This Week in Badger Athletics: March 19 – 25
March 19, 2012
March 12, 2012
MENS BASKETBALL
This Week: Fourth-seeded Wisconsin makes its second straight Sweet 16 appearance when the Badgers face No. 1 seed Syracuse Thursday in Boston, Mass. The Badgers and Orange square off at 6:15 pm (CT) on CBS. The winner meets the winner of No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Cincinnati on Saturday.
Last Week: Wisconsin defeated No. 13 Montana and No. 5 Vanderbilt to earn back-to-back Sweet 16 trips for the first time in program history.
Need to Know: The Badgers are making their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in the last 10 years and the third appearance in the last five seasons. Only Duke (7), Kansas (7), Michigan State (6) and North Carolina (6) have been to more Sweet 16s than Wisconsin since 2003.
Good to Know: Thursdays game against Syracuse airs live on CBS and online at March Madness Live. UWBadgers.com will have a live gameday blog from Albuquerque, and all of Wisconsins games can be heard live on WIBA-AM 1310.
vs. Indiana/Penn State -- Watch Live | Gameday Live Blog | GameTracker | Listen Live
SOFTBALL
This Week: Wisconsin (11-9) opens the Big Ten Conference season with a trip to Iowa City, Iowa. The Badgers will play three games against the Hawkeyes, Saturday and Sunday. Saturdays doubleheader starts at 1 pm, while Sundays game starts at 2 pm
Last Week: The Badgers went 1-2 at the Gaucho Classic II in Santa Barbara, Calif. Wisconsin split a pair of games on Friday, before being rained out of Saturdays games. UW wrapped up the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State on Sunday.
Need to Know: Sophomore pitcher Cassandra Darrah allowed just one run in 13 innings of work at the Gaucho Classic. Darrah pitched two complete games, including a complete game shutout win over UC Santa Barbara. Darrah recorded a 0.54 ERA, scattering six hits and striking out 10 batters.
Good to Know: A three games at Iowa feature live stats and live Gameday Blogs. UWBadgers.com will have all of the the links, updates and postgame coverage.
MENS SWIMMING DIVING
This Week: Swimmers Michael Weiss and Daniel Lester head to Seattle for the 2012 NCAA Mens Swimming and Diving Championships. Lester will compete in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly with Weiss swimming in the 400 IM.
Last Week: The Badgers had plenty to cheer about at the Big Ten Championships as six school records were broken, four by Michael Weiss, and a total of 19 NCAA provisional qualifying times were posted.
Good to Know: UWBadgers.com will have results and a complete wrap-up of Weiss and Lesters trip to the NCAA championships.
MENS TRACK FIELD
This Week: The Badgers open their outdoor season by heading to Starkville, Miss., to compete in the 2012 SEC/Big Ten Challenge. The meet, hosted by Mississippi State, begins at 9 am (CT) on Friday.
Last Week: Wisconsin was idle after wrapping up the indoor season at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho, two weeks ago. Sophomore Japheth Cato headlined the Badgers performance by claiming All-America honors with a runner-up finish in the heptathlon. Catos score of 6,082 points not only shattered his own Big Ten record, but ranks him as the No. 5 collegian all-time in the event.
Need to Know: Fridays meet features five Big Ten teams (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin) taking on three SEC programs (Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee) in a head-to-head competition between the conferences. The points scored by individual athletes in their events will count toward each conferences cumulative point total.
Good to Know: Complete coverage of the meet will be available on UWBadgers.com.
WOMENS TRACK FIELD
This Week: Wisconsin jumps into its outdoor season by heading to the 2012 SEC/Big Ten Challenge this Friday in Starkville, Miss. The meet, hosted by Mississippi State, begins at 9 am (CT).
Last Week: The Badgers were idle after completing their indoor schedule with the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho, two weeks ago. Senior Dorcas Akinniyi used a school-record score of 4,299 points to secure All-America honors with a runner-up finish in the pentathlon, while freshman Kelsey Card also picked up All-America laurels with her sixth-place finish in the shot put.
Need to Know: Fridays meet features four Big Ten teams (Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin) taking on three SEC programs (Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee) in a head-to-head competition between the conferences. The points scored by individual athletes in their events will count toward each conferences cumulative point total.
