and Curry let go of the rope on a wave that was clearly 10 feet bigger than his last. Wrapped in the hangar-sized “barrel of a lifetime,” photographers on hand captured images that placed Curry firmly in the running for the Billabong XXL Award.

2005-04-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

NBC Sports To Broadcast The 2004/2005 Mavericks Surf Contest This Sunday at 4pm ET/1pm PT!

Historic Network Television Broadcast Features the "Most Dangerous Wave on the Planet"

Produced and directed by a National Emmy Award winner, NBC Sports' broadcast of The 2004/2005 Mavericks Surf Contest marks big-wave surfing's network television premiere. On Sunday, April 24th at 4pm ET/1pm PT, NBC's viewing audience will get a first-hand look at "the Super Bowl of big-wave surfing" (Sports Illustrated). An international field of the most talented big-wave surfers in the world are called on just 24 hours' notice to face waves that have crested over 60 feet, frigid waters, dangerous rocks, and the ever-present threat of the Great White Shark, all while vying for the $75,000 Balance Vector Prize Purse and the respect accorded those who face this ultimate challenge.

Further information is available at the official Webby Award-nominated website, www.maverickssurf.com , powered by Bolt Media. Sponsors of this year's $75,000 Mavericks Surf Contest include Coca-Cola, Verizon Wireless, Balance Vector, Jeep, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Cabo Wabo Tequila, Reactor Watches, Plantronics, Clif Bar and Surfer Magazine.

About The Mavericks Surf Contest and Mavericks Surf Ventures, LLC:
Mavericks Surf Ventures, LLC is a partnership between surfing legend Jeff Clark and San Francisco- based sports management and marketing firm Evolve Sports, LLC. Mavericks Surf Ventures produces The Mavericks Surf Contest and offers apparel and other licensed merchandise under the Mavericks brand. Coined as "the wave beyond," Mavericks inspires hardcore athletes to face the unpredictably raw power of Mother Nature, and stirs the souls of those who aspire to challenge their own limits.

2005-04-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

Cloudbreak Reef, Tavarua, delivered one of the most epic days of waves in the history of womens surfing for the Roxy Pro in Fiji today.
As predicted by forecasters, the swell rose overnight to six to eight feet with some 10 foot (2-3m) bombs.
As the organizers waited for the tide to start rising this morning, to put more water on the shallow reef, some incredible waves were ridden, including a classic from Australian Chelsea Georgeson, who then went on to win her first round heat.

2005-04-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

Overcoming a career outing from Darius Miles , the Denver Nuggets went into the playoffs on a winning note.

Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points for the second straight game and Earl Boykins added 24 as the Nuggets finished an impressive surge under George Karl with a 119-115 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, who got a career-high 47 points from Miles.
Denver already had secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs but needed a late run to avoid its first three-game losing streak under Karl, who went 32-8 after taking over the team January 27.

2005-04-20T11:58:00.000-04:00

The Dallas Mavericks are rolling toward the playoffs. The Seattle SuperSonics are stumbling as the postseason approaches.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points and the Mavericks extended their winning streak to eight games with a 101-96 victory over the SuperSonics, who continued to struggle.
Locked into the fourth seed in the Western Conference and a first-round playoff matchup against intrastate rival Houston, Dallas (57-24) improved to 15-2 since Avery Johnson replaced Don Nelson as coach.

2005-04-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

Five batters into the fourth inning Tuesday night, Brian Lawrence had given up four grounders for singles, and more importantly, he had surrendered the lead to the Giants.
But when pitching coach Darren Balsley went out to have a chat, his message was simple: Don't change a thing.
Sufficiently reassured, Lawrence got two quick outs and cruised through eight strong innings of work to help the Padres claim a 5-2 win over the Giants. The victory wrapped up a quick two-game sweep for the Padres that sends the rough weekend at Dodger Stadium a little deeper into the memory banks.
The Padres' bats certainly seem to have recovered from the last series, with Geoff Blum and Ramon Hernandez collecting two hits apiece in the lower half of the lineup to pace the efficient victory.
Lawrence (1-2) also had some rough times to put behind him. He allowed seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings of work in Game 2 of last Wednesday's doubleheader at Wrigley Field, and he was ready to get on the right track.
That he did, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out two and walking none in a 98-pitch outing.

2005-04-20T11:56:00.001-04:00

Richie Sexson had a pretty simple game plan when he arrived at Angel Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, still reeling from flu symptoms that have sapped him of a good portion of his energy for the last week.
Fortunately for the Mariners, it didn't take long for Sexson's plan to come to fruition.
Sexson hit a three-run home run on the first pitch he saw, the Mariners scored five in the first two innings, and Jamie Moyer and the bullpen held on for a big 5-3 victory over the Angels before 38,667.
With the win, the Mariners finished off an eight-game swing through Kansas City, Chicago and Anaheim with a 5-3 record and pulled back into a three-way tie atop the American League West. Seattle, the Angels and the Oakland A's are 7-7, with Texas not far behind at 7-8.

2005-04-20T11:56:00.000-04:00

Count to 10, slowly.
That's about how long Pedro Astacio took after pitching eight shutout innings in Tuesday's 3-0 victory against Oakland to enjoy his performance, give or take a few seconds.
Had it not been for Astacio answering questions from the media, the count might have been five.
Astacio, 35, prefers to live in the present and look to the future. His three starts this season, all quality starts resulting in at least seven innings each are all in the past, he says. Astacio's focus now is on his Sunday start in New York.
The Yankees in Yankee Stadium are just another opponent and minutes after that game, they will be part of the past, too.

2005-04-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

Jeff Francis doesn't inspire a lot of confidence when he brings his .059 career batting average to the plate. But when he led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a swinging strikeout in a two-run game, it was just the kind of confident gesture the 18,235 fans in attendance were waiting for.
After a pair of back-to-back gut-wrenching losses in which Rockies starters Jason Jennings and Shawn Chacon left games with late leads only to see them disappear like mile-high magic, Rockies fans were eager to hold onto the rare sight of a starter pitching into the eighth inning. With 110 pitches of one-run ball, Francis' 7 2/3-inning outing was an inning longer than any starter had lasted out of either dugout in Coors Field this season -- and the 8-1 Rockies victory left the fans hungry for more.
Those same fans reacted with venom when manager Clint Hurdle walked out to visit Francis on the mound with two outs in the eighth. A walk to pinch-hitter Quinton McCracken had brought the tying run to the plate, and the Coors Field faithful, sensing Hurdle was poised to lift Francis, expressed themselves with a hearty chorus of boos. Hurdle bit his lip, kept his hands behind his back and left Francis in command of his own fate.

2005-04-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

Milton Bradley, after hitting a go-ahead two-run home run in the tenth inning? Cesar Izturis, after singling in the tying run despite being down to the team's final strike in the ninth? Steve Schmoll, making a diving catch on a squeeze play attempt in the eighth, preventing a crucial run from scoring and turning an inning-ending double play instead?
Any of the three Dodgers who collected RBI pinch hits in the late innings to mount one of the greatest comebacks in recent Dodgers memory? The bullpen, allowing no runs on four hits through the final five innings? Who gets the game ball?
Izturis hit a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth to complete the largest Dodgers comeback since 1999, and Bradley's blast off Tommy Phelps (0-1) gave the Dodgers an 8-6 win before 11,029 fans at Milwaukee's Miller Park on Tuesday.
Bradley sent a ball 425 feet to dead center with one out and pushed the Dodgers winning streak to seven games, continuing the team's amazing start to the season, now at 11-2.

2005-04-20T11:52:00.001-04:00

Quarterback has been one of the most consistent positions at Washington for a long time. The program has produced players like Sonny Sixkiller, Marques Tuiasosopo and Cody Pickett , each of who started at least two full seasons at UW.
Last year was different. UW used three different starting quarterbacks through their first seven games. Following the season, the Huskies picked up one more signal-caller, leaving the position with four players vying for the same starting spot.
Despite the abundance of options, head coach Tyrone Willingham has said that he will not name his starter this spring under any circumstances, causing quite a discussion as spring practices come to an end this Saturday.
"I've been through it once," said Casey Paus who started eight games last year including the final four contests. "I got really nervous about it then and I beat myself up about it. Now I know that you can't let any of that stuff affect you. That's one of my biggest changes since last season. This is my last season and I want to make the most of it and I'm not going to let little things affect me."
Paus is the only quarterback to play in every game last season, something he hopes will help his chances of being the starter come fall.
"I'm old, so to speak. I'm the vet," said the only senior of the four quarterbacks. "I've played in these games and, in my opinion, I've dealt with some of the worst adversity and best adversity this program has ever seen. I've truly seen the lows and I've experienced some of the highs. I've been with this program for four years and I know the guys on this team."

The others competing with Paus are junior Isaiah Stanback and sophomores Carl Bonnell and Johnny DuRocher . Stanback and Bonnell played for UW last season while DuRocher joined the team after two seasons at Oregon where he was involved in a similar situation.
"When I was at Oregon the back-up job was up in the air," said DuRocher, a native of Puyallup, Wash. "I think that has really helped me a lot in terms of mentally preparing for what you're going to go through. I think the biggest thing you have to understand is that these things aren't won in one practice or one scrimmage. A lot of times they're not won in one spring. It's about how consistent you can be throughout your time here."
Both quarterbacks acknowledge that Willingham has done a good job of giving everyone an equal opportunity during the spring. They also agree that the best approach to the situation is to only worry about their performance when it's their turn.
"You take the reps that they give you and you make the most of them," explained Paus. "That's the philosophy I've had since day one."
"I know when it's my turn to go in, I want to complete as many balls as possible," added DuRocher. "I think the other guys are the same way. We don't get caught up in who's getting what reps and who's running with what team. That's one of those things that we have no control over."
If the players had a choice, they would prefer to know who has the upper hand going into the fall, but they understand that it won't be like that.
"In a perfect world, you'd want to know where you're going to be coming into the fall," Paus said. "I'm sure they'll have some ideas, but who knows what's going to happen."
DuRocher agrees, but takes a slightly different angle at the situation.
"We have a lot of time left before we start playing football," said the Bethel High School alum. "The most important thing is that we don't play tomorrow. They can name a starter today, but it doesn't matter because we're not playing until September."

2005-04-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

The Wildcats began their final week of spring practice with a session in pads Monday, gearing toward fundamentals and fewer mistakes.
Head coach Mike Stoops told players before the practice that he felt after tape study that last Saturday's scrimmage was a sub-par overall performance, and work this week can go a long way toward closing spring ball with a flourish.
"We had too many missed assignments, dropped balls and more of the little things that really count. A championship football team doesn't do that. Our guys can play much better," he said.
And all of our players still need to get in and work out in the weight room, he added later. I know they will work hard this summer and come back well prepared in August.
Still, UA has practices Wednesday and Thursday before the final work in Saturday's culminating showcase.
The Cats will don full gear for the last time this month on Saturday afternoon in the annual Spring Game at Arizona Stadium. Then it's strength training and individual workouts before the team opens fall camp in August.

2005-04-20T11:50:00.000-04:00

Oregon State's softball team moved up one spot in the April 11-17 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll to garner a No. 9 national ranking. The ranking is the highest for the Beavers in the USA Softball Poll since its inception in 2004 and the highest in any poll since May of 1999.
OSU (29-8) remains in sole possession of first place in the Pacific-10 Conference standings with an 8-2 record. The Beavers have faced 10 consecutive opponents ranked in the Top 25, going 8-2 in the stretch.
Oregon State travels to the Bay Area for a non-conference double-header on Wednesday at Saint Mary's College. The Beavers will face San Jose State in a double-header on Thursday.
OSU entered last week ranked No. 10 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. The new rankings are released on Wednesday afternoon.

2005-04-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

Oregon State University athletics officials again urge "Beaver Nation" to purchase tickets in advance for the annual spring football game, to be held Sat., April 30 at PGE Park in Portland. Tickets are available for $5 at the Gill Coliseum ticket office or at PGE Park - all handling fees will be waived at either location. Tickets may also be purchased at all area Ticketmaster locations.
Lines are expected to be extremely long for the purchase of tickets at the Park the day of the game.
Beaver fans are also encouraged to click on the link below for parking at the downtown stadium.

2005-04-20T11:47:00.001-04:00

The University of Oregon's much-publicized offensive restructuring appears to be a work in progress as the defense held a decisive upper hand in the Ducks second major scrimmage of the spring Saturday afternoon in Autzen Stadium.
Oregons offense could muster only eight first downs in the 75-play scrimmage and was held scoreless until late into the one-hour, 15-minute workout. Quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Brady Leaf each engineered 25-yard touchdown drives, capped by a 3-yard Clemens-to-Dan Kause pass and a 1-yard Leaf-to-Garren Strong throw.
"I think we have a lot of work to do on special teams, I was very, very disappointed where we are right now," Bellotti said. "I thought the defense out-played, out-hustled and out-hit the offense today. It had nothing to do with scheme, it was attitude and desire. I was very, very impressed with our first-team defense. I really thought they flew around, they made the offense think, they took away some of their aggresiveness and then they made some key open-field tackles to stop some plays. Justin Phinisee made a couple of plays early and just across the board I was very pleased with their effort today and their intensity."
Clemens finished the day completing nine of 18 passes for 27 yards while Leaf connected on four of seven aerials for 41 yards and one score. The Ducks second-team quarterback, Dennis Dixon, completed four of six throws for 25 yards in addition to carrying the football eight times for 21 yards. The longest completion of the afternoon was a 21-yard throw by Leaf to red-shirt freshman Jaison Williams.
"I dont think we were extremely sharp at the quarterback position, I thought that our offensive line was the poorest weve been all year in terms of overall pass protection. But again, I think the defense stepped it up a notch. The defenses comfort zone with seeing this offense for eight consecutive practices is starting to do it a little bit. Our receivers have to block downfield. If they dont block, this offense cannot be effective. Thats a huge component of it."
The Oregon running game actually look better from the offenses spread formation than its passing attack. Red-shirt freshman tailback Terrell Jackson led all rushers with 32 yards on seven carries while senior tailback Terrence Whitehead contributed 30 yards on eight attempts in his first uninhibited action of the spring.
"It was frustrating," Clemens added. "Unfortunately some of the success weve had in practice didnt carry over. We had some good things going towards the end but all-in-all, I think this one goes to the defense. We didnt execute today. A lot of times when you make it live, the defense steps up there, they can cut it loose a little bit more while were still working through some things and thinking. But they outplayed us today."
Junior wide receiver Kyle Weatherspoon led all receivers with 25 yards on four receptions while Demetrius Williams caught five passes for 12 yards.
Placekickers Paul Martinez and Luke Bellotti each misfired on a pair of field goal tries ranging from 33 yards to 52 yards during the regular portion of the scrimmage before the duo were each successful on one of two tries at the conclusion of the controlled workout.
The Ducks will return to the practice field this week with workouts scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

2005-04-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

Michael Taylor (4-4, 3 RBI) hit for the cycle and tied a career-high four hits to lead No. 24 Stanford (21-14) to an 8-2 victory over San Jose State (20-15-1) in a non-conference game and the first meeting between the South Bay rivals at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. Taylor became the first Stanford player to hit for the cycle since Edmund Muth pulled it off at UCLA on February 22, 1998.
Taylor hit his first collegiate homer in his first at bat to lead off the second inning with a towering shot over the right field fence. In his second at bat to lead off the fourth, he tripled to the gap in leftcenter field. In the fifth, he had an RBI double to score John Hester and his line drive single in his final at bat in the eighth was just beyond the reach of San Jose State first baseman Brandon Fromm.
"I have to admit that hitting for the cycle definitely crossed my mind," said Taylor when asked about his last at bat. "But, I wasn't going up there just trying to get a single."
"You can play for a long time and not hit for the cycle," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess . "That's a pretty nice accomplishment, and it was quite a night for him."
Taylor's home run was one of a season-high four hit by the Cardinal as John Mayberry, Jr. , Brendan Domaracki and Jed Lowrie also went deep. Mayberry and Domaracki had two-run shots in the third and the fourth innings, while Lowrie's solo shot increased his team-high season total to 11.

Stanford resumes Pac-10 action by hosting Washington in a three-game series this Friday-Sunday, April 22-24 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). Friday night's opener is scheduled to be televised live by FOX Sports Net on a tape-delayed basis with broadcasts scheduled for Sunday, April 24 (11 am, PT) and Monday, April 25 (12 pm, PT).

