Dave Riggert – Page 30 – St. Joseph Post Archive

St. Louis loses to Cincinnati 5-2 in Mexico

Posted on April 13, 2019

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Derek Dietrich hit a tiebreaking homer off Adam Wainwright in the seventh inning and added a two-run triple as the Cincinnati Reds won their fourth straight game, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 Saturday night in the raucous Estadio de Beisbol de Monterrey.

The start of the two-game series marked the first time either team had played in the regular season in Mexico.

St. Louis had won five in a row.

Wainwright hit an RBI single in the second off Tanner Roark for a 1-0 lead. Jesse Winker’s one-out homer in the sixth was the Reds’ first hit off Wainwright (1-1).

Dietrich connected to lead off the seventh, finishing Wainwright. Dietrich tripled to cap a three-run eighth that made it 5-1.

Kolten Wong hit a leadoff home run against Zach Duke to begin the Cardinals ninth. Raisel Iglesias relieved and, after St. Louis put two runners on base, retired Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong for his second save.

Jared Hughes (1-0) got two outs for the win.

Mexico is hosting major league games for the second year in a row. Last year, the Los Angeles Dodgers combined for a no-hitter against San Diego at Monterrey. Next month, the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros will play two games in this ballpark.

— Associated Press —

Griffons run-rule Bearcats in series opener 16-3

Posted on April 12, 2019

ST. JOSEPH – An eight-run sixth inning blew what was turning into a tight game wide open as Griffon Baseball (15-15, 12-10) run-ruled Northwest Missouri (17-17, 13-9), 16-3 in seven innings on Friday.

Two runs in the top of the fifth by Northwest pulled the Bearcats within four at 7-3, but the Griffs scored another in the fifth and had the big sixth inning to shorten the game.

NOTABLES

The Griffons had 13 total hits and capitalized on one Northwest error
MWSU homered four times, taking advantage of winds over 20 miles per hour out to left
13 Griffs came to the plate in the six-hit, eight-run home half of the sixth
Casey Danley homered twice and was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored
Dusty Stroup stayed hot at the plate with a double, a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored. Stroup now has 14 hits in his last five games
Brooks Day went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored, he also homered
Thomas Ruwe got the win in his first career start, striking out eight over five innings
Josh Miller struck out two and allowed one hit over two innings of relief

UP NEXT
Game two of the three-game series will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. Members of the 2000 Griffon Baseball team – Buzz Verduzco’s first at MWSU – will be recognized prior to the game.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals end 10-game skid with 8-1 win over Cleveland

Posted on April 12, 2019

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon homered, doubled twice and singled as the Kansas City Royals stopped a 10-game losing streak, racing to a big lead and beating the Cleveland Indians 8-1 Friday night.

Gordon homered during a six-run first inning against Carlos Carrasco (1-2).

The Royals hit for the cycle in the opening inning — Whit Merrifield led off with a single, Adalberto Mondesi followed with a triple and Gordon homered, with Chris Owings’ two-out, two-run double finishing Carrasco.

Brad Keller (2-1) gave up one run on three hits, striking out a career-high 10 in 6 2/3 innings. He has pitched at least six innings in nine straight starts, the longest active streak in the majors.

Keller’s 118 pitches were the most by a Royals starter since James Shields threw 124 on July 29, 2014.

Tyler Naquin hit a 420-foot home run in the second, snapping a streak of 54 innings in which Keller hadn’t allowed a homer. It had been the longest active string in majors.

Gordon doubled in the second. He added an RBI double in the fourth, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

The Royals added a run in the sixth on a double steal.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: SS Francisco Lindor is going to run the bases again Saturday, according to manager Terry Francona. Lindor has not played this season with a right calf strain and a left ankle sprain. “If all goes well, then we’re going to reconnect with the doctor, and see what he thinks the next step is,” Francona said. … 2B Jason Kipnis is on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Columbus. Francona said he’s doing well recovering from a low-grade right calf strain, and he expects to see Kipnis sometime on the current road trip to Kansas City and Seattle.

