Sports The Lorian April 16, 2015 7

Season statistics(Through Tuesday, April 14th)

BattingPlayer ............... G h rbi hr slg% ob% avgMiranda Chapman .14 16 8 3 .829 .537 .457Katie Serpico ..........15 18 11 1 .500 .464 .391Savannah Fowler ...15 13 5 0 .382 .417 .382Danielle Stromert ..15 9 8 2 .576 .561 .273Regan Wolverton ...15 13 5 0 .265 .308 .265Bria Lenten ............15 11 13 3 .435 .368 .239Julie Kistner ...........13 9 8 0 .262 .298 .214Nora Zerante ..........15 6 5 0 .233 .429 .200Makaila Haase .......15 8 7 2 .333 .264 .178Totals ................15 117 72 11 .400 .390 .274Opponents ........15 118 67 9 .422 .361 .289

PitchingPlayer .......... app-gs ip w-l bb so avg eraEmma Corkill ..........4-0 4.0 0-1 1 5 .214 1.75Makaila Haase ........ 8-7 38.0 4-2 17 22 .240 2.95Holly Klein ............ 12-8 47.2 4-4 18 33 .316 4.41Totals ................ 15 97.1 8-7 37 63 .289 4.10Opponents ........ 15 98.1 7-8 71 60 .274 4.20(From statistics available on Duhawks.com)

DrewS ViewS

Has Augusta lost its gusto?

Drew Brashawasst. sports editor

Hello, friends.Welcome back. Its been awhile, but I trust youve all enjoyed your break from this column as much as I have. Not having to write about sports for the past few weeks has afforded me the opportunity to spend more time watching sports, and its a busy time of year for sports-watchers. Like some of the lesser religions, sports in

America have their own sacred rites of spring. The manufactured hype of March Madness (sorry, Bucky); the unwarranted hopefulness of Major League Baseballs opening day; the uncomfortable similarities between the NFLs scouting combine/draft and a slave auction; the decadence and depravity of the Kentucky Derbyit just wouldnt be spring without these things.

In my mind, however, only one sporting event marks the official start of spring, and thats The Masters.

Augusta Nationals rich history, the litany of legendary names associated with the tournament, the iconic green jacket: all of these things make The Masters a tradition unlike any other. I just made that up, doesnt it have a nice ring to it? Im thinking of having it trademarked.

But this year, as I sat and watched the venerated course being abused as though it were a step-child whod just brought John Daly a warm beer, I realized that The Masters has a problem, and for once it doesnt have anything to do with racism, or sexism, or any other kind of ism.

The problem with The Masters is that its been mastered.

I dont mean to take anything away from Jordan Spieth. The kid played an amazing tournament from start to finish, and he fended off some intimidating challengers on Sunday to close out his championship, but the course didnt put up much of a fight along the way. Spieth matched Tiger Woods record-low tournament score of 18-under while capturing his first major, but the 21-year-old Texans feat lacks the historic, herculean quality of Woods win in 1997.

When Woods shot 18-under to claim his first green jacket in 97, he finished 12 shots clear of the field. Compare that to this past Sunday, when Spieths minus-18 put him only four shots clear, and ten players finished within ten of him. They were making Augusta look like Bunker Hill out there, and it underscores the problem: golf has outgrown Augusta National in its current state. Tigers record-breaking runaway in 97 marked the arrival of Superman; Spieths victory marks the arrival of the age of supermen.

Golfers and their equipment have evolved dramatically in the eight decades since Augusta was built, and the course has been repeatedly updated and adjusted throughout the years to keep up; remember Tiger-proofing? More than 600 yards have been added to the course since the 1930s, and theyve moved bunkers around and steepened greens, but the disparity between golfer and golf course at Augusta National has become too great. What were left with is a major championship venue without any teeth.

This years course was a big, warm hug. It was as soft and unassuming as the dulcet voice of Jim Nantz whispering about azaleas over maudlin music in the shade of the Georgia pines. (Awesome fact: The Masters theme, Augusta, was composed by Dave Logginsthird-cousin of Kenny Loggins, who wrote and performed Im Alright, which was the theme song for Caddyshack and the No. 1 dance hit for gopher puppets in 1980.) Had Gary Player decided to keep going after his ceremonial tee shot found the middle of the first fairway, he probably would have come in under par.

I dont want to see a major championship won with a score that belongs on an Xbox game, and Im afraid thats the direction The Masters is headed. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus first Masters wins combined didnt equal a score relative to par as low as Spieths this weekend, and the scores will only get more ridiculous unless serious measures are taken to stiffen Augustas backbone. Im not suggesting giant windmills, but nobody should be reaching a par-5 in two with an 8-iron in a major championship.

I have a terrible vision of a not-too-distant future when a grandfather tells a story about a man named Jack who won 18 major championships. His grandson will scoff and say: So what? He won six of them at The Masters.

photo by MaDDy Cole Junior Julie Kistner makes contact during game one of the Duhawks conference opener with Luther. Luther swept the Duhawks 13-4 and 8-0.

Duhawks get over the humpLoras starts conference play 3-5 after 6-game winning streak

by Frank FernanDez | sportswriter

The Duhawks (16-14, 3-5 IIAC) head-ed to Storm Lake sitting at .500 on the season and looking to gain ground in the conference standings against the Buena Vista Beavers.

Coming out swinging, the Duhawks were able to score three runs in the first. Despite the early lead, the Beavers re-sponded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs off senior pitcher Holly Klein. The Duhawks struck again in the third when junior Makaila Haase drove in Klein with a shot into right field, extend-ing the lead to 4-2.