2005-04-20T11:45:00.000-04:00

Arizona State junior outfielder Travis Buck has been named the Pac-10 Baseball Player of the Week for April 12-18, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.
Buck (Richland, Wash.) had another solid weekend at the plate and in the field helping the Sun Devils to a series sweep over nationally ranked Stanford. The preseason All-American hit .462 (6-for-13) with four runs scored, one double, one home run and six RBI. He also stole a base and recorded a 1269 OPS (slugging + on-base).
Coming up clutch all weekend, Buck recorded multi-hit games in each victory over the Cardinal. He provided the heroics with a two-run, game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Saturday's 6-5 come-from-behind win and had a key three-run double in Sunday's 10-9 win to clinch the sweep.
After starting the season slow hitting only .246 in the first 15 games, Buck has since heated up going 49-for-116 (.422) over the last 25 games. Overall, he is second on the team and 10th in the Pac-10 hitting .362 (64-for-177) with 15 doubles, three home runs and 32 RBI. He leads the team with 21 multi-hit games and is hitting .375 (15-for-40) in nine Pac-10 contests.
The Player of the Week honor is the fifth of Buck's career and second this season. It is also the 76th such honor for Arizona State since the Sun Devils joined the Pac-10 in 1979. Buck becomes the first position player in school history to earn five Pac-10 Player of the Week honors and is now one award away from the school record of six set by left-handed pitcher Sean Rees (1989-91).
In addition, with the sweep of Stanford, Arizona State (25-15, 6-3 Pac-10) earned National Team of the Week honors from CollegeBaseballInsider.com and was also named the West Team of the Week by SEBaseball.com. After starting the season 6-9, ASU has won 19 of its last 25 games, including a string of nine straight home games. The Devils continue their homestand this weekend with a three-game conference series against UCLA starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.

2005-04-20T11:44:00.000-04:00

Preseason All-American Trevor Crowe went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two homers and Arizona pounded out 18 hits as the No. 5 Wildcats topped the New Mexico baseball team, 14-3, Tuesday night at Isotopes Park. The Lobos, now 19-19 on the season, return to action April 22-24 to face UNLV in Las Vegas.
Arizona (27-11) jumped on the Lobos early as Crowe led off the game with a homer to right field. The Wildcats added two runs in both the second and third innings to go up 5-0.
The Lobos got on the board in the third as Ryan Barba nailed a triple to the right-center field wall, and then scored on a Jordan Pacheco groundout. Barba went 2-for-4 in the game.
The Wildcats responded with five runs in the fourth, including a three-run homer by Jordan Brown, to take a commanding 10-1 lead.
Barba scored again in the fifth on a Chris Carlson run-scoring single to left field. Along with Barba, Carlson also collected two hits.
The Lobos scored their final run as Tim Grady walked to lead off the sixth, and then scored from first on a Ian Hollick RBI triple.
Arizona, who scored single runs in the sixth and seventh, completed its scoring in the top of the ninth as Bill Rhinehart hit a two-run shot to center field to make it 14-3.
Karsten Gaarder (1-6) took the loss for UNM, allowing 10 runs on 11 hits in 3.1 innings of action. Eric Berger improved to 4-0 for Arizona, scattering four hits and two runs in four innings of relief.

2005-04-20T11:43:00.000-04:00

In a game that saw six lead changes, San Diego State had the final say as it scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-6 victory over UCLA Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The victory improved SDSU to 11-24 on the year while the Bruins fell to 8-25.
Aztec starter Ben Coon went five innings to record the victory and even his record at 2-2, but not before seeing his team fall behind three times.
After UCLA opened with a run in its first at bat, the Aztecs responded with two in the bottom of the first as they started the inning with four straight hits. A double by Quintin Berry was followed by singles from James Guerrero , Brock Ungricht and Lance Zawadzki .
That lead was short-lived, however, as the visitors came back with two in the next frame to assume a 3-2 advantage. Not to be outdone, the Aztecs got a two-run homer from outfielder Curt Mendoza , his third of the year, to go back on top 4-3 in the fourth.
Once again UCLA went ahead in the next inning with a pair of runs on a triple by Tommy Lansdon, single by Chris Jensen, and double by Brett McMillan to make it a 5-4 contest.
San Diego State's game-winning rally came in the bottom of the fifth as it scored five times on four hits, two walks, a hit batter and three Bruin errors. The Aztecs got RBI singles from Zawadzki and Jake McLintock along with a two-out two-run double from Jordan Swaydan to take a 9-5 lead. The first three of the runs in the inning came off UCLA reliever Scott Botterman, who was saddled with the loss and saw his record drop to 1-3.

UCLA picked up a consolation run in the seventh on a pair of Aztec errors and an RBI single by Jarrad Page. But SDSU hurlers Bruce Billings and Alex Hinshaw tossed the eighth and ninth innings respectively, with the latter recording his first save of the year.
San Diego State will now prepare to resume Mountain West Conference action as it hosts Air Force in a four game series beginning with a pair of games on Friday starting at 4:00 p.m. The first contest of that twin bill will be the conclusion of the suspended game that was halted by snow when SDSU visited Colorado Springs last month. It will be resumed in the bottom of the second inning with SDDSU leading 2-0.

2005-04-20T11:42:00.000-04:00

For the first time since 1992-93, University of New Mexico students will be positioned on the floor for men's basketball games starting with the 2005-06 season.
UNM students, along with the Lobo pep band, will move from sections 19, 20 and 21 on the west side of the arena to section 26, which is located at the north end. Season ticket holders who have been in section 26 will be moved to section 20, which is mid-court on the west side of The Pit.
"The decision to move the students was reached after productive discussions with members of the UNM Board of Regents, President (Louis) Caldera and leaders of student government, including current ASUNM president Kevin Stevenson, incoming president Brittany Jaeger and the ASUNM Senate," said New Mexico athletics director Rudy Davalos. "While we considered various options for the students' new seating location, section 26 was chosen because it impacts the fewest amount of fans from the standpoint of sightlines. We feel we were able to find the best solution; one that is amicable to all parties. The students return to the floor and the fans who were in section 26 now have very good seats at mid-court."
Davalos said all season ticket holders in section 26 are being contacted by mail regarding their change in seating. The letter details specific dates and times - probably early May - when those fans can review their new seats in section 20.
"It's imperative that we take care of the fans who have been sitting in section 26," said Davalos. "Our staff will personally work with each season ticket account to ensure the transition is as seamless as possible. We wanted to offer the fans we're moving the very best seats in exchange for any potential inconvenience."
There were 183 season-ticket accounts - a total of 483 season tickets - in section 26 in 2004-05. There are 662 total seats in section 26. UNM sold 9,689 season tickets last year.
UNM students were moved off the floor with the construction and implementation of the Lobo Level seating prior to the 1993-94 season. The five rows of Lobo Level seating - four rows on the west side of the arena and one row on the east side - has generated more than $6.5 million since it started 12 years ago.

2005-04-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

UNLV junior catcher Maggie Livreri and senior righthander Jacque Kerrigan have been named Mountain West Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first career weekly award for Livreri and the third time in 2005 and the seventh career accolade for Kerrigan.
Livreri, a Las Vegas, Nev., native, batted .300 from the plate in four games for the Rebels last week, including two grand slams. She also knocked in eight RBI and scored two runs, while turning in a slugging percentage of .900 and an on-base percentage of .417. In UNLV's non-conference doubleheader vs. No. 18 Fresno State, Livreri went 2-for-5, smashing her first grand slam of the week in the third inning of the Rebels' 13-2 game two upset victory. She also drew two walks in the second game, adding to her team-best 23 on the season. In game two of UNLV's doubleheader sweep of San Diego State, Livreri provided all the offense the Rebels needed, drilling a fourth inning grand slam in a 4-0 win. Defensively, she was perfect from the catcher's position with 11 putouts and two assists. On the season, Livreri is batting .279 with five home runs (three grand slams) and 28 RBI.
Kerrigan, a Eugene, Ore., product, posted a 3-1 record (three complete game wins) in four appearances for the Rebels last week, including a win at No. 18 Fresno State. In 25.0 innings on the mound, she struck out 11 batters, while giving up only one earned run (three total), 14 hits and three walks. In game two of UNLV's doubleheader vs. the 18th-ranked Bulldogs, Kerrigan gave up four hits and struck out two batters, while walking none as the Rebels defeated Fresno State, 13-2 in five innings. Kerrigan followed by throwing both games of the Rebels' conference doubleheader vs. San Diego State, picking up her fourth and fifth shutouts of the season in the process. In game one, she took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, finishing with a one-hitter and two strikeouts in UNLV's 2-0 win. In the second game, Kerrigan scattered six hits, while striking out three and walking none as UNLV defeated SDSU, 4-0. With her three wins on the week, Kerrigan moved into third-place on the all-time wins list at UNLV with 65. She is currently 21-13 on the year, with 154 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.70.

2005-04-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

Most people didnt notice, but Rice senior forward Michael Harris had a monster season. His monster season earned him CollegeInsider.com's National Most Valuable Player award.

The 6-foot-6 Harris averaged 20. 6 points and 11.7 rebounds a game. He was the game-high scorer on 24 occasions and posted a game-high in rebounds 29 times this season. Nearly one-third of his 363 rebounds came on the offensive glass (112).

Harris connected on 61% of his shots from the field, which is even more impressive when you factor in that he was 7-for-29 from 3-point range.

He should have made everybody's All-America team,says CollegeInsider.com's Matt Drake. He faced double and triple teams every night and still put up huge numbers. He's a warrior.

In a season dotted with impressive performances, Harris had his best game on Feb. 27 when he matched his career-high with 30 points and grabbed a career-best 24 rebounds, in a win over Hawaii.

That stat line made Harris the school's all-time leader in both points and rebounds.

The preseason WAC Player of the Year, Harris was named to CollegeInsider.com All-America team on March 8, but surprisingly that was his only national honor.

To put it in simple terms, it's a joke that he did not receive more recognition says Drake. If he played in the Big 12 everyone would be singing his praises. It's a shame that most people didn't take notice of his four seasons at Rice.

Harris had 22 double-doubles, which is a school record for one season.

2005-04-20T11:35:00.000-04:00

Louisiana Tech third baseman Ryan Hamilton and Rice pitcher Eddie Degerman have been named the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 11-17.

Hamilton, a junior from Houston, Texas (Blinn JC), hit .417 (5-for-12) in Techs three-game sweep of Fresno State last week. In Saturday's win, he hit a triple and scored to tie the game in the fifth inning. On Sunday, Hamilton hit a three-run home run in the first inning of the 10-7 win. He had at least one hit in each game to extend his WAC-best hitting streak to 20 games.

It is Hamilton's first career WAC Player of the Week award and first for a Bulldog player this year.

Degerman, a junior from Granada Hills, Calif. (UC Irvine), threw a complete-game shutout in Rice's 4-0 win at Hawaii. He allowed four hits and five walks while striking out seven to improve to 5-0 on the season.

It is Degermans first career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and third for an Owl pitcher this year.

Other player of the week nominations included: junior second baseman Isaac Omura, Hawaii; senior outfielder Jacob Butler, Nevada; sophomore outfielder Adam Hale, Rice; and senior shortstop Anthony Contreras.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included: sophomore Steven Wright, Hawaii; junior Ryan Rupert, Louisiana Tech; sophomore Ryan Rodriguez, Nevada; and senior Matt Winck, San Jose State.

2005-04-20T11:34:00.000-04:00

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Nevada outfielder Jacob Butler, a senior from Yelm, Wash. (Yelm HS), hit .733 (11-for-15) and had at least two hits in all four games last week. He had three hits and four RBI last Tuesday against California. On Friday, he had four hits including an inside-the-park home run. For the week, he scored four runs, drove in six and hit three doubles and two home runs. It is Butlers fifth career WAC Player of the Week award and third for a Wolf Pack player this year.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK San Jose State left-handed pitcher Branden Dewing, a junior from Modesto, Calif. (Grace Davis HS), threw a complete-game in San Jose States 3-1 win over Fresno State on Saturday evening. He allowed just six hits, no walks and struck out seven in recording his third complete game in his last four outings. The victory helped give the Spartans a series win against the Bulldogs which keeps San Jose State at the top of the WAC standings. It is Dewings second career WAC Pitcher of the Week award and third for a Spartan hurler this year.

OTHERS NOMINATED Other player of the week nominations included:
Isaac Omura, Jr., 2B, Hawaii - was 9-for-18 with seven RBI and three runs in four games for the Rainbows. He had the game-winning RBI in the 8-7 win over Nevada on Sunday.
Joe Savery, Fr., 1B, Rice - hit .385 (5-13), had six RBI, scored twice and stole two bases in three games.

Additional pitcher of the week nominations included:
Rich Olsen, So., Hawaii - pitched four scoreless innings of relief against San Francisco last Wednesday and allowed just two hits while striking out five.
Ryan Rupert, Jr., Louisiana Tech - threw 7.1 innings in Techs 3-2 win over Rice on Friday. He allowed just five hits, two runs (one earned) and struck out seven in the Bulldogs first-ever win over the Owls in Ruston.
Tim Schoeninger, Jr., Nevada - recorded his second consecutive complete-game in a 7-5 win over Hawaii on Friday. He allowed 10 hits, four earned runs and one walk.
Eddie Degerman, Jr., Rice - pitched 7.1 innings and struck out 16 batters in a 9-6 victory over Louisiana Tech. Degerman allowed six hits, one walk and four runs to help snap Rice's three-game losing streak. The 16 strikeouts were one shy of the school record set last year by Philip Humber.

SPARTANS HANG ON TO LEAD San Jose State won two out of three games against Fresno State to remain a half game ahead of Nevada for first place in the WAC standings. All three games were decided by two runs or less. Nevada won its first two games against Hawaii before dropping an 8-7 decision to the Rainbows on Sunday. Louisiana Tech opened its series against Rice with a 3-2 win on Friday, but the Owls came back to win the final two games to improve to 6-6 in the WAC.

THIS WEEK IN THE WAC All six teams are in action beginning Friday with San Jose State at Nevada, Fresno State at Louisiana Tech and Rice at Hawaii. This is the final series of the first half of the WAC season for all but Fresno State and Nevada. The San Jose State-Nevada series features the top two teams in the WAC standings. The teams are tied with a .667 winning percentage while the Spartans have played one more series than the Wolf Pack.

BASEBALL AMERICA'S MIDSEASON REPORT Baseball America published its midseason report on Tuesday and two WAC players were mentioned. Rice first baseman/pitcher Joe Savery was named the top freshman in the nation and was on the all-freshman team as a utility player. Joining Savery on the all-freshman team was Fresno State third baseman Beau Mills. Savery is second in the WAC in batting average (.400) and third in ERA (2.32). Mills leads the WAC in home runs (10) and RBI (38) while hitting .324 on the season.

TECH SUSPENDS THREE On Tuesday, Louisiana Tech head baseball coach Wade Simoneaux suspended three players for the remainder of the 2005 season. Freshman catcher Jonathan Yerby, freshman outfielder Adam Cobb and junior outfielder Jason Santiago have been suspended for the rest of the season for violating team rules. Cobb started 29 games in centerfield for Tech and posted a batting average of .218 with 11 RBI. Yerby and Santiago saw limited duty with Yerby starting nine games and Santiago having started 10 games for the Bulldogs.

STREAKING Louisiana Tech third baseman Ryan Hamilton has the WACs longest current hitting streak at 17 games. Hamilton has hit .390 (27-for-72) with 16 RBI and six runs scored during his streak. It is the longest streak by a WAC player this year.

IN THE POLLS In this weeks polls, Rice is 15th in Baseball America and 18th in Sports Weekly/ESPN. San Jose State and Nevada received votes in the Sports Weekly/ESPN coaches poll.

WALLACE WATCH LIST The WAC has seven players on the 2005 Wallace Watch as announced by the College Baseball Foundation in Lubbock, Texas. The Brooks Wallace Award is presented to the national college baseball payer of the year. The WAC candidates are Fresno States Christian Vitters (2B), Hawaiis Matthew Inouye (OF), Nevadas Jacob Butler (OF), Rice's Josh Geer (P), Paul Janish (SS) and Lance Pendleton (OF) and San Jose States Travis Becktel (OF). The Wallace Watch will be trimmed to 12 semifinalists by May 24. Additional candidates will be added as the season progresses.