Good to Know: Complete coverage of the meet will be available on UWBadgers.com
MENS TENNIS
This Week: The Badgers (8-5, 0-1) play their first Big Ten home matches against Michigan and Michigan State. Wisconsin faces the Wolverines at 5 pm on Friday, and the Spartans at noon Sunday.
Last Week: Wisconsin overcame injuries to earn a pair of 7-0 sweeps, defeating UW-Whitewater and UIC Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Need to Know: Junior Alexander Kostanov and sophomore Petr Satral both went 4-0 Saturday. The pair easily won their singles matches and, as a doubles team, secured a pair of victories after moving up to No. 1 doubles because of injuries.
Good to Know: UWBadgers.com will have live Gameday Blogs from both matches this weekend.
WOMENS TENNIS
This Week: After closing out the non-conference portion of its season over the weekend, Wisconsin (9-4, 0-1 Big Ten) resumes Big Ten play this weekend in Michigan. The Badgers take the court against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Saturday, at 10 am, before meeting up with Michigan State at 10 am on Sunday, in East Lansing.
Last Week: The Badgers swept UW-Whitewater, 7-0, Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. With the win, UW is now a perfect 10-0 against the Warhawks all-time
Need to Know: UW hosted both Michigan foes last season, earning a 6-1 victory over Michigan State, while suffering a 7-0 shutout loss to Michigan.
Good to Know: UWBadgers.com will have complete results following the matches against Michigan and Michigan State.
VOLLEYBALL
This Week: The Badgers continue their spring season by traveling to Milwaukee to compete in the Marquette Spring Tournament on Saturday at the Al McGuire Center. The Badgers take on Green Bay, Loyola, Northern Illinois and host Marquette in the tournament.
Last Week: The Badgers opened the spring with a 3-1 win over Milwaukee last Friday in the UW Field House.
Need to Know: Wisconsin had three players tally double-digit kills against the Panthers led by a match-high 18 from freshman Ellen Chapman. Junior Alexis Mitchell added 15 kills and led all players with eight blocks.
Athletics 4, Cubs 3
PHOENIX -- Seth Smiths place on the Oakland Athletics major league roster is as left-handed bat who can play in the outfield and be plugged in as a designated hitter.
Acquired from Colorado in mid-January, Smith went 3 for 3 with two-run double in the first inning that helped the As beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in a split-squad game.
Hes faced so many left-handed pitchers all spring and hes really starting to swing it better and better against them, Oakland bench coach Chip Hale said. Hes got a great approach at the plate. Thats the reason why we went out and traded for him.
Former Oakland outfielder David DeJesus tripled to lead off the game and scored on a groundout off Travis Schlichting, who allowed two hits in three innings during his first start following three relief appearances.
Hes done nothing but impress us every time out, Hale said.
Cubs starter Paul Maholm gave up three runs -- none of the them earned -- and two hits in three innings with three strikeouts and two walks. Manny Ramirez reached on a run-scoring error that tied the score, and Smith followed with his double on a hanging slider.
Its good to have to battle through an inning, Maholm said. Its a step in the process, having to get through that stuff and then bouncing back the next two innings and having some pretty quick innings.
Oakland left fielder Jonny Gomes had a nice throw in the sixth when Geovany Soto doubled with Marlon Byrd on first. Gomes threw to shortstop Cliff Pennington, who relayed to catcher Anthony Recker.
Recker and Byrd collided, but Recker stood up with the ball and took an extended look at Byrd as he headed for the dugout.
Every day were doing some kind of fundamental, and when we do it right, its very nice to see, Hale said.
Game notes
Oakland extended its spring training winning streak to eight games, but it ended Saturday with a split squads loss to San Francisco in Scottsdale. ... Former World Series champions Bert Campaneris and Blue Moon Odom threw out ceremonial first pitches in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Athletics World Series title ... Cubs reliever Esmailin Caridad came on in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out the side in order, all looking, in his spring training debut. ... Soto homered on Ryan Cooks first pitch of the fourth
Adaptive athletics program ‘changing lives through sports’
Adaptive athletics program 'changing lives through sports'
BY CATHRYN GRAN
cgran@pioneerlocal.com
March 19, 2012 2:06PM
Giants 7, Athletics 2
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tim Lincecum worked around five extra-base hits for his second spring training win.