Royals: CF Billy Hamilton was kept out of the lineup with a mild MCL sprain and a bone bruise on his left knee. He tried to make a game-saving catch with two outs in the ninth inning of Thursday’s loss to Seattle. The Mariners had two runners on, down 6-4, when Mitch Haniger drove one to the wall in left center. Hamilton battled the wind and the sun before crashing into the wall. “When I first did it I thought it was way worse than what it turned out to be,” Hamilton said. “I’m happy about that. It’s too early to be in that situation. I’ll do everything I can to get back in the lineup. I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. I can play through a little pain.”

ROSTER NEWS

Indians RHP Jefry Rodriguez was being called up from Triple-A Columbus after the game. He will make his first start with the Indians after one start with Columbus, where he allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

UP NEXT

Indians RHP Jefry Rodriguez will make his season debut for the Cleveland. He was acquired by Cleveland as part of the trade that sent Yan Gomes following the 2018 season.

Royals RHP Homer Bailey (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will be looking for his first victory since May 12 of last season.

— Associated Press —

MWSU softball extends win streak to 10 with sweep at Southern

Posted on April 12, 2019

JOPLIN, Mo. – Griffon Softball (28-14, 15-5) swept its fifth-straight MIAA series and climbed into second place in the MIAA standings with a pair of wins, Friday, at Missouri Southern (17-20, 8-12).

Missouri Western extended its win streak with an extra-inning shutout and a bit of a hit parade on Friday in Joplin.

The 10-game winning streak is the longest since a 10-game streak late in the 2016 season that included a 4-0 run through the MIAA Softball Championships. The wins left the Griffons technically tied for second place in the standings with 2018 MIAA champion Washburn. Missouri Western is 15-5 and Washburn is 12-4 after splitting a doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney on Friday.

GAME 1
Missouri Western 1, Missouri Southern 0 (11 innings)

Cassidy Kelsheimer hit a sacrifice fly to center field in the 11^thto drive in the only run of the game
Emma Hoffart led off the 11^th with a single and advanced to third when Missouri Southern threw away Sydni Hawkins’ sacrifice bunt attempt to put runners on the corners with no one out
Tamara Hicks entered to run for Hoffart and scored the winning run on Kelsheimer’s sac-fly
Kaili Hinds pitched an 11-inning complete game shutout, holding Southern to nine hits. She struck out two and didn’t walk a batter to improve to 13-3 on the season
Hawkins went 2-for-3 to extend her hitting streak to 12 games
Hoffart was 2-for-5

GAME 2
Missouri Western 10, Missouri Southern 5

A three-run top of the seventh quieted any thoughts of a Missouri Southern comeback
MWSU led 6-1 after scoring two in the top of the fourth, but Missouri Southern scored four in the bottom half to pull within one
The Griffons got one in the fifth and then the three-run seventh to put the game out of reach
MWSU tied a program single-game record with seven doubles
Morgan Frost had two of the doubles to move into second in the MIAA with 17 this season
Hawkins went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored. She doubled and tripled to push her hitting streak to 13 games
All but one Griff in the starting lineup had at least a hit
Marissa Guenther went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple
Olivia Goodale allowed just one hit over the final 3 1/3 innings

UP NEXT

The Griffs travel to Pittsburg State (21-22, 9-9) for a doubleheader Saturday that is scheduled to begin at noon.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest softball drops two games at Pittsburg State

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019

PITTSBURG, Kansas – The Pittsburg State University Gorillas softball team scored a pair of victories over the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats on Friday.

The Gorillas topped the Bearcats in game one, 8-4, and followed it up with a 7-4 victory in the second contest.

Game One
The Bearcats were the first to score in the top of the second. Jaclyn Weydert singled through the left side and advanced to second on the throw, allowing Karli Allen and Kiana Baderdeen to score and give Northwest a 2-0 lead.

The Gorillas answered in the bottom of the third with to home runs from Madison Wegner and Mackenzie Goswick to tie the game at 2-2.

Pitt State scored again in the bottom of the fourth from another home run to go up, 3-2.

Sydne Brashear hit a two-run homer to center in the top of the fifth give Northwest a 4-3 lead on the road.

Pitt State rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring five runs and grabbed the win over the Bearcats, 8-4.