NON-CONFERENCE In non-conference games, the WAC is 72-64-1 (.529). Fresno State is 14-15 (.483), Hawaii is 12-12 (.500), Louisiana Tech is 8-14 (.364), Nevada is 11-9 (.550), Rice is 17-6 (.739) and San Jose State is 10-8-1 (.553). Against Collegiate Baseball top 25 opponents, the WAC is 9-19 (.321) as Fresno State is 0-5, Hawaii is 4-1, Louisiana Tech is 1-6, Nevada is 0-2, Rice is 4-5 and San Jose State is 0-0.

NCAA STATS The NCAA will not begin compiling national statistics until Tuesday, April 12.

POSTSEASON The WAC does not conduct a postseason tournament, but the regular season champion as determined by winning percentage in conference games will earn an automatic bid into this years NCAA Tournament which begins June 3.

WAC ADDS NEW MEXICO STATE AND SACRAMENTO STATE Last year, the WAC issued invitations to Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State effective July 1, 2005, the same date that Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa are moving to Conference USA. Of the three incoming schools, only New Mexico State has baseball. Sacramento State will also join the WAC as an affiliate member in baseball beginning in the 2006 season. The Hornets previously were an affiliate member of the WAC from 1993-96.

2005-04-20T11:33:00.000-04:00

Cal State Fullerton mens basketball Coach Bob Burton today signed an extension of his contract that will carry him through the 2009-10 season with the Titans.
In the 2004-05 season, the second year of his original four-year pact, Burton guided the Titans to their second best season ever. Fullerton had the best record among Southern California Div. I schools at 21-11 and it included the schools first two victories in the Post-Season NIT. The Titans placed third in the Big West Conference, their best showing in 20 years, with a 12-6 mark and they won their first post-season tournament game since 1998. Forced by early-season injuries to play a small lineup, the Titans played a free-wheeling, up-tempo style that put them atop the Big West in scoring and helped draw the two biggest crowds in 12 seasons to Titan Gym.

2005-04-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

Pacific senior Ashlie DErrico (Lancaster, CA/Lancaster HS) was selected the Big West Player of the Week after spearheading the teams sweep of Cal Poly, knocking the Mustangs out of first place in the conference standings.
The catcher batted .700 (7-for-10) with multiple hits and at least two extra base hits in each game of the series. She guided the Tigers to an 11-4 triumph in game two of the series as she went 2-for-3 with five RBI, including a grand slam and an RBI double. DErrico blasted her second homerun of the series and third of the year a solo shot in a 4-3 win in Sundays game. She ended up 2-for-3 with a walk. DErrico scored three times while going 3-for-4 with a double in Saturdays opener, a 7-4 victory.
For the week, DErrico had five runs scored and six RBI. She raised her season batting average from .172 to .223 following the three games. She also slugged 1.500 and posted a .750 on-base percentage.
Long Beach States Torres, Utah States Higley In Command In The Circle
Long Beach State senior Marcel Torres (Diamond Bar, CA/UCLA) and Utah State junior Leslie Higley (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville HS) earned a share of Big West Pitcher of the Week accolades after buckling down against conference and non-conference opposition.
Torres collected a win and a save in Long Beach States series sweep of Cal State Northridge as the 49ers took over first place in the standings. The 5-7 right-hander tossed a complete game two-hitter in a 5-0 win in game two of the series, walking just one and striking out eight. Torres pitched the final 2.1 innings of Sundays 5-1 triumph to earn the save after yielding just one walk.
Higley posted a 3-0 record in three appearances for Utah State, helping the Aggies to a 4-1 record for the week. She allowed just one earned run in 19.0 innings of work for a 0.37 ERA. Higley, a 5-6 right-hander, helped USU snap a seven-game losing streak to in-state rival Utah after allowing just one run and striking out five in a complete game effort. She also earned the win against UC Riverside twice, including a shutout in an 11-0 victory. She also fanned seven Highlanders and gave up an unearned run in a 4-1 win on Sunday.

2005-04-20T11:31:00.000-04:00

The Long Beach State softball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat conference rival, CS Fullerton, 5-4 in eight innings of play at the 49er Softball Complex on Tuesday. Senior Lauren Johnson tied a school record with her 112th career-run scored in fifth inning.

Long Beach State improved to 29-13, 9-1 Big West, while CS Fullerton fell to 18-15, 7-3 Big West. Both teams hook up tomorrow for a double-header beginning at 1:00 p.m. The win also kept Long Beach State atop the Big West standings.

CS Fullerton generated two runs in the top of the 3rd, off LBSU starting pitcher, Meredith Cervenka, and one in the fifth after a Lindsey Bashor triple plated Crystal Vierya, to gain the 3-0 advantage.

Long Beach State responded in the bottom of the 5th, when sophomore Kourtnee Gervasi connected for a three-run home run over the right field wall (plating Brooke LeSage, and Melanie McCauley). It was Gervasis first home run of the season. Johnson followed Gervasis home run with a solo home run over the left field wall (her 10th of the season) to give Long Beach State a 4-3 lead.

The Titans managed to tie the score the following inning, when a LeSage error allowed Candice Baker to score from third base.

Lacy Tyler provided the final spark in the bottom of the eighth when she hit the game-winning RBI to score Jonae Perez (who was issued a walk) with two outs.

Marcel Torres collected the victory for Long Beach State (11-6) after pitching a one-hit shutout in three innings of work. Cervenka, who started for The Beach, went five innings and allowed four runs with six strikeouts for the no decision. Tyler finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Long Beach State has won 12 out of its last 13, and five in a row.

2005-04-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

A see-saw battle that had each team rally back from a late deficit eventually was decided in extra innings as Cal State Northridge (13-20-1) scored in the bottom of the 10th to defeat San Diego (24-19-1) on Tuesday afternoon at Matador Field. Johnny Coit singled in Raymond Ravago with one out in the 10th to help CSUN end its 10-game losing streak.

After San Diego tied up the game with one run in the ninth, the two teams each had chances to go ahead before Northridge pushed in the winning run. Ravago singled to second base to lead off the 10th inning, putting a ball in the hole that took a bad hop on Keoni Ruth. Jeff Tezak followed with a sac bunt to advance Ravago. Coit, who had entered the game in the third inning, then battled Sean Warlop to a full count after fouling off several pitches. The Matador center fielder finally got one to his liking, slapping a line drive over the shortstops head and into left center.

The Toreros had blown big leads early, but stormed back late to score four runs in the final three innings of regulation to tie everything up. Shane Buschinis two-RBI double with two outs in the eighth was actually unfortunate for USD as the ball bounced over the wall for a ground-rule two-bagger. If it had stayed in play, Randy Curtis most likely would have scored from first, but instead was stranded at third. The Toreros did get the tying run in the ninth off Joe Rocchio though. After a lead-off single, consecutive one-out base hits by Justin Snyder and Ruth drove in the tying run at 12-12.

San Diego scored eight times in the first two innings with Jordan Abruzzo doing most of the damage. He brought in two first-inning runs with a double and then cleared the bases in the second inning with a three-run home run. Buschini also added an RBI double and Ruth brought in a run with a base hit.

The Matador erased that lead, twice. CSUN exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first. An RBI single by John Voita and a bases-loaded walk to Paul Wilson set the stage for a bases-loaded double by Eric Hagstom to drive in three runs. Michael Paulk atoned for earlier striking out with the bags full with two monster home runs, a solo job in the third and a three run blast in the sixth to give Northridge its first lead at 10-8. The homers were the fourth and fifth for Paulk.

Rocchio improved to 3-5 with the win. He blew his first save chance of the season in the ninth by allowing the run, but worked out of an inherited jam in the eighth and retired the side in order in the 10th. Sean Warlop took the loss, allowing one run in 2.1 innings.

Each team stranded the bases loaded in the ninth inning. After scoring the tying run, Curtis was intentionally walked and Rocchio got Steve Singleton to fly out to left. The Matadors then had a chance for victory as an intentional walk to Paulk gave Northridge the bases loaded with just one out. Worlop retired Wilson looking and got Hagstrom to ground out.

Alberto Quintana led all players with a career-best 5-for-6 day. After reaching on a fielders choice/error in the first, he had a hit in the next five trips to the plate. Every Matador starter but Drew Aguailar, who was 0-for-1 with a walk before being replaced by Coit, had a hit as CSUN outhit USD 19-15. Abruzzo was one of three Toreros with three hits and drove in a game-high five runs.

The last three games between CSUN and USD have all been tied after nine innings. Northridge won 9-7 last year in the 10th inning on Quintanas walk off home run, and the first meeting this year was called a tie because of darkness in the 3-3 game.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL HIGHTLIGHTS

2005-04-20T11:24:00.000-04:00

2005-04-20T11:22:00.000-04:00

After careful consideration, Pepperdine junior guard Alex Acker will declare for the 2005 NBA draft that will be held June 28, head coach Paul Westphal announced on Wednesday.
Acker, a 6-foo-t-5 guard from Compton, California, averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists a contest in helping Pepperdine post a 17-14 record overall and tie for fifth place in the West Coast Conference (WCC) with a 6-8 mark.
Acker finished second on the team and sixth in the WCC in scoring as he contributed 16.6 points a contest en route to being named All-WCC and Mid-Major All-American by CollegeInsider.com. He was also second on the club and eighth in the conference with 6.5 rebounds a game and ranked third in the WCC in 3-point field goal percentage after connecting on 48.4 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
Acker, who led the Waves in scoring six times and topped the team in rebounding on 13 occasions, contributed 17.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in WCC play.
He concluded his career ranked No. 20 on Pepperdine's all-time scoring list with 1,273 points and No. 7 in steals with 133. In 88 career games, Acker averaged 14.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals a contest and totaled 70 double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 32 points at UC Irvine during the 2003-04 campaign.
Acker is scheduled to graduate later this month with an art degree.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL HIGHLIGHTS

2005-04-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

SURFING NEWS: TAHITI

2005-04-19T00:57:00.000-04:00

For three adrenalin filled weeks the eyes of the surfing world will be focused on the dredging barrels of Teahupoo (Chopes) as the world's best male and female surfers contest the Billabong Pro Tahiti delivered by Air Tahiti Nui from May 5th-17th. The action will commence a week before the main event as 80 big wave surfers vie for the two wildcards on offer in the Air Tahiti Nui/Von Zipper trials, from April 25th.

Reigning world surfing champion Andy Irons (Kauai, Hawaii) will be heading into the main event poised to regain the ratings lead at his favourite destination of Teahupoo, the heart stopping surfing arena of the third event on the Fosters mens World Championship Tour (WCT).

Renowned for his critically deep take-offs and fearless back-hand barrels at the heaving left-hander, arguably the heaviest wave on the planet, Irons is currently
rated third behind talented Australian duo Trent Munro (Scotts Heads, NSW) and Mick Fanning (Coolangatta, QLD) after the opening two WCT events.

With three previous Teahupoo wins to his credit, having won the 1997 World Qualifying Series (WQS), 2000 WCT Trials and the 2002 Billabong Pro WCT, the 26-year-old Irons is aware of what victory will mean to his campaign for a fourth consecutive world title.

As far as a title run goes, winning at Tahiti is huge, it's the most respected spot on tour,said Irons. I am definitely going to be going there looking for a result and anything less than quarters I will be pretty disappointed. It is the win that everyone wants it's a really nice trophy and at a spot that everyone respects. Winning would be massive, especially to get my confidence on a flow and carry it on for the rest of the year.

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL REPORT- TUCSON SIDEWINDERS

2005-04-19T00:56:00.000-04:00

Righthanded pitcher Kerry Ligtenberg joined the Tucson Sidewinders before Monday's game at Tucson Electric Park after the Diamondbacks signed him to a minor league contract on April 16th. Ligtenberg, a free agent after being release by the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of spring training, has pitched in parts of seven seasons in the Major League for the Atlanta Braves (1997-98, 2000-02), Baltimore Orioles (2003) and Toronto Blue Jays (2004). Kerry owns a career 3.57 ERA in 381 innings over 379 major league appearances. Lightenberg has posted 48 major league saves in his career including 30 (7th in the NL) for the Braves during the 1998 season after the departure lefty John Rocker.

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REBELS TAKE IT TO UTES LATE

2005-04-19T00:48:00.000-04:00

UNLV got a complete game from pitcher Derek Rodriguez and pulled away late to take an 11-3 win over the University of Utah Sunday afternoon at Franklin Covey Field.

The Utes trailed by just one run, 4-3, after six innings. But the home squad simply ran out of pitching. UNLV roughed up Utah reliever Josh Cooper in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs to take control of the contest. The Rebels' Mike Cruz tripled to drive in a run and then scored in front of a Zeke Parraz home run to left, giving UNLV a 7-3 advantage. A Ryan Bird RBI double chased Cooper and gave the Rebels an 8-3 lead.

UNLV added three insurance runs off relievers Brandon Bailey and Brian Hedman in the ninth. Two of the Rebels' ninth-inning runs came across on a two-run homer from Justin Tellam.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first inning. UNLV's run off Utah starter Bryce Freed came on a Parraz RBI single. Utah answered off Rodriguez when first baseman Clayne Garrett drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it.

UNLV took a 4-1 lead in the fifth. The Rebels opened the inning with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice, knocking Freed from the game. Cooper came on, but allowed a two-run single from Parraz and an RBI single to Chris Bonnell.

The Utes scratched back into the game, scoring single runs off Rodriguez in the fifth and sixth. In the fifth, third baseman Jay Brossman doubled home a run with two outs. In the sixth, Garrett led off with a double and scored when catcher Trevor Eastman grounded out to shortstop. The two single runs pulled Utah back within one, 4-3.

But that's all Utah would muster against Rodriguez. The Rebel hurler tossed his team's first complete game of the season, going 140 pitches to up his record to 3-4. He allowed nine hits and all three Utah runs, but never allowed the Utes to string hits and runs together. Rodriguez walked four and struck out four. Freed took the loss for the Utes, falling to 0-4. He allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Parraz did much of the damage at the plate for UNLV. He was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. J.C. Sibley was 4-for-5 and scored two runs for the Rebels. Six of Utah's nine hits came from the first three batters in the lineup. Center fielder John Welsh, shortstop Ryan Khoury and Brossman each tallied two hits. Brossman had one of Utah's three RBIs.

GREAT LINK TO CHECK OUT

2005-04-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

I love this link of Oahu. Oh do I miss that island. Here is a lilnk to check out what's going on the cameras.

http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/cameras/index.htm

This is recommended by Bobby W. Editor in Chief of the 8 AM SPORTS WAKE UP.

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untitled

2005-04-19T00:21:00.000-04:00

Simon Letch returned to Sydney's Bronte Beach 30 minutes after surviving the attack, despite the beach being closed because of the danger, lifeguard Aaron Graham said.

He was pretty calm about it, very laid back, said Graham, who was on the beach when the 40-year-old surfer rode his damaged board back in after the attack.

Letch was sitting on his board about 100 feet offshore when the shark attacked. He told a newspaper that he rammed the board, a recent 40th birthday present from his girlfriend, into the shark's mouth. He said it was a bronze whaler.

I shoved the board at it like a barge pole, Sydney's The Sunday Telegraph quoted him as saying.

'It seemed like an eternity' He said the shark released the board and he quickly headed for shore.

It was only about 10 or 15 seconds that I was waiting for a wave but it seemed like an eternity, he told the newspaper. You think you'd go to jelly when something like this happens but I was surprisingly calm.

Nine Network television news reported that Letch is English.

The shark took two bites of the fiberglass board before stopping the attack, Graham told The Associated Press by telephone.

There were two big puncture mark bites on the board, but it didn't actually bite a hunk out of it so he was able to ride it in, Graham said

He came back 30 minutes later to surf with a replacement board, Graham said.

Last month, 20-foot great white shark tore a man in half, killing him instantly as he snorkeled off Australia's west coast.

DEVILS POUNDED BY HUSKIES

2005-04-19T00:16:00.000-04:00

The Washington softball team found its way out of its Pac-10 doldrums as it slugged past Arizona State 12-4 yesterday in Seattle.

The No. 24 Huskies (21-14 overall, 3-5 Pac-10) used three home runs, including a grand slam from senior Kathy Fiske, to sweep the two-game series with the Sun Devils. The UW defeated the No. 21 Sun Devils 8-0 Saturday. The two victories ended Washington's five-game losing streak in the conference.