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner lasted six innings, the longest of any Giants starter this year, and Ryan Theriot, Angel Pagan and Pablo Sandoval homered in Saturdays 7-2 split-squad win over the Oakland Athletics.
With a brisk wind blowing and his long hair flowing, San Franciscos ace fought through a couple of inconsistent early innings.
He threw well, got better as he went. He was throwing all his pitches for strikes and got in a groove there, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. They were aggressive, but he kept pounding the strike zone.
Lincecum gave up six hits, including three doubles and two triples, didnt walk a batter and struck out four.
Lincecum was a bit surprised that he was only at around 48 pitches through four innings.
After I heard that, I thought, `Not bad. I wasnt worried so much about the pitch count and I could let the ball go, he said. The fact that I had no walks was huge for me. When I was behind in the count, I was able to throw a wrinkle down the middle, like a two-seamer.
Lincecum got help from his defense. Right fielder Nate Schierholtz threw Kila KaAihue out at the plate on a single by Daric Barton that ended the fourth inning. Barton, who went hitless in his first eight spring training at-bats, drove in Oaklands first run with a second-inning double off Lincecum.
Chris Dominguez, moving over from third base to start at first for the Giants after Aubrey Huff was a late scratch due to back stiffness, ran down a couple of pop fouls with his back to the plate.
We had a couple of those plays. Getting those guys out helps keep the game close, Lincecum said.
Theriots home run was a two-run drive in a four-run fourth.
We got some good at-bats, Bochy said. The ball was carrying with the wind blowing a bit. It is good to see Theriot start to get his timing down.
Theriot, who played for World Series champion St. Louis last season, should be a solid option at second base with Freddy Sanchez coming back from shoulder surgery. Sanchez was the designated hitter Saturday.
Pagan, acquired from the New York Mets in the Andres Torres trade, was 2 for 4 after missing the previous two games when he had a wisdom tooth pulled.
Closer Brian Wilson, coming back from elbow soreness that caused him to miss the final week of last season, gave up an unearned run, a hit and two walks in the seventh inning, his third spring training appearances.
Willie was a little off with his command, Bochy said. He couldnt get the ball where he wanted `
Game notes
Huff will not see action until Tuesday at the earliest, Bochy said. ... RHP Ryan Vogelsong (back) had another strong bullpen session and likely will have one more side session before pitching in a game. ... Oakland OF Collin Cowgill, making a bid for an opening-day roster spot after being acquired as part of a trade that sent pitcher Trevor Cahill to Arizona, had two hits to raise his average to .424 (14 for 33).
Coco Crisp, moved to left, kind of regrets signing with A’s
PHOENIX -- Coco Crisp never would have re-signed with the Oakland Athletics, he revealed Monday, if he had known they were going to move him to left field.
No, I wouldnt have come back here as a left fielder, said Crisp, who signed a two-year, $14 million free-agent contract in January. I would have signed with Tampa.
But that said, Im glad Im back here. I love the guys that are here in the clubhouse. The family situation was right for me. The location was right for me.
The only thing that has changed now is my thought I was going to play a certain position.
Crisp was informed Monday that Yoenis Cespedes would be the starting center fielder when the Athletics open the season in Japan against Seattle, forcing him to move to left field.
I was a little hurt, Crisp said. Its humbling. Its going to be an adjustment, I wont lie.
The primary reason Crisp didnt sign with Tampa Bay in the first place, he said, was the uncertainty he would be the everyday center fielder. The Rays told him he would play center, but there were no promises, not with BJ Upton -- who was on the trading block this winter -- still on the team.
I was going to play center with the notion that theyd do something with BJ, Crisp said. But there was a possibility I could still play left here. Thats why I came here. I was very close to going over there. Its a great organization.
But they [the Athletics] told me I was going to play center coming over here, it made it a little easier. There was a lot of things that played a part in it, but that was definitely one of the reasons.
Crisp last played left field in 2005 with the Cleveland Indians. He has played 804 games in center, and 216 in left field.
Its tough because I never really havent played the position in a while, he said. Its a challenge switching positions. I think if you enter with an open mind, and not closed off, you allow yourself to get better faster. Thats what Im trying to do. Go out here and just accept it. I think the faster you accept something, the faster you allow yourself to get better instead of fighting it.