Game Two
Jaclyn Weydert scored off a fielding error in the second and to grab a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Karli Allen hit a two-run homer to advance the lead 3-0 over the Gorillas.

Pitt State answered in the bottom of the third scoring three runs to tie the game. The Gorillas scored another run in the fourth inning to grab the lead 4-3 over the Bearcats.

Jaedra Moses singled up the middle in the top of the sixth inning to bring in Jacee Winn to score and tie the game at 4-4.

The Gorillas scored three runs in the sixth and held off the Bearcats to take game two, 7-4.

The Bearcats are back in action Saturday in Joplin, Missouri to take on the Missouri Southern Lions at 9 a.m.

NOTES: Jaedra Moses, who tallied three hits on the day, leads the squad with a batting average of .404 … Moses has a team-high 42 hits in 2019 … the home run was Allen’s sixth this season.

— Northwest Athletics —

Royals blow 9th inning lead to Seattle as losing streak reaches 10

Posted on April 11, 2019

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Trailing by two runs and down to their last strike, the Seattle Mariners found a way to keep their winning streak alive.

“Confidence is building,” manager Scott Servais said.

Seattle became the first major league team to homer in each of its first 15 games when Dee Gordon connected in the sixth inning, then beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Thursday behind Daniel Vogelbach’s home run in the 10th.

Seattle improved the best record in the major leagues to 13-2, completing a four-game sweep and extending its winning streak to six. The Mariners became just the third team since 1987 to open with at least 13 wins in the first 15 games after Milwaukee (14-1 in 1987) and Boston (13-2 last year).

Kansas City has lost 10 straight games, has the poorest record in the big leagues at 2-10 and is off to its worst 12-game start since 2006. The Royals failed to preserve leads of 4-0 in the sixth and 6-4 with two outs in the ninth.

“Other teams just can’t seem to do any wrong,” said Kansas City’s Whit Merrifield, whose hitting streak ended at 31 games.

Royals center fielder Billy Hamilton was carted off with a knee injury after failing to grab Mitch Haniger’s tying, two-run triple in the ninth. Royals manager Ned Yost said he did not have an update on Hamilton’s condition.

“Hanny had the at-bat of the game,” Servais said. “You’re down to your last strike, fighting and clawing. He finally got the changeup up in the zone.”

Merrifield went 0 for 6. He had not gone hitless since Sept. 9.

“Out of my last nine outs, I feel like I’ve made six good swings on good pitches in the zone,” Merrifield said. “I either hit it on the barrel at somebody or just missed it and hit it in the air. That’s kind of what makes streaks like these so rare

The 2002 Cleveland Indians had homered in each of their first 14 games. Seattle’s 36 home runs are tied with the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals for the most in a club’s first 15 games. The Mariners have scored five or more runs in all but one game.

Vogelbach hit a 427-foot drive off Glenn Sparkman (0-1) for his sixth home run this season.

“I’m not in that situation if Hanny doesn’t have the at-bat to tie the game,” Vogelbach said. “He fouled off a ton of pitches. He made him work, and then got a pitch he could handle.”

Brandon Brennan (1-0) struck out three in the ninth, working around his own throwing error on a grounder to get his first big league win. Brennan has not allowed a run in his first 9 2/3 innings in the major leagues, holding batters to a .156 average (5 for 32).

Connor Sadzeck pitched a perfect 10th for his first professional save.

Seattle trailed 6-3 before Edwin Encarnacion hit an RBI single off Wily Peralta in the eighth.

Pinch-hitter Omar Narvaez and Gordon singled off Brad Boxberger with one out in the ninth and Mallex Smith took a called third strike. Haniger hit a long drive on a full count and Hamilton, who entered at the start of the half-inning for defense, allowed the ball to glance off his glove on the warning track.

Haniger, who hit a tiebreaking homer with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday, slid into third as two runs scored. Hamilton’s left knee hit the wall, and he crumpled to the warning track, then was unable to put weight on the knee when he got up.

SWANNY

Mariners RHP Erik Swanson made his major league debut, allowing two runs and three hits in two innings. He is the 18th player and ninth pitcher to make his Mariners debut this season.