DEVILS SWEEP CARDINAL

2005-04-19T00:15:00.000-04:00

The Arizona State Sun Devil baseball team pulled off a huge series sweep Sunday afternoon, with a exhilarating 10-9 victory over the No. 14 Stanford Cardinal. The sweep was the first suffered by Stanford in nearly eight years. The year was 1997 when the Cardinals were last swept by non other than the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Devil�s victory was sparked by a three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning that came off the bat of last night�s hero, Travis Buck. The Devils had trailed 5-3 at that point in the game after Stanford had put up two runs in the top of the inning. The Devils didn�t stop after Buck�s double and went on to score four more runs in the inning, as the next three batters were walked to bring in Buck, senior Jeff Larish then stole home, and sophomore Seth Dhaenens ripped a two-run single to cap-off the seven-run sixth. This gave the Devils a comfortable 10-5 lead heading into the final three frames, but that comfortable lead didn�t last long as right-handed reliever Zechry Zinicola gave up four runs in the eighth that cut the lead to just one run.

Yesterday�s starter Jason Urquidez was called upon to close out the game and he did so by pitching 1.1
innings of scoreless ball. The save was Urquidez�s second of the season. Junior Tony Barnette picked up the win in relief although he allowed two runs on three hits in his one inning of work. It was Barnette�s third of the year, as he improved his record to 3-1 overall despite having a 7.71 ERA.

Buck finished the day 2-for-5 with one run and three RBI�s. He was 6-for-13 overall in the series, including six RBI�s and one homerun. Sophomores Colin Curtis, Seth Dhaenens, and Zechry Zinicola were the other Devils to record a multi-hit game. All three ended the day 2-for-4, Curtis and Dhaenens each had one run scored and two RBI�s while Zinicola added two runs.

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BEARS DEFEAT HUSKIES 4-3

2005-04-19T00:13:00.000-04:00

Freshman first baseman Mike Van Winden had a two-out single in the top of 11th inning to give California a 4-3 victory over Washington Sunday at Husky Ballpark in Seattle in the final game of a three-game Pac-10 series. The Golden Bears (24-16 overall, 6-6 in the Pac-10), avoided the sweep with the win, having fallen to the Huskies, 5-1, Friday and, 5-4, Saturday. Washington fell to 23-14 for the season and 4-5 in the conference.

In the 11th, Cal had James Holder at second and Kyle Spraker at first with two outs. Freshman first baseman Van Winden followed with a bloop single to left and Holder scored, narrowly beating the throw to the plate. It was Van Winden's third game-winning RBI of the season as he had a game-winning double at Long Beach State Feb. 20, and the game-winning double versus Washington State Mar. 26.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Huskies, trailing 3-1, loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Freshman Andy Lentz followed with a bloop single to shallow left field, just over the glove of third baseman Matt Einspahr, driving in two runners to tie the score at 3-3.

Bears reliever Matt Swanson (5-0, 2.3 innings, one hit, no runs, two walks, four strikeouts) picked up the victory after entering the game in the ninth after the Huskies had tied it. Husky closer Josh Conover (0-1, 3.7 innings, two hits, one run, one walk, four strikeouts) suffered the loss. The senior side-armer had retired all eight he'd faced before allowing the single to Holder to open the 11th.

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CAL FORWARD TO TRANSFER

2005-04-19T00:08:00.000-04:00

Sophomore Dominic McGuire has become the second Cal basketball player to leave the program since the close of the past season.

McGuire, a 6-foot-8 forward from San Diego, has requested release from his scholarship and will be cleared by the athletic department this week.

A starter in 23 games this season, McGuire averaged 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds and led the 13-16 Golden Bears with 31 blocked shots.

"I just felt like I wanted to get a fresh start," said McGuire, who wasn't specific about his reasons for leaving. "It wasn't anything against Cal or coach (Ben) Braun. I just felt like I had to do it for me."

An athletic department spokesperson confirmed that McGuire was among three players held out of spring conditioning workouts to concentrate on academic issues. Junior center David Paris and sophomore wing Marquise Kately are the others.

McGuire said neither his academic standing nor the one-game suspensions he served each of his two seasons for violation of teams rules were factors in his decision.

"Dom was a solid contributor during the past two seasons at Cal," coach Ben Braun said in a statement. "We certainly wish him well with his college future."

Freshman forward Kevin Langford announced late last month he was leaving Cal, with hopes he could land at a school closer to his home in Fort Worth, Texas.

McGuire is a sensational athlete with great jumping ability, but he struggled to find a comfortable position on the floor. Cal hoped to make him a perimeter player, but his skills were better suited for post play.

McGuire said schools he's considering include Houston, Mississippi, Nevada-Las Vegas and New Mexico State.

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SURFING NEWS: QUIKSILVER CUP 2005 REPORT

2005-04-18T23:59:00.000-04:00

The Los Angeles Arc Angels made NSL history today defeating the talent stacked Ventura Pelicanos for their very first win in Game 4 of the 2005 Quiksilver California Cup Arc Angels Series. The new expansion team for the 2005 season raised their arms in jubilation after leading the Pelicanos throughout the 4 quarters with a final score of LA: 103 to VC: 93.75.

Wave conditions had improved today for Game 4 with wave conditions head high to overhead. The Arc Angels were fired up for a win today as they have had 3 straight loses at home and a devastating first loss by 20 points to Santa Cruz during the Stormriders Series at Steamer Lane last week. One glance at the Ventura Pelicanos roster would intimidate any world class surfer which included the legendary Tom Curren, top 44 Timmy Curran, Dan Malloy along with a diverse contingent of wave specialists. Two former Ventura coaches, Brian Aresco and Sean Hayes from the 2004 season are also members of the official team roster. "It feels great to be in the lineup, all last year I was itching and scratching and now I'm surfing" says the former Ventura assistant coach Brian Aresco. After careful consideration, Arc Angels Coach Lamm opted for the Pelicanos to surf first in the top of the first
quarter. Ventura's first quarter group included Tim Curran, Blake Howard, Hank Mills and Brian Aresco. Pelicanos Coach Davey Smith's initial strategy was to utilize goofy footed players on Leo Carillo's long right hander wave. Curran's first wave of 5.75 indicated that today's sets were sectioning off slightly more than in previous days, making wave selection even more crucial in Game 4. Hank Mills's 6.5 was the highest score of the quarter as the group struggled to find their rhythm. Coach Smith made the decision to substitute Blake Howard with Adam Virs and Pete Musio for Brian Aresco. Neither sub could better the scores as wave conditions presented long lulls despite the usage of two time outs. Ventura ended their first quarter drive with a meager 19.25, the lowest quarter score in the entire Los Angeles Arc Angel series. Subsequently the opportunity was knocking loudly in the LA
dugout as Coach Lamm and Wasilewski instructed over water radios to first quarter group Jordan Tappis, Brendan Hearne, Steven Lippman and Pascal Stansfield to go all out. Stansfield kept tight in the pocket of the wave with 5 impressive backside snaps scoring a 6.75 for his first wave while Tappis, Hearne and Lippman struggled to post anything over 3.5. Colin Giles substituted Lippman improving the score to a 3.75. Jim O'Brien, who had sat for most of the Arc Angel series on the bench, took over for Giles as a sub to score a 5.5. Tappis' later scored a 7.75 after three wave attempts with tweaked floater followed by a big fin free off the top while emerging out of the whitewater. LA's first quarter of 25.75 took advantage of Ventura's low first quarter score of 19.25, with a leading margin of 6.5 points.

In the second quarter, Ventura's power broker group included Tom Curren, Keoni Cuccia, Sean Hayes and Jeremy Ryan. Curren's first three waves were all under 5.5 but it was on his fourth wave of 8.75 where all those years surfing right points shined through with amazing rhythm and precision on each turn. Not only was the Pelicanos bench cheering and applauding, but the LA bench was equally as stoked to witness the master surf. Announcer Sal Masekela humored the crowd as Curren acknowledged Masekela's encouragement to pull an aerial, only to fall after each valiant attempt. Former head coach of Ventura, Sean Hayes was substituted by Kellen Ellison who did not improve on Hayes' score. The group struggled as a whole to post the numbers, however the Pelicanos were able to get in the 20 point range with a quarter score of 21.25 and a cumulative running score of 40.5. The LA Arc
Angels set out on the bottom of the 2nd quarter wide eyed as the damage inflicted to Ventura could continue from the 1st quarter with a successful score. Shaun Burrell immediately put the heat on with a 6.5 followed by an improvement of 7.0 score. Alex Grey also pushed hard with a 6.25 while Justin Swartz substituted for Greg Browning posting a 4.25 along with Yves Bright's 5.25 prior to be substituted by Bron Heussenstamm. The Arc Angels' second quarter amounted to a 23 quarter score and a 48.75 cumulative running score, an incredible 8.25 lead over Ventura.

During half time, Ventura Coach Smith pumped up the Pelicanos' 3rd quarter group to stay focused and wait for the right waves. Tim Curran immediately attacked all opportunities that came his way, scoring 6.5 onward to a stellar 8.0 score clearing a 30 yard section on the biggest set of the day. Adam Virs substituted Blake Howard and came through with a strong 6.75 while Hank Mills pulled a 6.25 and Musio came through with a 5.25. Ventura's 3rd quarter 26.25 sent a message to LA that the Arc Angels were not guaranteed a win on Sunday. LA's bottom of the 3rd quarter had a flurry of waves with scores no less than 5.5 for each surfer. Jim O'Brien found the golden nugget with an explosive 7.25 score that showcased the South bay local's 2 big cutbacks followed by a massive floater and aggressive lip smack. Pascal Stansfield's 8.0 had the entire crowd raise their arms with two huge
vertical hits on the outside and four well linked hits on the inside. "I had a 3.0 and then I heard Sal [Masekela] just rousting me and when I got up I said to myself I can't fall", explained Stansfield. LA again continued their domination over Ventura with a 3rd quarter score of 26.50 cumulative score of 75.25 and an 8.5 lead over the Pelicanos.

With all cylinders firing, the Pelicanos went all out in the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter with Tom Curren scoring an exceptional 8.25, Cuccia's incredibly drawn out bottom turns for a 7.0 and rookie Kellen Ellison's impressive 7.5. With 12:22 remaining and the first of 2 time outs called, the focus was placed on Jeremy Ryan to put a score on the board. Ryan would eventually score a 4.25 and dig deep for a wave that would give him an opportunity to score anything over a 7.0, however Ryan was not able to improve his score. At the end of the 4th quarter, the Pelicanos put in solid effort for a quarter score of 27 and a cumulative score of 93.75. The Los Angeles Arc Angels needed only an 18.75 to win the game as they entered the bottom of the 4th quarter. Throughout the LA Arc Angels Game series, LA had consistently scored over the 20 point mark, however anything can happen
in The Game. The local fans at this point had their fingers crossed for their home town boys. Alex Grey immediately came out of the gates with a 7.0, followed by an 8.0 and later an unheard of 9.25 best wave score replacing the previous strong scores in the quarter. At 6:31, Bron Heussenstamm sat on a 4.0 with a broken fin, while Burrell was also sitting on a low score of 3. In a miraculous set, arguably of the entire game week, both Burrell and Heussenstamm caught waves scoring 7.5 and 6.5 respectfully pushing the Los Angeles Arc Angels over the 18.75 benchmark to defeat the Ventura Pelicanos with a final score of 103 (Q: 27.75) to VC's 93.75.

In the Los Angeles dug out, Coach Mike Lamm was raised on the shoulders of the team and let out a roar of elation. Arc Angels assistant coach Strider Wasilewski said, "I'm just psyched, we wanted it all week, we knew we could get one if we decided to put it together, we thought we were going to get a win against OC and we didn't get it and it's so great to get it on the last day of the LA series with the support of the LA fans".

Thoughts from Greg Browning after being substituted, "The guys were leaning on me to perform and I was probably the biggest let down, yet probably the most proud guy on this team right now. We have a chance and this win helps out with the morale, Coach Lamm and Strider did an amazing job leading us".

Heavy scorer, Shaun Burrell said, "All week I really felt we had it in us to win, just a lot of emotion and coming through under pressure and something that I strive to be excellent at and those are the situations that I enjoy."

The NSL is the sport of surfing's equivalent of the NBA, MLB and NFL. NSL's mission is to build a unique surfing league dedicated to the pursuit of surfing excellence and generating consumer awareness for the sport, while creating a fun, competitive format for all types of surfers. The 2005 Quiksilver California Cup continues to stop number 3 at San Diego's Oceanside Beach for the San Diego Sea Lions Game Week, April 20th-24th.

ALLEGATIONS OF ILLEGAL USC FOOTBALL PLAYERS

2005-04-18T23:51:00.000-04:00

USC quarterback Matt Leinart is returning, but other starters might not be.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday that one or more returning players who did not participate in spring practice might be academically ineligible for the 2005 season. Tight end Dominique Byrd, running back LenDale White and defensive linemen Frostee Rucker and Manuel Wright are currently listed at or near the bottom of the depth chart.

"It's going to be a challenge to get all the guys back," Trojans coach Pete Carroll acknowledged to the Times.

Wright, a junior, said he has contacted the NFL about entering the supplemental draft, but he said that is "the last option" if he isn't eligible to play for USC. Wright has been out of high school for three years, meeting NFL requirements.

"I'm studying, putting in a lot of work, so it's not like I'm not going to give it a good run or not going to try," Wright told the Times. "I could be lazy and just be like, 'Forget it, and go home. I'm going to the draft and call it a day.' But, obviously, I want to play here."

Wright's father, Terence, said Wright could either redshirt at USC or transfer to a Division II school if he is ineligible.

"But his priority, and our family's priority, is for him to stay at USC," Terence Wright told the Times.

White, a junior, told the Times he has been attending classes regularly and isn't worried about where he is listed on the depth chart.

"It makes it better for me � it makes me hungry," he said. "You watch. I'll be starting."

Byrd, a senior, suffered a broken jaw during a fight several weeks ago. Rucker, also a senior, had toe surgery after the Orange Bowl.

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2005-04-18T20:38:00.000-04:00

UC Santa Barbara used four unearned runs Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium as the Gauchos defeated UCLA, 4-3 in the rubber match of this weekend's non-conference three-game series. The Bruins (8-24) rallied to score two runs in the top of the ninth inning and had the potential tying run on second base when shortstop Tommy Lansdon flew out to right to end the game.

UCLA starter sophomore right-hander Brant Rustich (1-3) lasted 5.2 innings, allowing the four unearned runs on five hits in suffering the defeat. He struck out a career high seven batters while walking three.

UCSB (19-18) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when right fielder Matt Wilkerson singled home third baseman David Figoni from third. Figoni had reached earlier in the inning on a fielding error by Bruin third baseman Eric Taylor.

UCLA tied the score in the fifth with an unearned run of its own. Catcher Matt Sharp came all the way around to score from second when Gaucho catcher Matt Kalafatis misfired a backdoor pick off to first base.

Then in the bottom of the sixth, the Gauchos scored three more unearned runs with two outs following another error at third base by Taylor. The Bruins threatened to tie the game in the ninth against UCSB closer Alex McRobbie. After Sharp led off with a double to left, McRobbie walked Josh Roenicke and then beaned pinch-hitter Will Penniall. Pinch-hitter Jarrad Page then sent a deep fly ball to right field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Metzger, who had pinch-run for Sharp. An Anthony Norman RBI groundout then brought UCLA to within one. But McRobbie induced Lansdon into the game ending fly out to preserve the series victory.

UCSB starter Steve Morlock improved to 4-5 with the victory. He allowed just one unearned run on five hits over 6.2 innings of work.

First baseman Brett McMillan was 2-for-4 for UCLA.

PAC 10 MENS BASKETBALL ROUND UP

2005-04-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

With ARIZONA and WASHINGTON advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA
Tournament, the Pac-10 placed two teams to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth
time in nine seasons... Arizona reached the regional semifinals for the
fourth time in five seasons.

The Wildcats posted their third 30-win season in school history and captured their 11th Pac-10 regular-season title... Washington equaled the school record with 29 wins. It was the most victories for the Huskies since Hec Edmundson led Washington to 29 wins in 1938. The
Huskies claimed the league's postseason crown, their first ever, with a
81-72 victory over Arizona in the championship game of the Pacific Life
Pac-10 Tournament...

Joining Arizona and Washington in the NCAA Tournament were UCLA and STANFORD. It was the first postseason trip for UCLA since 2002, while Stanford made its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance...

OREGON STATE posted its first winning season since 1990 and was rewarded
with an NIT appearance. ARIZONA STATE also joined the Beavers in the NIT. It
was the Sun Devils' fourth postseason appearance in the last six years...

Arizona's Salim Stoudamire and Arizona State's Ike Diogu were rewarded
nationally for their season-long efforts as both were consensus second team
All-America selections.