I think this will help me out in this situation.
The Athletics felt that Cespedes, the Cuban refugee who signed a four-year, $36 million contract would be more comfortable in center.
Cespedes said he was happy playing in center, but would have been willing to move to left field for Crisp, who has helped him during camp.
Spring primer: Oakland Athletics
Posted:
Spring primer: Oakland Athletics
By C. Trent Rosecrans | Baseball Blogger
Oscar not a man running aimlessly
They just love it. You see a race horse and it gets to the day before a race and you see how excited they get. It’s quite special.
Pistorius has dogs, too — Enzo, a black-and-white bull terrier and Silo, a light-brown American pit bull. He explains Silo was a rescue dog, who was locked in a room only two metres by three metres until she was three-and-a-half months old. She had a broken back and is still nervous, even after Pistorius’s care and attention.
Enzo, however, is just mad. As he jumps around outside by the pool Pistorius elects to tell me: The last journalist who came here, he ripped their toe nail off. There was blood everywhere. Somehow I don’t think he’s joking.
THE ADRENALINE JUNKIE
PISTORIUS drives his big black BMW through Pretoria’s leafy, well-heeled suburbs like a racing-car driver.
Beneath the over-sized sunglasses he smiles with satisfaction as he hears the engine momentarily eclipse the upbeat dance tunes when he pushes his foot to the floor. The good-looking, 25-year-old driver, a man recently voted South Africa’s best-dressed by GQ magazine, attracts admiring glances when we pause in the heavy commuter traffic.
This car is still quick and impressive, but it is the safe option for Pistorius, designed to protect him in the event of a crash. An adrenaline junkie by nature, he insists he has given up all that stuff to pursue his dream of competing at the Olympics.
The walls of his home are adorned with signed boxing memorabilia and a painting of James Dean, the rebel without a cause. Pistorius’s double garage is littered with kit — skis, snowboards, boxing gloves and bicycles — but they remain unused, for now at least.
He has sold 11 motorcycles — superbikes, race bikes, I had loads of different bikes — over the past two years to focus on this sport he fell into almost by accident, when a knee injury stopped him playing rugby at boarding school and he began athletics ‘as a form of rehabilitation’.
We grew up on bikes, he says. There’s a picture of me wheeling a motorbike when I was about six years old. But sometimes you just have to realise that, although you don’t want to stop the things you enjoy for anything, you have to realise that there are priorities sometimes. There’s no point, when you’re working so hard for something, in inviting the possibility you could mess it up. Things could go wrong on a bike very quickly.
I used to race every second or third weekend. You crash pretty often. Even if you just twist a wrist or something it can affect your start, or your technique. It’s just not worth it.
Pistorius also crashed his power boat into a submerged pier in 2008, breaking two ribs, his jaw and an eye socket, and had to have 172 stitches. The boat’s gone, too, he adds, smiling and looking sheepish. We don’t do that stuff any more. It was quite difficult to get that out of my system. I miss that quite a bit.
There will be a time for that in the future but, right now, I would be quite upset if I got injured. There must be other ways I can unwind. It’s a small sacrifice.’
He reads, paints, and plays ‘the odd nine holes of golf’ instead, but you feel it has been very difficult, letting go of the pursuit of going dizzyingly, dangerously fast.
Pistorius is still chasing that buzz in a purer way, of course, just him, the track and the clock, but it is as if he has had to learn to respect his body; realising that it might just not be unbreakable after all.
There is something of an irony in this, but Pistorius, unfailingly polite and courteous as he is, is a man who does not comprehend the concept of ‘cannot’.
IT’S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE
THE book Pistorius is reading is called The Just Defiance by Peter Harris, about the African National Congress’s campaign of violence during apartheid.
Pistorius grew up in a comfortable white family. He has a black live-in caretaker, Frankie, who keeps his home spotless, and trains with a Zimbabwe 400m runner, Talkmore Nyongani. He says he finds it fascinating looking back at his nation’s history and politics and discusses both animatedly and passionately.
My generation weren’t affected by apartheid so it’s very difficult for us to understand sometimes, he says. We had dinner last night for my sister Aimee’s birthday. We sat at a table with 20 people and, without even noticing, she’s got a third black friends, a third Indian and a third white.