MOVES

Royals RHP Jake Newberry was recalled from Omaha, and 1B Frank Schwindel was optioned to the Triple-A farm team.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: OF Jay Bruce was held out of the lineup with a sore left Achilles. He came out of Wednesday’s game after the third inning because of the injury. … RHP Shawn Armstrong pitched an inning Wednesday night on an injury rehabilitation assignment for Triple-A Tacoma. He is on the 10-day IL with a right-oblique strain.

UP NEXT

Mariners: LHP Wade LeBlanc (2-0, 4.76 ERA) starts a homestand opener Friday against Houston.

Royals: RHP Brad Keller (1-1, 2.84 ERA) is to be on the mound Friday against visiting Cleveland.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Miller finishes fourth in the heptathlon at Wichita State

Posted on April 11, 2019

WICHITA, Kan. – Lynzi Miller was the lone Missouri Western student-athlete competing at the KT Woodman Heptathlon at Wichita State this week. The freshman placed fourth at the event, eclipsing the program record with a 4,354 point total.

Miller took fourth place in a field of 12 competitors in Wichita. She was the top finisher from NCAA Div. II and was also the top finisher among the four MIAA student-athletes at the heptathlon.

Miller’s best finish came in the 200m when she took second with a time of 25.47, finishing just two milliseconds behind the event winner. She also ran a 2:35.08 in the 800m to take third in the event.

Miller also earned top-five finishes in the long jump with a jump of 4.99m (16′ 4.50″) and the 100m hurdles (15.30).

Missouri Western Track and Field will compete at the David Suenram Gorilla Classic on Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —

St. Louis completes four-game sweep of LA with 11-7 win

Posted on April 11, 2019

ST. Louis (AP) — Matt Wieters drove in a three runs and stole a base for just the third time in six years, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-7 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the NL champions.

Making his first start this season, the 32-year-old Wieters hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a two-run double in the fifth that put the Cardinals ahead 8-7. With runners at the corners in the fifth, Wieters stole second as Matt Carpenter struck out, his first steal since April 27, 2017, and just the ninth of his major league career.

Harrison Bader was hit by pitches with the bases loaded in both the second and fifth innings. He was the first player to force in runs twice in a game while getting hit since Toronto’s Reed Johnson on April 16, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Jose Martinez matched a career high with four hits, including an RBI double off Yimi Garcia in a two-run sixth. St. Louis set a season high for runs and swept the Dodgers in a four-game series for the first time since July 15-18, 2010.

David Freese and Walker Buehler hit solo home runs in the second inning for Los Angeles, and Kike Hernandez homered to cap a four-run third.

Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance of the season for the Cardinals to win in relief of Michael Wacha, who allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Pedro Baez (0-1) gave up four runs — three earned — and four hits in one inning.

Trailing 7-4, St. Louis started to close when Jedd Gyorko singled in a run in the third. The Cardinals’ four-run fifth included a run-scoring error by second baseman Max Muncy.

KERSHAW

Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his season debut on Monday at home against the Cincinnati Reds.

The 31-year-old left-hander, troubled by left shoulder inflammation since early in spring training, made his second minor league injury rehabilitation start on Tuesday. He gave up two solo home runs and five hits over six innings for Double-A Tulsa against Springfield. He struck out six, walked none and threw 59 of 81 pitches for strikes.

In his first rehab start last week, Kershaw gave up two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City against San Antonio.

MAKING MOVES

Dodgers: Los Angeles recalled RHP Jaime Schultz from Oklahoma City and optioned RHP J.T. Chargois to the Triple-A farm team.

Cardinals: Utility player Yairo Munoz will rejoin St. Louis as a 26th player for this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds in Mexico.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: SS Corey Seager was hit by a pitch by Gallegos in the fourth, left at the start of the bottom half and was diagnosed with a bruised left hamstring

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (1-0, 4.50) is to start Friday against the Reds and RHP Tanner Roark (0-0, 5.79). Wainwright is one win shy of 150.

Dodgers: LHP Julio Urias (0-0, 3.12) is scheduled to start at home Friday against Milwaukee and RHP Corbin Burnes (0-1, 9.90).