Suns Roll Past Hornets

2005-04-13T11:59:00.000-04:00

Stoudemire and Marion helped fuel a decisive fourth-quarter surge as the Suns pulled away for a 99-85 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in a matchup of the best and worst teams in the Western Conference.

Other Western Conference Highlights

Clippers 94 Jazz 85

Shaun Livingston is the latest glimmer of hope for the Los Angeles Clippers. Livingston continued his strong play with 15 points and 10 assists, leading the Clippers to a 94-85 victory over the Utah Jazz.
A 6-7 guard, Livingston is making the most of his increased minutes late in the season. Making his 11th straight start, the 19-year-old recorded his first career double-double and did not have a turnover in 36 minutes.

Spurs 95 Blazers 89

After a tough stretch, the San Antonio Spurs returned home to wrap up another division title. Manu Ginobili scored 30 points and Nazr Mohammed added 10 and 14 rebounds as the Spurs clinched the Southwest Division title with an 95-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
NBA TV highlights from Blazers-Spurs: 300k It was the fourth division title in five years for San Antonio, (58-20), which remained one game behind Phoenix for the Western Conference's best record with four games to play. The Spurs own the tiebreaker over the Suns.

Yesterday's MLB Highlights From The Western Division

2005-04-13T11:52:00.000-04:00

Diamondbacks 4 Rockies 2
Right up until the end, this one looked like 2004 all over again for the Diamondbacks and starter Brandon Webb.
Webb had his sinker working and had the Rockies grounding out left and right.
Yet just like last year, when Webb led the league in losses with 16 despite a 3.59 ERA, through seven and a half innings he was staring a 2-1 deficit in the face.
The Diamondbacks, though, underwent an extreme makeover during the offseason and the difference was apparent as they put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth on Tuesday night to defeat the Rockies, 4-2, in front of 20,725 at Bank One Ballpark.
"Different team," said catcher Chris Snyder, who appeared in 29 games for Arizona last year.
Quinton McCracken started the eighth-inning rally by reaching on an error by second baseman Aaron Miles. Pinch-hitter Matt Kata then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move McCracken to second.
That left Arizona manager Bob Melvin with a tough call. Left-hander Craig Counsell was scheduled to hit, but on the mound for the Rockies was southpaw Brian Fuentes.
"You can't imagine how hard it was to hit for Craig Counsell," Melvin said. "I mean, Craig finds a way to get everything done, but I've seen that lefty on our lefties too many times."
So Melvin sent up switch-hitter Tony Clark to pinch-hit, and the veteran, who was signed as a free agent during the offseason, smacked an 0-1 offering over Preston Wilson's head in center to score McCracken and tie the game.
"That's why we have Tony," said Melvin.
"Simply trying to get a ball up and put a good swing on it and hope I hit it hard somewhere," Clark said of the at-bat. "I'm just really fortunate that (Wilson) didn't run it down out there."
The Rockies then brought in righty Ryan Speier to face shortstop Royce Clayton. Again, Melvin faced a decision. Should he stick with Clayton, who came into the game hitting .174, but was 2-for-3 on the night? Or, should he summon a pinch-hitter?
"I'm going to stay with him," Melvin said in describing the decision to let Clayton hit. "I really felt it was the right thing to do. He was scuffling a little bit with the bat, but he showed us all spring that he knows how to hit in the two-hole, and sometimes when you show confidence in a guy, you get rewarded."
Clayton worked the count to 2-2 before he singled over the head of shortstop Clint Barmes to give Arizona a 3-2 lead.
"I had a chance to look at him for two pitches last night," said Clayton, who had popped out against Speier on Monday. "He's a tough sidewinder and it's easy to pull off the ball, roll over it. The ball jammed me a little bit, but I was able to fight it off over the shortstop's head. It just felt good to come through when Brandon pitched such a great game. He deserved to win."
Indeed, Webb, who allowed just two walks, had his patented sinker working to perfection.
"You look at it from the bench where we are and it looks like a breaking ball that he's throwing, it sinks so much," Melvin said.
Snyder was so impressed that all he had Webb throw the first three innings was the sinker.
"Until they proved they could do something with it, we were going to go to work," Snyder said.
The Rockies weren't able to do anything with it until Miles got an infield hit in the fourth.
"They tried to be aggressive with him because they knew they were going to get sinkers," Melvin said. "And they had a good approach, really. All their guys were trying to go the other way with him. That's the right thing to do, but the sinker was moving so much that even though they were trying to go the other way, at times, he was still putting it on the ground."
Of the 24 outs Webb recorded, 16 were on grounders and four were by strikeout. And like Brad Halsey did the previous game, Webb jumped ahead of hitters by throwing a first-pitch strike to 23 of the 32 batters he faced.
"The most important thing was he didn't go out there and be too fine," Clayton said. "He let his stuff take over the game."
"He pitched a great game today, and that was probably one of the better baseball games I've been a part of," Snyder said. "Just to see how it all worked out and be able to get Brandon the win in the end."
Something that didn't happen very often last year.
"It was a snowball effect last year," first baseman Chad Tracy said. "Once it gets going downhill, it just keeps going and going and going. Now this year, it's a totally different team, a totally different attitude and the ball didn't get rolling downhill."

Dodgers 9 Giants 8
This being the show-biz capital and all, it's so L.A. to rack up every one of these dramatic Dodgers comebacks to something magically script-like.
But there are baseball basics involved, as Jeff Kent alluded to while the rest of the clubhouse was celebrating the Dodgers' latest stunner, a home-opening, walk-off, 9-8 victory over the San Francisco Giants, with Milton Bradley starring as hero.
Those who remained of the record crowd of 55,892 at renovated Dodger Stadium witnessed a four-run, bottom-of-the-ninth rally against San Francisco closer Armando Benitez, from the same offense that brought you a four-run 11th inning Saturday and a four-run ninth inning Friday and is averaging seven runs a game.
"I thought we were always in the game," said Kent, the former Giant, whose bases-loaded walk preceded Bradley's game-winning single that was booted in left field by Jason Ellison. "We just played them. We know who's in their bullpen."
There you go. Jeff Weaver, who pitched eight scoreless innings against the Giants last week, spotted them a five-run first inning.
"Hope you guys didn't write your stories in the first inning," said Kent, who wasn't even around the last time the Dodgers did this to the Giants at home, last year's title-clinching, walk-off grand slam by Steve Finley.
Rookie Jason Repko answered the Giants' five-run first immediately with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, but Weaver served up a three-run homer to Pedro Feliz in the fourth and was gone from his shortest start in nearly six years, torched for eight runs.
But the Dodgers, trailing 8-5, weren't done. As Kent indicated, they know who's in the Giants' bullpen. What went unsaid is that the Dodgers believe that bullpen is, let's say, as beatable as that of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Specifically, the Dodgers scored eight runs against Giants relievers last Wednesday and two more last Thursday. So once they got starter Kirk Rueter out of the game with none out in the sixth, the Dodgers dugout came alive. It's all part of the game plan.
"The guys were never overwhelmed with what they had to do," Kent said.
They scored a pair in the sixth to close the gap to 8-5, threatened in the seventh but came up empty, then went to work against Benitez in the ninth with Ricky Ledee's second pinch-double of the season leading off and Cesar Izturis' third hit, putting runners on the corners.
After pinch-hitter Jose Valentin popped out, J.D. Drew reached base for the third time in the game with a walk that loaded the bases. Kent worked a 3-1 count, took an inside strike he said he couldn't handle, then walked to force in a run that cut the margin to two and prolonged the inning for Bradley.
"It was a situation for me to do something and come through," said Bradley. "I expected him to pitch me away, so I moved up on the plate, expecting a fastball away. I knew he didn't want to walk me."
Bradley got that fastball he wanted and, batting left-handed, drove it sharply to left field. Ellison, inserted for defensive purposes to replace Feliz, who is replacing Barry Bonds, ranged to his right to make a pickup and halt the runners, but the ball skipped under his glove and scooted to the fence.
Izturis and Drew would have scored anyway, but the error allowed Kent to make it from first to win the game. When Ellison finally retrieved the ball, all he could do was spike it into the new dirt warning track.
"I don't want to give away all our secrets," said Bradley, "but that outfield grass is a little quick."
In a game that was decided by bullpens, the Dodgers' came up big. Buddy Carlyle, back in the Major Leagues after a four-year hiatus, restored order after Weaver with two scoreless innings. Rule 5 draft pick D.J. Houlton struck out three in two scoreless innings. Giovanni Carrara, suddenly showing no signs of the hamstring strain he suffered a week earlier, dodged a pair of threats in his two scoreless innings.
That's six scoreless innings for a bullpen that came into the game with a 6.41 ERA. On the flip side, none of the last three Dodgers starters have made it through five innings. Weaver, who pitched 220 innings last year, logged only three in this game. Derek Lowe was literally knocked out in the fifth Sunday and Scott Erickson allowed four home runs in 4 1/3 innings Saturday.

Other Notable Games From Yesterday
Angels 13 Rangers 8
Jays 5 A's 2

Saturday's Games In MLB

2005-04-13T11:46:00.000-04:00

Angels 8 Royals 3
Kevin Gregg threw 49 pitches and put six Royals on base in the first two innings Saturday, including a wild pitch that tied the game, 1-1. And with Jose Lima scuffling but surviving, it looked like the Angels might be in for an ugly game.
But then things started to go the Angels' way. With the bases loaded and two outs in the second, Gregg fanned four-time All-Star Mike Sweeney. In the bottom of the inning, Maicer Izturis, making his first start as an Angel, tripled and scored to lead off the second. And, finally, in the bottom of the fourth, the Angels pounded out their biggest inning of the season, scoring five runs to chase Lima (0-1).
The good fortune didn't end there. Bengie Molina tagged an eighth-inning homer, Esteban Yan threw three hitless innings of relief and the Angels evened the series with a comfortable 8-3 win.
"I think this was the first game that we showed a glimpse of the offensive team we need to be," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Tonight, we ran the bases very well and our situational hitting was good."
It was particularly so in the fourth inning, when Molina's slide into second base, as the speedy Izturis burned down the first-base line, forced an error by Royals second baseman Ruben Gotay, who never touched the bag. Chone Figgins and Darin Erstad knocked RBI singles, after which Erstad stole second base, allowing both men to score on Vladimir Guerrero's two-out single up the middle.
Just for good measure, Scioscia called the hit-and-run with Garret Anderson at the plate, and it worked perfectly, allowing Guerrero to score from first when Anderson lofted the ball into the right-center field gap.
It was small ball at its finest, as the Angels turned a collection of well-placed but softly hit balls into a quintet of runs. It was also more than enough support for Gregg (1-0), who started in place of the injured Kelvim Escobar.
Gregg needed only 33 pitches over his final three innings. His only mistake was a pitch up in the zone to Matt Stairs, who crushed a two-run homer over the scoreboard in right. He said the turnaround all started with Sweeney's bases-loaded at-bat.
"It was a pivotal situation -- the bases loaded with their best hitter at the plate," Gregg said. "It's not exactly a situation you want to be in, but I battled through it and got the punchout."
After that, with a little coaching from Molina, Gregg settled down.
"He just got me focused on throwing strikes," Gregg said. "I needed to attack their hitters and put them on the defensive side."
Gregg departed after five innings with a 7-3 lead, which Yan made seem insurmountable, not allowing a Royal to reach second base.
Molina hit his second homer of the season in the eighth to complete the scoring, launching Shawn Camp's first pitch just over the wall in dead center. Bret Prinz closed out the game without incident.
The Royals ended up with just three hits, losing for the eighth time in their last nine games against the Angels.
As for the Angels, Saturday's win was a step in the right direction for an offense that began the game last in the American League in runs scored and on-base percentage.
"I know, offensively, we'll set the table more and pressure defenses more as we get into our game," Scioscia said.

Dodgers 12 Diamondbacks 10
Jeff Kent drove in five runs and his bases-clearing double keyed a four-run 11th inning as the Dodgers' win streak reached four with a 12-10 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday night.
Cesar Izturis started the winning rally with a triple, Hee-Seop Choi walked and J.D. Drew reached on a fielder's choice when shortstop Royce Clayton made a diving stop of his grounder and threw behind Izturis, who was safe when third baseman Troy Glaus missed the tag.
Kent, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning, split the right-center gap with a 2-0 pitch from Michael Gosling to clear the bases. Milton Bradley followed with an RBI single.
Arizona didn't quit, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 11th on doubles by Chad Tracy, Chris Snyder and Royce Clayton off Giovanni Carrara. Steve Schmoll took over and recorded his first save.
The Dodgers had taken an 8-7 lead with two runs in the eighth inning against Brian Bruney on RBI singles from Cesar Izturis and Hee-Seop Choi, who snapped an 0-for-11 start.
But the Diamondbacks tied it in the bottom of the ninth against Yhency Brazoban on a triple by Tony Clark and a comebacker by pinch-hitter Tracy that Brazoban knocked down and had only a play at first base.
Arizona nearly won it in the 10th inning, loading the bases with one out, but Brazoban struck out Glaus and former teammate Shawn Green.
The Dodgers rode Kent's homer to a 3-0 lead, but the Diamondbacks answered with four home runs to take a 7-3 advantage against Dodger starter Scott Erickson. Green, Glaus, Snyder and Clark homered for the Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers scored three runs in the sixth inning on a two-run double by Ricky Ledee that chased starter Javier Vazquez and a sacrifice fly by Jason Grabowski.
Bradley made a game-saving diving catch on a Glaus blooper to shallow center with two out and runners on the corners in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Other Games Of Interest

Rays 11 A's 2
Padres 11 Pirates 3
Rangers 7 Mariners 6
Giants 4 Rockies 2

Wednesday's MLB Scores From The Western Division

2005-04-13T11:38:00.000-04:00

Diamondbacks 8 Cubs 3

It was by no means an easy night for Brandon Webb.
But compared to last season, the right-hander will certainly take it.
The Cubs did a good job of laying off his sinker and forced him to throw 107 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.
But in a noticeable difference from 2004, his team gave him plenty of runs to work with, and aside from a rare miscue by Royce Clayton, played solid defense behind him.
The result was an 8-3 win for Webb and the Diamondbacks in front of 26,789 at Bank One Ballpark on Wednesday night.
"That was huge," Webb said of the offensive output. "That was awesome getting out to a lead, and get to work with that and not have to be so fine."
To put the run support into perspective, consider that the Diamondbacks scored eight or more runs in just seven of Webb's 35 starts last year, and that three of those eight games were extra-inning affairs.
The Diamondbacks got contributions from up and down the order Wednesday. There's been a lot of talk this spring about the middle of the Arizona order -- the "G-Force" of Luis Gonzalez, Troy Glaus and Shawn Green -- and they were a huge factor in Webb getting an early 7-0 advantage through four innings.
The three combined to bat 5-for-7 with four RBIs through the first four frames, but it was a team effort on offense, as every position player reached base at least once.
"All up and down our lineup, everybody contributed tonight in some way," Gonzalez said. "We got a lot of two-out hits when we needed them, and that's the sign of a good team."
In fact, Arizona's first seven runs of the game came with two outs.
While the Diamondbacks were scoring runs early, the Cubs weren't, though they did have their chances.
Webb led the league in walks last year, and he struggled to command his heavy sinking fastball on Wednesday. He walked three batters in the first three innings and pitched out of jams in almost every frame as Chicago left seven runners on base against him.
"I was just getting ahead," Webb said. "I wasn't making good pitches. I really wasn't where I wanted to be with the fastball today. My arm felt great. I thought my mechanics were pretty good. I was just down."
Derrek Lee's at-bat against Webb to lead off the second was an example of what the right-hander went through as Lee fouled off pitch after pitch, forcing Webb to throw 13 pitches before finally drawing a walk.
"Lee had that 13- or 14-pitch at-bat, and you've got to keep focusing and keep focusing," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "[Webb] was very good about that today. He had to work hard today, he really did. We got him a little bit of a lead, but his pitch count was up there really from the first inning on. He kept his focus, (and that) was good to see."
Webb finally ran out of gas in the sixth. He allowed two singles to start the frame before striking out Todd Hollandsworth on his 107th pitch of the evening. Melvin came to get him right after that.
"I started to feel a little fatigued," Webb said. "I would have liked to have finished the sixth inning, but 107 pitches the first time out is quite a bit."
Brian Bruney came in from the bullpen and gave up a three-run homer to Michael Barrett, which brought the Cubs to within 7-3.
Glaus, who finished the night just a single shy of hitting for the cycle, added a final run for Arizona with his first homer of the year in the eighth.
"Tonight was a great team effort," said Glaus, who finished with three RBIs. "Up and down the line, guys hit and drove in runs."
Their second straight victory gave the Diamondbacks the series win after they dropped the opener, 16-6.
"Everybody was talking about the game we lost, the first game," Gonzalez said. "Now, all of a sudden we come back and win two and we did what we had to do. We won the series, so that's what's most important to us: going out there and winning series."