I find politics fascinating; a person’s reasoning behind things. Sometimes it might be that they’ve got the wrong actions, but the reason behind it is sometimes just. Sometimes the reasoning’s so flawed that it just brings out the worst in people.
We see things as black and white but there’s often a lot of grey in between. Whether it be right or wrong is a different story but it’s good to appreciate other people’s views. Sometimes people feel they have to make a stand but it becomes more about egos than anything else. They try to prove a point and end up doing even more damage.
He could be talking about his own fight here, the successful battle for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to conclude his carbon-fibre blades do not give him an advantage on the athletics track. But in this case, it is his view that is very black and white.
At the end of the day there are tens of thousands of people using the same prosthetics I use and there’s no-one running the same times, he says, with defiance.
You’re always going to get people who have their opinions and offer their opinions but they can’t explain things like that.
MOM WAS COOL. A VERY HECTIC, FREE SPIRIT
ONE of Pistorius’s first memories is hurtling down a hill on a go-kart with his brother, Carl, who then decided to use one of Oscar’s prostheses as an impromptu brake to stop them crashing.
My brother was like my hero when I was growing up, said Pistorius. He’s a year and a bit older. We’re still very close. We stayed on a plot that was near an informal settlement, like a township, and we used to go and play football with the kids there and we used to have so much fun.
We would build tree houses in the holiday and we had motorbikes on a track in our garden. It’s nice to have someone who pushes you to do things. You’re always trying to compete with him.
Carl’s not very good with normal sports. He’s an adrenaline junkie. He does jet skis and white-river rafting and mountain-bike racing. He’s like an action freak.
The boys’ mother, Sheila, was the sort of woman who would tell Carl to put his shoes on and Oscar to put his legs on and that’s the last I want to hear of it. She died on March 6, 2002 — a date Pistorius has tattooed on his arm — after being wrongly diagnosed with hepatitis. He almost whispers when he talks about his mum, such is the respect in his voice.
She was very special to us, says Pistorius. She was very cool; a very hectic, free spirit. She didn’t really comply with much and had a very carefree approach to life.
She didn’t take anything too seriously. She wrote us hundreds of letters and taught us hundreds of things and never made decisions for us. Those are the important lessons, when you try to do things sometimes and you don’t succeed and you give up, and you never really know what the potential could have been if you had stayed dedicated to something.
SHEDDING THE KILOS
THE most dramatic difference between the Pistorius who just missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Olympics and the athlete who has already beaten the 45.30-second ‘A’ standard for London 2012 is his weight.
He used to look like a rugby player; now the Pistorius you will see at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester on May 22, at the Paralympic Games in London and — if he can match the qualifying time at an international event — at the Olympic Games, looks more like a middle-distance runner.
Pistorius explains he has shed 17 kilograms over the past two-and-a-half years. His message is simple, brutal even. If you’ve got extra weight you’ve got to justify it, he says. If it’s not adding to the power-to-weight ratio, it has to go.
You sometimes find sprinters fighting themselves when they’re running. They’re using a lot of aggression that’s not getting transferred on to the track. It’s a waste of energy, really.
Pistorius is not a big believer in wasting energy. He admits he didn’t realise this when he was younger, but it’s why the fast cars, motorbikes and white tigers have gone, allowing him to concentrate on Oscar the athlete.
As the tattoo on his left shoulder states: I do not run like a man running aimlessly. Daily Mail
Athletics 6, Diamondbacks 5
PHOENIX -- Jarrod Parker is on his way to the minors after a wild outing against his former team.
Manny Ramirez could be headed for a big role with the Oakland Athletics.
The 39-year-old slugger hit a mammoth homer and the As beat Arizona 6-5 on Monday even though Parker walked seven Diamondbacks batters.
Parker was reassigned to minor league camp after the game. A top prospect, the right-hander was acquired by Oakland from Arizona this offseason in a trade for All-Star starter Trevor Cahill.
Drafted ninth overall by the Diamondbacks in 2007, Parker had Tommy John surgery late in 2009 and missed all of the 2010 season. He admitted he was a bit nervous facing his old team for the first time.
I feel like I was guiding the ball, trying to be too fine, he said.
Parker gave up one hit and two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. He did not have a strikeout but was helped by two double plays.