— Associated Press —

Molina, Ozuna homer as Cards top Dodgers 7-2 for 4th straight win

Posted on April 10, 2019

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna homered, Jack Flaherty tossed six effective innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals have won four in a row and will try to sweep the four-game series Thursday. They have outscored their opponents 19-6 during the winning streak.

Max Muncy and Joc Pederson homered for the Dodgers, who have lost three straight after a five-game winning streak.

Paul DeJong had three hits and drove in a run with a triple in the sixth. DeJong extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games. He is tied with San Francisco’s Brandon Crawford for the longest current streak in the National League.

Flaherty (1-0) gave up three hits and one run in his 99-pitch effort. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. He has permitted one run over 11 innings in his last two starts.

Molina, who drove in three runs, homered off Kenta Maeda (2-1) in the sixth to push the lead to a 5-1. Ozuna, who had three hits, added a two-run drive in the eighth.

Maeda gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Pederson’s one-out shot in the sixth brought the Dodgers to 2-1. Los Angeles has gone deep in 11 of 13 games this season.

EVEN UP

The Cardinals and Dodgers have played each other 2,074 times since 1892. The series is even at 1,029-1,029 with 16 ties.

KERSHAW ON TRACK

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his season debut Sunday or Monday, according to manager Dave Roberts.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner, bothered by shoulder inflammation during spring training, completed his second effective rehab appearance Tuesday night for Double-A Tulsa against Springfield. He went six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

“He felt good coming out of it,” Roberts said. “He’s lined up for Sunday or Monday, whichever makes the most sense.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: Placed C Russell Martin on the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation and recalled C Rocky Gale from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Gale was 2 for 6 with three runs scored at Oklahoma City. He went 0 for 2 as a September call-up last season.

Cardinals: Ozuna was in the starting lineup after he tumbled off the outfield fence while trying to catch a long drive Tuesday. Ozuna scaled the left field wall, but the ball came up short and he hit the warning track face first.

UP NEXT

Los Angeles RHP Walker Buehler (1-0, 6.75 ERA) will face RHP Michael Wacha (0-0, 1.54) in the series finale Thursday afternoon. Buehler has not allowed a run in two career starts against St. Louis, yielding five hits over 15 innings with 18 strikeouts. Wacha walked a career-high eight in a 6-4 loss to San Diego on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou’s Cunningham selected 13th overall by Phoenix in WNBA Draft

Posted on April 10, 2019

NEW YORK – Mizzou Women’s Basketball senior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was selected by the Phoenix Mercury with the first pick in the second round of Wednesday’s WNBA Draft. Cunningham’s 13th overall selection is the highest a Mizzou player has ever been drafted in the WNBA Draft.

Cunningham surpasses Amanda Lassiter, who was selected by the Houston Comets with the 15th pick of the first round in 2001. Cunningham is the first Mizzou player to be drafted since Bri Kulas in 2014, and the third selection during head coach Robin Pingeton’s tenure, following Kulas and Christine Flores in 2012.

Cunningham received AP and USWBA All-America Third Team and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention honors after helping guide Mizzou to its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018-19. She earned AP All-America Honorable Mention honors after outstanding sophomore and junior campaigns.

Cunningham was named to her third straight All-SEC First Team by the league’s coaches, becoming the first player in program history to earn All-Conference First Team honors in three consecutive seasons. In addition, she was named to the All-SEC First Team by the Associated Press for the second straight season.

Cunningham closed her Mizzou career as Mizzou’s all-time scoring leader, finishing her historic career with 2,187 points. Among program records, Cunningham also ranks first in free throws made (537), second in three-pointers made (238), third in three-point percentage (40.3), third in free throw percentage (83.9), fourth in points per game (17.0) and fourth in assists (390).

In her senior campaign, Cunningham was the only player to average 17.0 ppg, make 80 three-pointers, make 150 free throws and record 200 rebounds. In conference play, Cunningham led the SEC in three-point shooting (46.5 percent) and threes per game (2.9). She reached 20 points in 16 games this season, including 10 times against SEC opponents, and 30 points four times.

Cunningham earned SEC All-Tournament honors after averaging 25.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg at the SEC Tournament, as she became the first Mizzou player to earn All-Tournament honors since 1994.

— Mizzou Athletics —