Dodgers 10 Giants 4

It was Fireworks Night, but the Giants will remember it as Fright Night.
Not a pretty sight, indeed, this 10-4 rout by the Los Angeles Dodgers, akin to going to the prom with your best girl and suddenly somebody spills blue punch all over her dress before the first dance.
Ruined.
Perhaps most distressed in witnessing the shocking turnaround to a once-tight contest at SBC Park on Wednesday was starter Kirk Rueter, who pitched solidly over five innings, giving up but three hits.
Classic Woody. Only a walk, bloop single and wind-blown double in the second inning by Jason Phillips spoiled his effort.
When he inexplicably departed after throwing only 83 pitches and the Giants trailing, 2-1, he felt he could have gone farther, but bench coach Ron Wotus -- filling in for suspended manager Felipe Alou -- nevertheless pulled the plug.
And the onslaught began, the Dodgers striking for four sixth-inning runs off reliever Tyler Walker, then adding three more off Matt Herges in the seventh. Jason Christiansen also felt the Los Angeles wrath, giving up Jose Valentin's three-run homer.
Rueter's bugaboo last season was throwing well but losing seven one-run games, and it appears that hard-luck bug is back -- with more teeth than ever.
"He gave us five good innings," said Wotus. "He battled and threw the ball well. He gave us a good effort. We thought he was done. You could try to squeeze another inning, but it's early in the year and he's probably not going to throw 100 pitches. He goes back out, has a long inning and his pitch count gets up there."
Rueter didn't blame the relievers but was -- as pitchers are wont to do -- a bit miffed at being taken out, even though he had barely escaped serious trouble in the fifth thanks to a great on-his-knees catch by Michael Tucker to end the threat.
"Yeah, I felt like I could have [kept pitching]," said Rueter. "I only gave up three hits and it's just one of those games you want to try and win, but they took me out. It's always their decision."
Rueter would watch in dismay as Valentin did his dirty work in the sixth, then Olmedo Saenz drilled a two-run double in the seventh and came home on Valentin's triple.
The Giants pitcher's philosophy is to give his club a good chance to win by keeping the game close, but he could take little solace after the game was out of his hands.
"I've always said I'll take my chances, but unfortunately, tonight we came out on the short end," said Rueter.
Was he surprised at being taken out?
"I'd have liked to have stayed in," said Rueter. "It's 2-1 and [I] just got out of the jam I was in the fifth. But it's not my decision. I still felt fine."
Walker had pitched well in the spring but wasn't up to par this night, his ERA now at infinity as he allowed four runs.
"I'd say it was an anomaly," said Walker. "I don't think it's something that will continue. Come in, work hard and it'll be better next time. It's the motto I've lived by my entire career.
"Woody pitched a great game and I feel bad I couldn't do the job," said Walker.
Another disturbing aspect was right fielder Moises Alou being taken out after four innings after his right calf tightened. The veteran said it's been bothering him for more than a week and felt it prudent to be cautious.
"Let's see how it feels tomorrow," said Alou, explaining he had similar injuries in 2000, 2001 and 2002. "I went after a ball and I felt it a lot, like a pull. I don't know how bad it is right now. I went on the disabled list twice [actually three times] because of it."
On a positive note, the Giants, facing a 10-1 deficit in the ninth, fought back for three runs, with catcher Mike Matheny clubbing a two-run homer and Pedro Feliz knocking in Tony Torcato with another run.
Torcato made a dazzling, leaping catch of Saenz's ball near the right-field fence but sheepishly admitted afterward the ball popped out of his glove, hit the fence, then bounced back in.

Other Scores Of Interest

Padres 14 Rockies 6
Rangers 3 Angels 2
Twins 4 Mariners 1
A's 9 Orioles 0

Pacific 10 Conference Update

2005-04-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

ARIZONA moves to the top of the Pac-10 standings with last week's sweep of WASHINGTON STATE. This week, the No. 6 Wildcats will host OREGON STATE, which rose to No. 11 in Baseball America's Top-25 after handing STANFORD its first home series loss since 2003. The No. 14 Cardinal will travel to the desert, facing ARIZONA STATE in a three-game set. CALIFORNIA travels to WASHINGTON in the only other Pac-10 series this week. UCLA, No. 25 USC and Washington State all have the week off from Conference play, but will be busy taking on non-conference foes. The Trojans will host No. 2 Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday before traveling to face UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday. The Bruins will then host UC Santa Barbara for one game, and travel to Santa Barbara from two more. Washington State faces eastern Washington rival Gonzaga in its only game of the week.

University of Arizona Sports News

Bat Cats Sweep Cougars

The Arizona baseball team scored fours runs apiece in the sixth and seventh innings to overcome a season-high five errors and a five-run deficit in a 13-10 come-from-behind victory over Washington State at Bailey-Brayton Field on Sunday.

The series sweeping victory improved Arizona to 24-10 overall and 8-1 in the conference, the best start to a Pac-10 season for any UA team in school history. Washington State dropped to 16-20 overall with the loss and remained winless in the Pac-10 at 0-9.

Trailing 9-5 after five innings, the Wildcats rallied to tie the game with four runs on four hits in the sixth and took advantage of a pair of WSU errors and two balks by Cougar reliever Wayne Daman Jr. (4-3) for four runs and a 13-9 advantage in the seventh.

Sophomore reliever Mark Melancon (2-2) entered the game for Arizona in the bottom of the sixth with the score tied at 9-9 and worked out of a first and second jam. The right-hander gave up one run on two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings to pick up his second win of the season. He finished with three strikeouts and one walk in the game.

Offensively, all nine Arizona starters collected at least one hit in the contest as the Wildcats rapped out 16 hits, including four doubles and a triple. Junior Trevor Crowe, who finished the weekend with a .615 batting average, went 3 for 5 with a RBI, two runs scored and his third intentional walk of the series on Sunday.

Pac-10 RBI leader Jordan Brown went 2 for 5 with three runs driven in and freshman Bryan Kervin chipped in with a 3 for 5, two-RBI day at the plate.

Coach Candrea Earns 1000th Victory

Arizona softball head coach Mike Candrea was honored Sunday, April 10, in a postgame ceremony that celebrated 1,000 career victories.
In front of 1,402 fans, Candrea thanked the University of Arizona Athletics administration for giving him the opportunity 20 years ago to build the Wildcat softball program. He also acknowledged assistant coaches Larry Ray and Nancy Evans for their roles in Arizona's success, as well as past assistants Lisa Bernstein (now head coach at Minnesota), Bill Barth and former players/assistants Amy Hillenbrand, Stacy Iveson (now head coach at Pima Community College) and Jody Pruitt.
"We've always kept it in the family," Candrea said. "I think that's what's so unique about Arizona softball: It's a big family."
Candrea's 1,000th victory came on the road in Las Vegas last month - a 12-3 victory over North Carolina State at the UNLV Eller Media Stadium Classic. After the Wildcats went 2-1 over the weekend, his career record now stands at 1,013-195, for a career .848 winning percentage. Candrea's teams have averaged 53 wins per season.
Currently, there are only four other coaches in Division I softball who have gained entry to the 1,000 Win Club: Margie Wright of Fresno State, JoAnne Graf of Florida State, Gayle Blevins of Iowa, and Yvette Girouard of LSU.
As always, Candrea was not one to dwell on past accomplishments.

Arizona Football Spring Practice Report

The Arizona Football team continued spring drills with a two-hour practice session on Monday. The session was the eighth of 15 spring days allowed by the NCAA.

The team went through the standard drills including special teams, 7-on-7, 11-on-11 and individuals.

The Wildcats completed their second scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, which was highlighted by the play of red-shirt linebacker Brandon Lopez. The Tucson native tallied seven tackles during the two-hour scrimmage.

Offensively, junior Adam Austin continues to take the offensive snaps in place of injured starter sophomore Richard Kovalcheck. Austin finished Saturday’s scrimmage 21 of 35 for 326 yards and one touchdown.

Arizona State Sports News

Sun Devils Football To Host Event

Arizona State University will host its annual Spring Football Showcase and Select-A-Seat event on Saturday, April 16 at 2:30 p.m. at Frank Kush Field/Sun Devil Stadium, Head Coach Dirk Koetter announced Tuesday. Due to several off-season surgeries to Sun Devil student-athletes, the annual event will be a controlled practice instead of a scrimmage-like game. A meet and greet session for the fans will follow the event on the field at approximately 4:15 p.m.Gates will open to the general public at 1:30 p.m. and admission is free. Only the north and southeast gates of Sun Devil Stadium will be accessible.
Additionally, ASU will host a Select-A-Seat event in conjunction with the Spring Game. Fans who have not already reserved their seats in Sun Devil Stadium for the 2005 season will also have the opportunity to meet with ticket representatives and view available seat locations.

Sun Devils Lose To Bears In Heartbreaking Ninth Inning

The California Golden Bears scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Arizona State closer Jason Urquidez to earn a 4-3 come-from-behind win and a crucial Pac-10 series victory over the No. 24 Sun Devils on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Evans Diamond.
The Sun Devils carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but a single and two walks off Urquidez loaded the bases. With one out, Cal leadoff hitter Mike Van Winden plated the game-tying run with a sharp single to left field. Third baseman Matt Einspahr followed with a line drive just over the glove shortstop Joe Persichina to drive home the game-winner.
The Sun Devils dropped their second straight game to fall to 22-15 overall and 3-3 in league play. California improved to 23-13 overall and 5-4 in Pac-10 play. ASU returns home next weekend to face nationally ranked Stanford (19-11, 4-2 Pac-10) in a three-game series at Packard Stadium.
Urquidez (Simi Valley, Calif.) took the loss to fall to 5-3 on the season and recorded his first blown save of the year. The senior right-hander scattered only three hits in 2.2 innings, but struggled with his control with four walks in the final two frames. The ninth-inning rally spoiled another solid start from junior left-hander Erik Averill (Orange, Calif.). Averill surrendered two runs and six hits in 5.2 innings while taking the no-decision. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
California relief ace Travis Talbot recorded the win to improve to 3-1 on the season. Talbot, who is Cal's normal closer, gave up four hits and one run over the final 4.1 innings. Starter Michael Cooper received the no-decision giving up four hits and two runs in 4.2 innings.

The Sun Devils built an early 2-0 lead with two runs in the top of the fifth innings. Persichina (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) hit a one-out double to the left field gap and scored with two outs on a double down the right field line by designated hitter Rocky Laguna (Yuma, Ariz.). Junior right fielder Travis Buck (Richland, Wash.) greeted Talbot with a first-pitch single up the middle to score Laguna with the second run of the inning.
Cal pulled even in the bottom half of the fifth on a two-run home run by catcher Garrett Bussiere.
ASU answered right back in the top of the sixth to take the 3-2 lead. Senior first baseman Jeff Larish (Tempe, Ariz.) singled up the middle to lead off the inning and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Colin Curtis (Issaquah, Wash.). Sophomore second baseman Seth Dhaenens (Chandler, Ariz.) followed with a single to right field to plate Larish with the go-ahead run.
Larish (2-for-4) and Buck (2-for-4) were the only Sun Devils to record multi-hit games as the Sun Devils were out-hit 9-8. Dhaenens continued his torrid streak at the plate going 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a career-high-tying six games. Laguna's run-scoring double extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Van Winden (2-for-5, RBI), Bussiere (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and second baseman Josh Satin (2-for-4) all recorded multi-hit games for the Golden Bears.

University of California Sports News

Bears Get Smoked By Sacramento State 9-4

The California baseball team allowed Sacramento State to hit a season-high three home runs as the Hornets defeated the Golden Bears, 9-4, Tuesday afternoon at Hornet Field in Sacramento. Cal fell to 23-14 overall, while the Hornets improved to 13-20.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Bears struck first on a sacrifice fly by junior left fielder Allen Craig, scoring Chris Errecart, who had started the inning with a single off of Sac. State starter Travis Lane (1-2, 7.3, four hits, two runs, three walks, six strikeouts). Errecart had advanced to third on a double by center fielder Brennan Boesch.
The Hornets responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth on a three-run homer by David Flores off of Cal starter Joe Todoroff (3-2, 5.0 innings, eight hits, five runs, three walks, eight strikeouts). Sac. State added two runs in the fifth on a bases loaded single by Taylor Watanabe, two runs in the sixth on a fielder's choice RBI by Matt Wilson and a RBI single by Pedro Santiago, and had solo home runs in the seventh (Brian Conradi) and eighth innings (Brett Flowers).
The Bears did comeback with three runs in the top of the eighth on a RBI double by Boesch, and a two-run pinch-hit home run by junior Jeremy Burchett.
Boesch and Errecart led Cal with two hits apiece. Boesch was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI on his 20th birthday, and is now batting a team-leading .401 on the season.

Cal Football Report

Marshawn Lynch rushed for 105 yards and Justin Forsett added another 111 yards on the ground as Cal displayed its depth in the running game in the Golden Bears' first scrimmage of the spring Saturday in Memorial Stadium.
Lynch, who had only five carries on the day, burst loose on a 95-yard touchdown romp down the left sideline, out-running Thomas DeCoud into the end zone. Forsett, the workhorse of the scrimmage with 13 carries, broke five runs of 10 yards or more, including a 26-yarder.
In addition, fellow tailback Terrell Williams added 46 yards on five carries and Marcus O'Keith rushed eight times for 24 yards, 18 of which came on a touchdown run up the middle.
In the passing game, Cal's top two quarterbacks - Nate Longshore and Joe Ayoob - had similar performances. Longshore, who opened with the first unit, was 4-for-8 for 100 yards, while Ayoob was 4-for-7 for 108 yards.
Longshore and wideout Sam DeSa hooked up on a 46-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. Later in the day, Longshore connected with David Gray on a 30-yard toss, with Gray leaping high in the air for the catch.
Ayoob's longest play was a 66-yard TD strike to DeSa, who finished with three catches for 116 yards. Gray contributed three receptions for 74 yards.

University of Oregon Sports News

Former Oregon Basketball Coach Don Monson To Be Inducted In Hall of Fame

Former Oregon head coach Don Monson has been selected for induction to the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame, the Tri-Cities Sports Council announced Tuesday. This year’s class is comprised of Monson, Sharon Brandon, J.D. Covington, C.J. Mitchell, Willie Turner and Duke Washington.
"There are only a few individuals that can truly be labeled “icons” in the history of basketball in the Pacific Northwest," read the Sports Council's press release. "Don Monson is one of them. From his start as a high school basketball coach in Eastern Washington, to his NCAA tournament success at the University of Idaho and finally to his orchestration of a complete turnaround of the University of Oregon’s basketball program, Don Monson has been both a winner and a teacher to his players."
Born in Minnesota, Monson grew up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and attended the University of Idaho, where he lettered for three years as a player. Upon graduating from the Moscow school and eventually gaining his Master’s Degree at Eastern Washington, Monson began his coaching career down the block from EWU at Cheney High School in 1958. At CHS, Monson compiled a 105-69 record in nine years, including four league championships. He parlayed his success into a head coaching position at Pasco High, where he led the Bulldogs to a 161-66 mark. His teams went to the regional finals eight of the nine years he was at Pasco.
Monson’s high school coaching success drew the attention of colleges and in particular, another coach with Northwest ties, Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote who coached at WSU and Montana State. During Monson’s two-year stint as an assistant coach at MSU they won a Big Ten Championship with Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
All his success led to a homecoming in 1978, as Monson accepted the head coaching position at Idaho. It took him little time to make the Vandals a contender. In only three years Monson led the U of I to its greatest record ever, 25-4. Monson topped that mark the next year, leading the team to a 27-3 record and second straight NCAA tournament appearance. Fresh from 1982's appearance in the “Sweet Sixteen” and guiding the Vandals to as high as eighth in the national rankings, Monson was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Kodiak National Coach of the Year.
Monson’s success at Idaho prompted his hiring by Oregon in 1983. At Oregon, Monson led the Ducks to their first winning season since 1977-78 and theee appearances in the National Invitational Tournament (1984, 1988, 1990). He was named United Press and West Coast coach of the year after he guided Oregon to a 16-13 record and third place in the Pacific-10 Conference.
Monson coached Duck NBA first round draft picks Blair Rasmussen and Terrell Brandon. He accumulated a 116-145 career record in nine seasons at Oregon. His overall college record is 216-186, including a 100-41 mark in five seasons at Idaho.
Monson currently resides in Spokane, Wash. His son, Dan, is the current head coach at Minnesota, and prior to that was the head coach at Gonzaga.
Each of the inductees will be honored during a banquet May 13, 2005 at TRAC in Pasco. In addition, shadow boxes containing memorabilia showcasing their careers and contributions will join previous classes on the “Wall of Fame,” located in the Sports Hall of Fame room at TRAC.
Ticket information and reservations for Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame will be available through the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau (509-735-8486).
The Central Washington Hall of Fame has been made possible through the work of the Tri-Cities Sports Council, which is a special program of the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau. The success of the annual induction is dependent upon many partners, including Fluor Hanford, who provides funding for both the Sports Council and the Awards Banquet.