Give him credit. He made some good pitches when it counted, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said.
Still, Parker acknowledged the performance was kind of a step back, and he found out just how far back when he received the news of his demotion from manager Bob Melvin.
The As, who open the regular season in Japan against the Seattle Mariners next week, do not need a fifth starter until mid-April and it is conceivable that the 23-year-old Parker could return at that point.
The guys welcomed me. I am in a great situation. I feel pretty good and I am healthy, Parker said.
Melvin was in the Arizona organization while Parker was coming up. He knows Parker is disappointed by the turn of events, but remains optimistic about his future.
Command of the breaking ball is usually the last to come after Tommy John, Melvin said. You have to trust it.
Today, he was a little excited out there. His stuff is good when he gets it over the plate. He has the stuff to get guys when he gets behind in the count, but you dont want to put guys on base.
Josh Reddick and Brandon Allen also homered for the As.
Reddick hit a three-run shot in the first and Ramirez highlighted a two-run third by hitting a drive off the center-field batters eye, about 430 feet away.
Allen, another former Arizona player, connected in the fourth.
If Ramirez remains with the As, he will have to sit out the first 50 games of the season due to a violation of Major League Baseballs drug policy. He retired last April, but signed a minor league contract with Oakland on Feb. 20.
Ramirez is 3 for 18 with two homers in Cactus League play. Melvin hopes to see what Ramirez can do in games that count.
He has been showing much better, particularly with the limited number of at-bats hes gotten, the manager said. We can envision him in the middle of the order.
Arizona right-hander Josh Collmenter struggled through three innings, giving up five runs and six hits -- including the homers by Reddick and Ramirez.
His ball was up. Hes unable to get it where he wants it right now, Gibson said. We shut him down early, and hes a little behind. Hell be fine.
Collmenter was 10-10 with a 3.38 ERA last year.
Cody Ransom hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the Diamondbacks and Paul Goldschmidt had a solo shot in the ninth.
Game notes
Oakland made other roster moves as well, optioning catcher Derek Norris to Triple-A Sacramento and reassigning catcher Ryan Ortiz and outfielders Jeff Fiorentino and Brandon Moss to minor league camp. ... Former Diamondbacks outfielder Colin Cowgill had two hits for the As, raising his spring average to .436. ... Melvin expects veteran Coco Crisp to move over from center and be his everyday left fielder, with Cuban import Yoenis Cespedes in center and Reddick in right.
Athletics 6, Mariners 1
PHOENIX #040;AP#041; - Hisashi Iwakuma is trying both to work his way into the Seattle Mariners rotation and get ready for the season in general.
Iwakuma allowed five runs - three earned - on seven hits over four innings in the Oakland Athletics 6-1 victory over Seattle split-squad team Friday night.
For the rotation, I need to have more effort to get the result for it, Iwakuma said through an interpreter. For the season, I also need to work and get ready. I feel Im getting better every time.
The 30-year-old right hander was 6-7 with a 2.42 ERA for the Tohoka Rakuten Golden Eagles last season but started only 17 games because of right shoulder troubles. He signed a one-year, #036;1.5 million contract with the Mariners in January.
Iwakuma had a rocky start against the Athletics. Coco Crisp reached on an error, Eric Sogard had a hit-and-run single and Josh Reddick and Manny Ramirez added consecutive doubles to give Oakland a 3-0 lead.
Collin Cowgill drove in Ramirez with two outs to complete the Athletics four-run first.
Iwakuma settled down giving up two hits but facing only seven batters in the second and third before giving up a fifth run on a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly by Adam Rosales in the fourth.
The difference between the first and second inning is I tried to pitch a little bit higher because they were aiming for the low ball, Iwakuma said. Then I tried to use my curveball to change their minds and their eye levels.
Oakland starter Graham Godfrey also struggled in the first, surrendering a run before he got an out as Chone Figgins walked, went to third on a single by Luis Rodriguez and came home on an Ichiro Suzuki single to right.
After Ichiro, however, Godfrey retired the final 11 batters he faced and struck out five.
It was just a matter of getting under the lights for the first time, Godfrey said. I was excited. I had a couple of body parts moving in different directions.
Cowgill walked in the fourth to reach base in his 11th straight plate appearance before lining out in the sixth.