The Duhawks held the advantage 4-3 going into the final frame. However, the Beavers were able to rally and win game one on a walk-off, 5-4.

Despite the late meltdown in the first game, the Duhawks took the early lead in game two with the help of sophomore Danielle Stromert. With one on in the third inning, Stromert blasted a home run to give the Duhawks the lead, 2-0.

Junior Julie Kistner doubled the ad-vantage with a two-run single in the fifth. Haase and the defense kept the Beavers scoreless through the fifth, before they broke through in the sixth. Leading 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Klein came in and shutdown the rally with back-to-back strikeouts to preserve the victory.

That was a really tough way to end the first game, said Head Coach Ashley

Winter. I was worried that we would still be reeling, but we showed composure and played a great game to split the series.

The Duhawks would have a short turn-around as they returned home for a Sat-urday afternoon double-header against the No.13 Central College Dutch.

The Dutch sprang out to a quick lead, scoring two in their half of the first in-ning. It didnt take long for the Duhawks to respond, as they cut the lead in half when Stromert scored from third and se-nior Katie Serpico survived a pickle long enough for her to cross the plate.

Central extended their lead back to two, but the Duhawks continued to fight back. Klein was able to settle in on the mound and keep Central scoreless for the rest of the game as the offense provided fireworks.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the sixth, first-year Miranda Chapman blast-ed a round-tripper to dead center to tie up the game. Klein continued her domi-nance, keeping the bats silent in the top of the seventh, setting up the Duhawks for a walk-off victory.

Serpico opened the frame with a lead-off single, before being replaced by Klein to pinch-run. A bunt moved Klein into scoring position with Haase stepping to the plate. She laced a single up the middle and al-lowed Klein to score, giving the Duhawks the 4-3 come-from-behind win.

This was the first Duhawk victory against the Dutch since the 2012 season. Klein couldnt have been more excited.

It is a huge win for us be-cause we are so young and it shows that we can play with some of the best teams in the country, she said.

Game two started out prom-ising for the Duhawks, as they played long ball in the first in-ning. Stromert and first-year Bria Lenten each hit home runs to give Loras the 4-0 lead.

The two sides were tied at six heading into the final in-

ning of play, but the Dutchs offense came alive to finish off the Duhawks, 11-6.

Coach Winter was positive even after the loss.

I was happy with our effort and espe-cially our young players stepping up and leading the way when they needed to, Winter said.

Lenten added, We need to play a con-sistent game throughout, especially when it comes to the final inning.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Duhawks swept Edgewood to finally eclipse the .500 mark. In game one, senior pitch-er Holly Klein led the Duhawks to a 5-1 win. Klein picked up her eighth win of the year, pitching a complete game and striking out four.

Game two of the afternoon was much closer. With the game tied at two in the top of the seventh, a clutch right field single from senior Katie Serpico allowed first-year Regan Wolverton to score the go ahead run. Klein took the mound in relief of Makaila Haase in the bottom of the seventh and struck out two batters to pick up the save.

The Duhawks next test will come Sat-urday in Indianola, where theyll play a double-header against No. 22 Simpson.

Since we last spoke...After an up-and-down month of March, the Du-hawks (16-14, 3-5 IIAC) find themselves ranked sixth in the Iowa Conference. After dropping a pair of close games to Cornell, Loras railed off six straight wins, knocking off St. Olaf, Rober

Morris and MacMurray in double-headers. They struggled as conference play began, however, dropping a pair of games to Luther and splitting a double-header with Dubuque. Last weekend, the Duhawks couldnt eclipse that .500 mark,

splitting double-headers with both Buena Vista and Central. First-year Miranda Chapman has been a big surprise, leading the team in batting

average and slugging percentage.

Dickhut sisters shine in openerDuhawks sweep Monmouth in their spring opener

by Drew BraShaw | asst. sports editorWomens tennis

returned to action with a bang this past weekend, as the Du-hawks earned a 9-0 sweep of Monmouth at home on Sunday in their first dual of the Spring season.

Elizabeth and Jes-sica Dickhut got the Duhawks started with an 8-4 victory over Monmouths

Katherine Hinman and Annaliese Mc-Dermott in their No. 1 doubles match. The All-IIAC Dickhut sisters claimed the first five games to seize control ear-ly, and closed out the match with wins in three of the final five games.

The first-year tandem of Sam Pi-etruszynski and Kylie DeWees kept the ball rolling for the Duhawks in the No. 2 doubles match, earning a 8-2 victory over Katy Folsky and Kimber-ly Hedgeopeth. In the No. 3 doubles match, senior Caroline Rainey and sophomore Maggie Clements finished the Duhawks doubles sweep with an 8-4 win over Morgan Holle and Chey-anne Groat.

The Duhawks dominant perfor-mance in doubles carried over into the duals singles competition, with the Dickhuts, DeWees, Rainey, and Pietruzynski all taking their matches in straight sets, while first-year Ayla Graziano claimed a default victory over Hedgeopeth to complete Loras 9-0 sweep of the Scots.

The victory over Monmouth brings the Duhawks 2014-15 season record to (6-8, 3-4 IIAC).

Loras will host the Augustana (19-8) at 9 a.m. and St. Ambrose (8-12) at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Log on to Duhawks.com for coverage and results.

womens tennis

Since we last spoke...After finishing

their fall season with a 5-8 record, the Duhawks got their season un-derway Sunday

with a 9-0 sweep of Monmouth.