Washington's Nate Robinson Goes Pro

2005-04-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

University of Washington junior Nate Robinson , the leading scorer on the men's basketball team, announced during a press conference Monday that he will forego his senior year and make himself available for the 2005 NBA Draft.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound guard was a third-team Associated Press All-American in 2005 and received first-team All-Pacific-10 Conference honors each of the last two seasons. He ranked sixth in scoring among Pac-10 players with a 16.4-point average and his 4.5 assists per game ranked fourth.
Robinson will send a letter to the NBA Office to declare his availability for the June 28 draft. Because he is entering the draft pool for a second time, his final year of college eligibility will be forfeited. Last season Robinson applied for the draft and attended the pre-draft camp in Chicago from June 8-10. Despite excelling at the camp, he withdrew from 2004 Draft consideration on June 17. Robinson had a 22-point performance on the first day of the Chicago camp that was the highest single-game output by any of the 59 participants during the three-day playing sessions.
Robinson concludes his career listed 18th among Washington career scorers with 1,283 points. He ranks third among all-time Huskies with 140 career steals, fourth with 127 career 3-pointers and sixth in career assists with 295. Robinson distributed 159 assists in 2005, the third-highest single-season total ever for a UW player.

He averaged 13.2 points in 2004 after tallying 13.0 points-per-game his first season that was capped by his selection to the 2003 All-Pac-10 Freshman Team. Robinson is the first player in 15 years to lead the Huskies in scoring during three straight seasons.
A 2002 graduate of Seattle's Rainier Beach High School, Robinson was the Washington state basketball player of the year. He led the Vikings to a 28-1 record en route to the 2002 state championship and a No. 7 national ranking from USA Today. Robinson averaged 17.9 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as a prep senior.
Robinson is the second Washington basketball player to leave school early and declare for the draft, joining Mark Sanford who was selected during the second round in 1997.
Along with Robinson, the Huskies lose senior starters Will Conroy and Tre Simmons and senior reserves Hakeem Rollins and Alex Johnson from their 2005 team that had a 29-6 record and advanced to the Sweet 16. Washington tied the 67-year-old school record for wins in a season, won its first Pac-10 Tournament championship and received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.

Opinion

My take on the Nate Robinson situation was not a surprise at all. I think he is ready to go pro and earn his fortunes there. I have to say though, even with his small height, he'll last quite a long time in the NBA. He has the fun in his game and he can propell a team when they are down. He has shown great leadership to the Washington basketball team and he can do that in the NBA.

For many teams in the Pac 10, this is great relief, since now without Robinson many teams have a chance to compete against Arizona. Lorenzo Romar, if he did have Robinson for next season, could again compete for the conference title and perhaps this time a Final Four showing. But now Romar must rebuild and find another spark plug to replace Robinson. It will not be easy for him or to the Huskies.

For Arizona fans, this is great relief since he was always that little thorn on the side. Many consider him cocky. Many consider him a show-off. I considered him good for the conference.

Olson Wants More Exposure For The Conference

2005-04-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

Arizona head basketball coach Lute Olson has often spoken about his distaste for the Pacific 10 Conference's lack of national exposure.
He was more poignant Tuesday, criticizing Fox Sports for a number of things, including Sunday night nationally televised ACC games on Fox Sports Net.
"Frankly, Fox has put more advertising into the ACC Sunday night than they did for the Pac-10 on Thursday and Saturday," Olson said.
Olson called for a Wednesday rivalry game that would pit Arizona against ASU in a nationally televised game on ESPN. He said the Pac-10 should put some heat on Fox, whose contract with the league runs out after the 2005-2006 season.
"We should have a Wednesday night game," Olson stated. "They can call it the rivalry game. We can move the game from Saturday to Wednesday and put it on ESPN.
"I think it's a critical thing that the Pac-10 do in negotiations because if Fox can do that (ACC Sunday night) then I believe we should go to ESPN on Wednesdays," he added.
If Fox doesn't agree to the plan Olson suggested, then he believes the Pac-10 should take that into account when negotiating a new contract with whatever network will air Pac-10 games.
Olson was particularly upset with the Feb. 26 game at Washington, a battle of the Pac-10's leading teams, both of which were ranked in the top 15 in the country. The game was run by Fox Sports Net, but some markets did not receive the game.
"There was a game nationally recognized like the Washington game and still there were a whole lot of areas in the country that did not take that game," Olson said. "It all depends on the stations in the different time zones whether they pick the game up or not, so it's not a national game. They can say it's a national game but it's not a national game."
The game not only had the Pac-10 championship on the line, but also featured two teams ranked No. 2 and No. 13 in the nation in scoring, making it a prime candidate for national exposure. With Arizona winning the first matchup in the series at home, the game in Washington was a revenge game as well.
"That game was as exciting a game to watch as any game in the country," Olson said.
Even the North Carolina/Duke game did not match Arizona/Washington according to Olson.
"You have someone watch the Duke/Carolina game as a neutral observer and our game at Washington, and I think you would find that a neutral person would have enjoyed the game in Washington more than Duke/Carolina," Olson said.
Olson used the example of the Big 12, which has a contract with Fox but also plays on ESPN as part of Big Monday. He said that students watch those games, knowing that if they go to a Big 12 school, they are assured of appearing on national television.
Arizona did play on ESPN three times this season, all in non-conference situations. The preseason NIT games against Michigan and Wake Forest were both on ESPN, as was the game against Marquette.
Olson said a lack of national exposure hurts in the recruiting department more than anything, as well as with national media exposure.
"It kills us with recruiting, absolutely kills us, and it's used against us," Olson said. "The amount of damage that it does in our league, it's amazing how much it hurts us. I think it's time for our league to step up and recognize this."
Despite the lack of exposure on national television, Olson has managed to recruit players from all over the country including Mustafa Shakur from Philadelphia, Jesus Verdejo from Massachusetts via Florida and Puerto Rico, Kirk Walters from Michigan, and Jawann McClellan from Texas.
In fact, only two of the current players on the team hail from Arizona. Even with his recruiting prowess, Olson said it is still tough to explain to recruits why the Wildcats do not play on television in their hometowns.
"I think the league office's job is to put our conference in a position of maximum exposure," Olson said.
With only one more year left on the contract with Fox, and Arizona Athletics Director Jim Livengood taking over as the chairman of the television committee in the Pac-10, Olson's ideas might carry more weight in the ongoing negotiations for Pac-10 basketball and football rights.

Opinion

My outake on the situation of the Pac 10 needing more exposure is true of what Arizona Basketball Coach Lute Olson is referring to. A mega media game in Seattle matched two Top Ten teams in a critical conference title run was devestating because it was never shown to the entire country.

The Pac 10 needs to go back to ESPN to televise the conference games. Fox Sports does a good job, however, ESPN is more nationally televised to an East Coast market, that needs to see some of the West Coast powers once again.

Fox Sports problem is that it has too many regional divisions and if they want to have a nationally televised game for college basketball or in general college sports, they need to move those games to the Fox Network...yes the network that televises the NFL. This will boost revenue and exposure.

Fox has a problem in that it is more professional sports based than collegiate based. They leave the collegiate sports to the cable affiliates. By moving it to the more public television side, they can compete with CBS for superiority in college basketball. I think Steve Physiac and Marques Johnson should be the prime time announcers for the games because they are both not so bias on particular teams and they call the games very well.

These two broadcasters could give Nance and Packer a run for the money.

But as of now, the Pac 10 must decide, do they want media exposure bringing in money and more talented prospects to make the conference tougher. Or does the Pac 10 want to still be considered mediocre to the entire East Coast media game.

Olson is right and should be right, since he is the dean of West Coast basketball and heck he knows what this could do for the good of the conference. That is what it is all about, not just one team, but the entire conference and region.

MWC Players of the Week Announced

2005-04-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

Utah sophomore third baseman Jay Brossman and BYU junior righthander Dave Horlacher were named Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first career honor for both recipients.
Brossman, a Pullman, Wash., product, hit .550 (11-for-20) last week, helping the Utes to a 4-0 record, including a three-game series sweep vs. Air Force. On the week, he hit a home run and four doubles, with 10 RBI and seven runs scored, turning in a slugging percentage of .900 and an on-base percentage of .571 in the process. Brossman started the week with a 1-for-3, one run scored effort vs. non-conference foe Utah Valley State, then in game one vs. the Falcons, he went 3-for-4, with a double and two runs scored. With the Utes trailing 5-4 in the top of the seventh, Brossman smashed a lead-off double, advanced to third on a balk and crossed home on a sacrifice fly out to tie the score at five apiece as Utah went on to an 8-5 win. He followed with a 3-for-7 performance in a 22-3 game two win, hitting two more doubles, and knocking in a team season-high six RBI. Brossman concluded the series going 4-for-6, with a home run, four RBI and four runs scored in Utah's 32-4 win. Defensively, he tallied one putout and seven assists from the third base position.
Horlacher, from St. George, Utah, recorded BYU's first complete game, nine-inning shutout in two years in game two vs. UNLV last week, for his third victory of the season. In 9.0 innings on the mound, he gave up no runs on four hits, while striking out seven batters in BYU's 5-0 win, giving the Cougars sole possession of first place in the conference.

HEADLINES FROM THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

Bogut Wins Wooden Award
Wyoming Spring Practice Update
Rams Spring Practice Update
Lobos Use Long Ball To Beat SDSU
Cougars Face No. 2 NAIA Division Team
Utes Destroy Falcons

2005-04-12T10:29:00.000-04:00

BIG WEST CONFERENCE HEADLINES

PEDROROZA AND HUGHES ARE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Sergio Pedroroza was named the Big West Conference Player of the Week. Perdoroza of Cal-State Fullerton hit an average of .692 last week, despite the Titans loss to LMU. Jared Hughes of Long Beach State, was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week after a weekend series win over UC Irvine. In the victory, Hughes had 10 strikeouts, walked no one, and allowed two hits in the 10-0 win.

BIG WEST TEAMS SCHEDULED TO PLAY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The last of the five Big West squads with USC dotting their 2005 schedules will get a look at the Trojans this week. While Cal State Fullerton has spent the duration of 2005 in the top three spots of the national polls, USC broke into the polls in mid-February. The Trojans have been there ever since, and have posted a 4-2 record over their Big West opponents so far. Now ranked No. 25, USC will come up against No. 2 Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday. The very next day, UC Santa Barbara will make its 2005 debut against a ranked team by taking on the Trojans in nonconference action. The Gauchos will be the fifth Big West team to play USC this season. UC Riverside and UC Irvine both got a game off of the Trojans, while Long Beach State went 0-2 just before USC made its move into the polls.
That nonconference action will feed right into the heated conference clashes of the week. Now with three teams clogging the top spot in the Big West standings, it’ll be up to the teams below to break up that pack this weekend. Only Cal Poly’s 5-1 conference record is secure this week, as the Mustangs have nothing but nonconference play in the cards with a series against UC Davis — which is 5-2 against Big West teams so far.
Cal State Fullerton is the only team with any sort of winning streak after last week’s play. The Titans swept Cal State Northridge last week and will meet Pacific this week as the Tigers work toward getting back above .500. Long Beach State — which was dealt its first Big West loss last week by UC Irvine — is still in good position and remains nationally ranked at No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball poll. The 49ers go up against the slumping Cal State Northridge this week. The Matadors suffered through an 0-9 start to conference play last year and are a sweep away from equaling that, so the Matadors are especially hungry to snap their seven-game skid.
The third Big West series of the week pits UC Irvine against UC Riverside in an important series for both squads. For the Anteaters, a series win offers the chance to break that losing league record and climb closer to the top. The Highlanders are still searching for their first Big West win after a week off of conference action.

CAL POLY EDGES PACIFIC
FULLERTON ROCKS NORTHRIDGE
IRVINE GETS SHUT OUT BY DIRT BAGS
HIGHLANDERS DOMINATE HUSKIES

Diamondbacks Win At Home Against Cubs

2005-04-06T11:55:00.000-04:00

Giants Get Opening Day Win Against Rival Dodgers

New Name Angels Get Win

Mariners Lose Lead and Lose At The End

With Russ Ortiz, it doesn't always look pretty. But more often than not, the right-hander gets the job done. Tuesday was another example of that as he made the pitches when he had to as the Diamondbacks beat the Cubs, 5-4, in front of 30,260 at Bank One Ballpark.

The most notable example came in the sixth inning. Arizona led, 5-3, but the Cubs had runners at first and third with two outs and the dangerous Derrek Lee at the plate. Ortiz fell behind, 3-0, to Lee, who had driven in five runs in a Chicago win the night before. It was then that Ortiz stepped off the mound to gather his thoughts.

Ortiz got a strike with a fastball and another with a slider to run the count to 3-2. Lee fouled off the next fastball before lifting the next heater to center, where it was easily gloved by Jose Cruz Jr., to end the inning. It was Ortiz's 92nd and final pitch of the game, and he pumped his fist as he walked off the field.

But it wasn't all the fight the Cubs had left in them as they rallied for a run in the eighth off reliever Mike Koplove to pull within 5-4. With a run already in and a runner at second with one out, Melvin brought in closer Brandon Lyon to try and record the final six outs. Lyon, who missed the entire 2004 season after undergoing elbow surgery, got Aramis Ramirez to swing through a 93-mph fastball and Jeromy Burnitz to hit a routine grounder to second to end the threat. Things got a little hairy in the ninth, though, as Lee led off with a single and stole second with two outs and pinch-hitter Neifi Perez at the plate. Perez hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Royce Clayton fielded behind the bag at second while sliding to his knees and fired to first to get Perez by a step.

Luis Gonzalez got the Diamondbacks' offense started in the first inning when he hit a two-run homer off Chicago starter Greg Maddux. The lead didn't last long, though, as Todd Hollandsworth hit a hanging curveball into the seats in right with two men on in the second to give the Cubs a 3-2 advantage. Gonzalez tied the score in the fourth with his second homer of the game and the ninth of his career off Maddux. The nine homers are the most any player has hit off Maddux in his illustrious career, with Giants slugger Barry Bonds second on that list with eight. Ironically, the first two home runs of Gonzalez's career came against Maddux on May 1, 1991, when the Astros played the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Gonzalez's second homer tied the game, but Ortiz untied things in the fifth when he blooped a single to right to score Chad Tracy, and Craig Counsell followed with an RBI single of his own to push the lead to 5-3.

Dirtbags Drain Bruins

2005-04-06T11:31:00.000-04:00

Pac 10 Baseball Notes For The Week

UA Softball Team Gets Set Against ASU and Oregon Schools

Pac 10 Softball Notes For The Week

Cougars Get Revenge Against Zags

WCC Players of the Month Announced

Waves Fall To Trojans 4-3

UCSB Routs Westmont

Rebels Lose To Riverside

Brandon Godfrey's one-out sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Cole Jacobsen with the winning run for Long Beach State as the Dirtbags narrowly slid by UCLA 2-1 Tuesday night at Blair Field. Long Beach State used two infield singles and a sacrifice bunt to set up the game winning fly out.

The Bruins (7-18) played their most fundamentally sound game of the year, committing no errors and turning away multiple Dirtbag opportunities but UCLA also stranded nine runners and did not score after the first inning. Bryan Beck (0-5) was the hard-luck loser, suffering the defeat after 2.2 very effective outings in his first relief appearance since May 29, 2004.

UCLA jumped ahead early as left fielder Will Penniall smacked the first pitch of the game off the center field wall for a stand up triple. The next batter, second baseman Sean Carpenter, roped an RBI single to left for a quick 1-0 Bruin lead.