I was aware of it but I tried not to think of it, said Cowgill, who is on the bubble for a reserve spot on the roster. Im just trying to play as hard as I can and help this team win.
NOTES: Ichiro finished 3 for 4. ... Ramirez, who hit his first spring home run on Tuesday, flew out to the warning track in the third and struck out looking in the fifth. ... Friday was the last of three spring meetings between the As and Mariners, but theyll be seeing each other often in the coming weeks. Oakland and Seattle open the season with a two-game series beginning March 28 in Tokyo, then come home to play twice more April 6-7 in Oakland. They also meet for Seattles home opener on April 13. ... The Mariners lost for just the second time in nine road games. ... Sogard has reached base in each of the 12 games in which he has played. ... Oakland leads the majors with 107 runs in 15 games.
Colonials Athletics Weekend Preview
Feb. 17, 2012
A preview of George Washingtons athletic events this weekend. The Colonials gymnastics, lacrosse and womens tennis teams will all be competing on the road this weekend.
GYMNASTICS
Watch Live
The George Washington gymnastics team will embark on its longest road trip of the season as the Colonials visit Central Michigan and McGuirk Arena for a dual meet on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm
Facing their toughest competition of the season last week, the Colonials scored 191.750 in a third-place finish against No. 23 North Carolina, No. 10 Penn State and William Mary in Raleigh, NC
Sophomore Kiera Kenney led the Colonials to a season-high 48.425 on the uneven bars. Kenney scored 9.800 to finish in a tie for fifth place and currently ranks 13th in the EAGL, averaging 9.710.
On a very competitive vault, freshman Courtney Willoughby tied for 10th place with a career-high 9.800.
The trip, clocking in at just over 1,000 miles roundtrip, is the fifth of six consecutive road meets for the Colonials. GW will visit EAGL rival North Carolina on Feb. 24 before returning to the Charles E. Smith Center to host Pittsburgh (March 3) and Yale (March 8).
WOMENS TENNIS
The George Washington womens tennis team opens Atlantic 10 play this weekend in Harmar, Pa., when the Colonials face Xavier and Duquesne on Saturday and Sunday at the Alpha Tennis and Fitness Center.
GW (2-2) will play in back-to-back matches for the second consecutive weekend. Last Saturday, the Colonials were edged by Big East foe West Virginia, 4-3, but bounced back on Sunday to take down Drexel, 5-2.
Seniors Jacqueline Corba and Meg Tyner remain undefeated this season in both singles and doubles action. Corba is 3-0 at No. 2 and 1-0 at No. 1 singles, and Tyner remains unbeaten at No. 6 singles. Corba owns a doubles record of 3-0 while Tyner is 2-0.
Xavier holds an overall record of 4-3 and is coming off a 5-2 victory over Butler on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Duquesne (3-4, 1-2 A-10) is currently riding a two-match losing streak after falling to Temple (4-1) and Massachusetts (5-0) last weekend.
The Colonials and Musketeers face off on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4 pm, followed by an 11 am match with the Dukes on Sunday, Feb. 19.
LACROSSE
The George Washington lacrosse team will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday to take on Drexel at 1 pm at the Dragons Vidas Field.
The Colonials are coming off a 22-5 season-opening win over District rival Howard University. Senior Sarah Phillips, junior Soo Mee Yoon and freshman Addi Bolin each tallied four goals in Wednesdays victory over the Bison, while senior Hilary Quinn earned six draw controls, two caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Drexel hosts the Colonials in their season opener on Sunday afternoon. The Dragons return two of their leading attackers, junior Kelli Joran and senior Charlotte Wood. Joran led the Dragons with 27 draw controls and added 25 goals and 21 ground balls, while Wood scored a team-high 46 goals and 52 points a year ago. After finishing 9-8 last season, Drexel is ranked third in the Colonial Athletic Associations preseason poll for the 2012 season.
GW looks to win for the first time in six meetings with the Dragons. Last season, the Colonials fell to Drexel, 14-9. Wood paced the Dragons with six goals, while Joran added two goals and four draw controls. The Colonials were led by junior Nicole Lacey, who recorded four goals and five draw controls. Senior Sarah Phillips added to the offensive effort with one goal, two draw controls and three ground balls.
GW at Drexel - Sunday, 1 pm
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