Long Beach State's Troy Tulowitzki wasted no time evening the score with a solo home run to right in the bottom of the first.

Bruin starter Adam Simon did a tight-rope walk through the next few innings as he escaped a bases loaded jam in the third by striking out left fielder Danny Mocny to end the inning. In the fourth, with runners on first and second, Simon induced first baseman Brandon Godfrey into an inning-ending foul out to third.

UCLA reliever Dan Miltenberger worked his way out of another jam in the Dirtbag sixth. With one out and a runner on second, Miltenberger was called for a balk, advancing the runner to third. But the next batter, Cole Jacobsen, sent a hard ground ball to first baseman Brett McMillan who nailed pinch-hitter Jamie Huizar attempting to score from third. Miltenberger then struck out Steve Velazco to end the inning.

The Bruins returned the favor in the top of the seventh by wasting another scoring opportunity. Dirtbag reliever Steve Hammond got Carpenter to foul out to first and struck out Tommy Lansdon after UCLA loaded the bases with one out via singles from Chris Denove, Anthony Norman and Penniall.

However, once again UCLA's bullpen held strong in the bottom of the seventh as Beck, normally a weekend starter for the Bruins, erased a leadoff walk from Miltenberger by setting down Long Beach State's two through four hitters in order. Beck then set down the Dirtbags in order again in the eighth.

The Dirtbags used seven different pitchers in the win. Neil Jameson (3-0) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth.

Clippers Edge Bobcats

2005-04-06T11:11:00.000-04:00

The Clippers Elton Brand looking to get a shot over a Bobcats player.

Nuggets Move Ahead Of Grizzlies

Jazz Destroy Trailblazers

Suns Embarass Lakers

Kings Whip Sonics

Golden State Looking Golden With Davis

In a thrilling battle of point guards, rookie Shaun Livingston outshined veteran Brevin Knight when it mattered most. Livingston scored the game-winning basket with one second left and posted career highs in points, rebounds and steals as the Los Angeles Clippers recorded a 104-102 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

After Knight tied the game for Charlotte at 102-102 with a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining, Rick Brunson drove the length of the court and fed the 19-year-old Livingston, who put in the game-winning layup.
The winning basket inexplicably came on a 2-on-1 fast break as the Bobcats' defense was nowhere to be found.

The Bobcats attempted a desperation full-court pass which did not result in a shot. With back-to-back road victories for the first time since November, the Clippers improved to 2-4 on their seven-game trip. Livingston finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six steals, all career bests. The 6-7 point guard, who narrowly missed a triple-double with nine assists, directed the team late in the fourth quarter, setting up three of the Clippers' final four baskets.

Knight, Charlotte's 5-10 guard who leads the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio, finished with 21 points and 13 assists but committed a late turnover -- his lone giveaway of the game -- and directed several late sloppy possessions as the expansion Bobcats lost their fifth consecutive game.

Gerald Wallace scored 19 points and rookie Emeka Okafor added 17 with 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost five games this season on the final possession. They dropped to 5-13 in games decided by three points or less.

Tention Heading To Loyola Marymount

2005-04-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

Former Arizona Assistant Coach Rodney Tention will lead the Lions in 2005.

A familiar face to those in the West Coast Conference will take over the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball program as LMU Director of Athletics Dr. William Husak announced today, Tuesday, April 5, that Rodney Tention will be the 23rd Head Men's Basketball Coach of the Lions. Tention played three seasons with San Francisco and joins the Lions after eight seasons as an assistant at the University of Arizona.
"We are proud and excited to have Rodney joining our family here at Loyola Marymount and returning to the West Coast Conference," said Husak. "Rodney embodies everything we were searching for in a head coach, which will allow us to compete and win WCC Championships while maintaining our University's mission of developing the whole person."

Tention has been no stranger to success. In 10 seasons at the NCAA Division I level, Tention has helped coach teams to 10 straight postseason appearances, including nine trips to the NCAA tournament. He has spent the last eight seasons under Lute Olson where he worked primarily with the perimeter players while helping with scouting reports, game day preparation and was one of the key players in Arizona's nationally-renowned recruiting efforts. In his time at Arizona, the Wildcats posted a record of 206-56 (.786). Since joining the Wildcat program in April 1997, Tention's perimeter players have proven to be among the best anywhere. In addition to Miles Simon, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Gardner, the 2004-05 Arizona backcourt with all-Pac-10 performer Salim Stoudamire and all-Freshman standout Mustafa Shakur has the talent and ability that few matched this past season.

"Loyola Marymount has given me the opportunity to pursue the goal I have had since I entered this profession and that is to become a Division-I head coach," said Tention, 41. "This is an exciting opportunity because LMU is a great academic-athletic institution. The potential to be very good is here at LMU."

Tention is familiar with LMU and the WCC as he graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1988 after playing three seasons with the Dons. "It is fantastic to return to the WCC. I love the conference, and I loved it when I was in it. I follow my alma mater and I know the guys in the conference well. LMU is a special place and this is a special conference," said Tention. "This league is full of very good coaches and it is going to be a challenge. I am excited to accept that challenge."

LMU finished the 2004-05 season 11-17 overall and 3-11 in the WCC but will return a talent-laden team that will be one of the most experienced in the conference. "We have a large group of returning players and we have the opportunity to be very good," said Tention. "You look at the teams who are successful and they have veteran players. Six juniors and four seniors will be on next year's team with the top players returning as upper classmen. My intent is to get them to believe that they are playing for the WCC Championship. We are not thinking of anything but reaching the top."

Prior to his arrival in Tucson, Tention spent six seasons at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, Calif. He spent three years as an assistant for the Argonauts from 1991-94, recruiting the talent that led the school to its first NCAC playoff appearance in 1994, and three years (1994-97) as the head coach while the program transitioned from the NCAA Division II level to the NAIA.

Before heading to the College of Notre Dame, Tention served as an assistant at the University of South Florida in Tampa from 1989-91 where the team made back-to-back postseason appearances, including to the NCAA West Regional First Round in 1989-90 after the Bulls won the Sun Belt Conference tournament. He received his start in the collegiate coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Skyline Community College in San Bruno, Calif., during the 1988-89 campaign in which the team captured the Coast Conference Championship.

While at USF, Tention averaged 10.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in his three-year career at USF, where he was a two-year captain and the team's most valuable player. He played for Jim Brovelli, who recently served as an assistant coach with the NBA's Denver Nuggets. Tention competed in the junior college ranks at Grossmont Community College and was the squad's captain and MVP during the 1984-85 season. He also played at the Air Force Academy in 1983-84.

Tention received a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of San Francisco in 1988 and earned a master's in public administration from the College of Notre Dame in 1995. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two sons, Justice (8) and Miles (5).

Other Related College Basketball News:

More Awards For Bogut

New Mexico State Hires Reggie Theus

Big Sky Basketball Notes For 2004-2005 Season

Gonzaga Women's Coach Named Region 8 Coach of the Year

Darren Cooper of Portland Named To Salvation Army Award

Looking For Sports Writers To Join Staff

2005-04-05T12:53:00.000-04:00

As you may know Sports West Weekly has provided sports information to the college or professional sports fan for three months. During this time, we have been expanding the site to reach out across the country.

I am very pleased so far by the progress that we are going at. Yes, it may seem that we do not have the large quantities of readers, but we are a young publishing blogsite looking to grow fast.

I would like to extend my arms out to evryone out there reading and to say thank you for supporting the blogsite.

I would also like to announce that Sports West Weekly is looking to for writers out there in the web who would like to contribute a small part of their time to contributing excellent news to Sports West Weekly. If you would like to participate, please send your replies to sportswestweekly@hotmail.com

We are also proud to announce since this is a weekly blogsite, that we will present our material every Wednesday. Now as you may have noticed, we have occasionally been posting up news here and there. I feel that posting updates on Wednesday can provide everyone lots of quality news and features that no other West Coast site can produce. This site provides exclusive coverage of all the major conferences on the west coast including professional teams and news that you can use in the technology and health fields.

We are there to provide you everything for information to obtain. If you feel that we should improve the site or want to suggest something to add or cut, reply immediately. Your voice does count on our blogsite.

Bobby W.
Editor In Chief of Sports West Weekly

Pac 10 Using Instant Replay In 2005

2005-04-05T12:50:00.000-04:00

The 2005 season will be different in the Pac 10 with the use of experimental instant replay.

Utes Looking For Same Form Like Last Year's Fiesta Bowl Win

2005-04-05T12:47:00.000-04:00

Look for the Utes to pick up from last year.

Montana State Using Spring Football Practice To Rally For Championship

2005-04-05T12:42:00.000-04:00

Montana State is hoping spring practice can result in much more greener fields for the team.

Cougars Take The Field Today Against 'Zags

2005-04-05T12:38:00.000-04:00

Washington State is looking to win today against Gonzaga.

Wildcats Looking For Respect Against AAA

2005-04-05T12:35:00.000-04:00

Arizona is looking to win today as they face the Tucson Sidewinders in an exhibition game.

Pac 10 Announces All-Academic Team

2005-04-05T12:30:00.000-04:00

The Pac 10 Conference today announced its 2005 All-Academic team. The student-athletes had to maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average to be on this distinguished club. The majority of players announced on this team are from Stanford, who holds academics like royalty.

The following players made the team:

MEN'S BASKETBALL

First Team Dan Grunfeld, STAN, Jr., 3.66, American Studies Jim Hanchett, OSU, Sr., 3.59, Science Chris Hernandez, STAN, Jr., 3.20, Sociology Rob Little, STAN, Sr., 3.21, Political Science/Philosophy Nick Robinson, STAN, Sr., 3.41, Political Science/Sociology

Second Team Wilfried Fameni, ASU, So., 3.07, Accounting Hans Gasser, WASH, So., 3.13, Pre-engineering Jason Haas, STAN, Jr., 3.18, Sociology Lamar Hurd, OSU, Jr., 3.26, Communications Jordan Kent, ORE, RSo., 3.11, Business Administration Alexander Pribble, CAL, So., 3.18, Undeclared

Pirated Game Users In Trouble

2005-04-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

Parents and teenagers who bought pirated video games risked ending up with a
criminal record, Crime Stoppers chairman Peter Price said today.

Launching a national crime prevention campaign against piracy in Sydney
today, Mr Price said computer video games were being pirated in Australia at
a rate approaching one fraudulent copy for every genuine product.

Many people who bought the games were oblivious to the fact they could be
taken to court, he said.

"Essentially it is like shoplifting. If you get caught you can get a
criminal record," he said.

"Don't be duped by pirates' deceit as to authenticity of the product.

"No parent wants to deprive their kids but you may well be doing more harm
than good."

The campaign, including television and print advertisements, is aimed at
educating Australian consumers on the repercussions of their often unwitting
involvement in piracy.

Buying and selling pirated video games attracts penalties of between two and
five years in prison, and a fine of up to $55,000.

Related Articles:

Video Games May Beat Obesity Study Confirms

Kobe's Last Second Dunk Goes Boink

2005-04-03T01:58:00.000-05:00

Brett Barry of the Spurs goes up for a shot.

Kobe Bryant's last second dunk to win the game for the Lakers was to no avail, as the San Antonio Spurs squeeked by with a 95-94 win last night. The Lakers with that loss, looks like they will not be in the playoffs since the 1993-94 season.

Bryant had a chance to win it for the Lakers, but his jumper over long-limbed Spurs forward and former teammate Robert Horry from the right elbow hit the rim and bounced away harmlessly, sealing the Lakers' 10th loss in 11 games.

The Lakers scored the first 11 points of the game but were outscored, 26-12, over the final nine minutes of the opening quarter. Los Angeles held a 48-46 lead at the break and a 76-75 edge entering the fourth quarter.

Boxscore can be seen here.

Other Related Articles:

Nuggets Get Rescued By Anthony

Sonics Lewis Is Out For The Season

Nash Leads Suns Past Timberwolves

Arizona Gets Grand Slam From Jordan Brown To Defeat Bruins

2005-04-03T00:44:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Jordan Brown of the University of Arizona, delivered a grand slam home run in the seventh inning to lead the Cats past UCLA 8-4 at Jackie Robinson Field. Arizona is now 19-10 and 3-1 in the conference with the victory. The home run came when the Cats trailed 4-2 after six innings. UCLA pitcher, Bryan Beck was charged for the loss.

Other Related Articles:

Trojans Top Huskies

Salim Stoudamire Earns Another Award

2005-04-03T00:42:00.000-05:00

Arizona senior Salim Stoudamire was one of ten players selected to the John R. Wooden All-American team. Other notable players included Utah's Andrew Bogut, Illinois Dee Brown, and North Carolina's Sean May. This is Stoudamire's fourth award for the year. He led the Wildcats in scoring with 18.4 points per game. Stoudamire is also the ninth Wooden award candidate in Arizona's basketball history.

The Wooden Award team of players are as follows: Andrew Bogut, 7-0, So., F/C, UtahDee Brown, 6-0, Jr., G, IllinoisFrancisco Garcia, 6-7, Jr., F, LouisvilleSean May, 6-9, Jr., F/C, North CarolinaChris Paul, 6-0, So., G, Wake ForestJ.J. Redick, 6-4, Jr., G, DukeWayne Simien, 6-9, Sr., F, KansasSalim Stoudamire, 6-1, Sr., G, ArizonaHakim Warrick, 6-8, Sr., F, SyracuseDeron Williams, 6-3, Jr., G, Illinois

University of Arizona Football Spring Practice Takes On Day Four

2005-04-03T00:34:00.000-05:00

The University of Arizona held their spring scrimmages on Saturday. The team did their drills focusing on special teams, team, and individual drills. Coach Mike Stoops felt that the offense executed well. He told the media that they have three quality running backs. The Cats will return to practice on Monday. The weekday practices are closed to the public.

Other Related Articles:

ASU's Grayling Love Announced To Lombardi Award Candidate

UCLA's Havner Named To Lombardi Award

BYU Converted Back To Original Jerseys For 2005 Season

Utah's Fifta Named To Lombardi Award

Commentary Analysis: Arizona's Season Filled With Highs And Lows

2005-03-31T10:47:00.000-05:00

Salim going for the dunk against USC.

Arizona's Run To The National Championship came to a close as they lost in a heartbreaker against Illinois. Bobby W. comments on how their season was good and bad.

Lakers Can't Handle Marbury But End Up Victorious

2005-03-30T11:44:00.000-05:00

Kobe Bryant of the Lakers waits for the anticipated rebound.

The Los Angeles Lakers couldn't handle Stephon Marbury, but they ended up with a much needed victory. Read more about it here.

Seattle Clinches Playoff Spot

2005-03-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

Seattle's Reggie Evans Fights For A Rebound Against Several Grizzlies

The Seattle SuperSonics looked super-duper as they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies. Read more about the article here.

Headlines For Wednesday

2005-03-30T10:41:00.000-05:00

Stanford Women Fall To Michigan State In Semis

Arizona Softball Team Set To Open Pacific 10 Play

Bat Cat Is Awarded Pac 10 Player of the Week

Bresnehan Named Pac 10 Pitcher of the Week

Cal Handles Sacramento State

Cavs Upend Clippers As They Catch Up To Bulls In Playoff Hunt

Other Headlines

2005-03-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

Wolves Top Clippers
Sixers Have Another A.I.
Scores From Spring Training
Devils Lose In Regional Finals
Arizona Baseball Team Hammered By Huskies

Wizards Too Much For Sonics To Handle

2005-03-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

Washington's Larry Hughes goes for the dunk against the Sonics.

Washington took it to the Sonics last night as they came away with a road victory. Read more about it here.

Stanford Advances To Final Four

2005-03-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

Stanford's Brooke Smith drives to the hoop against a Connecticut player.

The Stanford Cardinal advance to the Women's Final Four. Read more about the article here.

Arizona Loses Heartbreaker

2005-03-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

Arizona's Hassan Adams tangles up with two Illini players.

The Arizona Wildcats lost a heartbreaker in Chicago. Read more about it here.

Opinion: Can 'Zona and The Huskies Advance

2005-03-24T11:07:00.000-05:00

Washington's Will Conroy slams one home.

Can Washington bring their A game against Louisville and will Arizona get out of the Chicago Region? Editor Bobby W. will comment on the two teams. Read more about his thoughts here.

Two Coaching Legends To Face Off Tonight

2005-03-24T10:57:00.000-05:00

Lute Olson will be looking for a victory tonight as Arizona faces Oklahoma State.

Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson and Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton have a duel in Chicago tonight, but both coaches are close outside of the hardwood. Read more about it here.