ST. JOSEPH – Dustin Agnew was nearly perfect and the Missouri Western bats weren’t far behind in a 12-2 regular season finale win over Drury (30-16) for the Griffons baseball team (29-18) Wednesday night.
Agnew was perfect for five and two-thirds before a single in the sixth ended his bid for a perfect game and his night. The junior was on a 60-pitch count that got extended to 68 with the possibility of an unforgettable night. The hit that ended Agnew’s outstanding start almost wasn’t as the sharply hit ball up the middle by Drury’s Justin Abernathy was gloved by a diving David Glaude who couldn’t quite make the throw in time.
The Griffon bats did their part as well, tying a season-high with 20 hits. Missouri Western hit seven doubles, including three from Andrew Curry which tied an MWSU single game record. Curry was 3-for-4 at the plate and just missed two home runs with doubles high off the wall. Nick Gawley went 4-for-4 with his third home run of the season and four RBIs. David Glaude continued his hot streak, going 3 for 5 with four RBIs.
Agnew improved to 6-0 on the season. Nate Hunter gave up just one hit in his inning and a third of work. Richard Peoples pitched the final inning, allowing a walk and a two-run home run before retiring the next three.
Missouri Western won 13 of its final 14 games in the regular season. The Griffons will be the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Baseball Championships which begin May 11 in Joplin, Missouri. Wednesday night’s victory was a non-conference win, but will count towards the Griffons’ in-region record. The Griffons were ranked fifth in the latest central region poll, with the top-eight teams qualifying for the regional tournament.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nate Karns pitched six innings of one-hit ball, striking out four in his final frame, and the Kansas City Royals cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.
Karns (1-2) wound up striking out seven with only one walk in his best performance of the season, one that helped Kansas City assure itself at least a split of the four-game series with the finale Thursday afternoon.
Mike Pelfrey (0-2) kept the White Sox in it until the sixth, when he gave up a single, double and triple in succession. Eric Hosmer followed with a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead, a shot to center that came within about 5 feet of giving the Royals a natural team cycle.
Pelfrey allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, and White Sox slugger Jose Abreu homered off the Kansas City bullpen with two outs in the ninth.
There was little indication a pitchers’ duel would break out Wednesday night.
Karns had allowed 10 runs and four homers over 10 2/3 innings in his last two games, losing both of them. That included a 5-2 loss to the White Sox just last week.
Yet he managed to handcuff the hot-hitting White Sox on Wednesday night, giving up a single with two outs in the first inning and little else. Karns dealt with another runner in the fourth thanks to his own error, and a third runner in the sixth when he struck out Yolmer Sanchez with a wild pitch.
Karns wound up striking out four in that inning, fanning Abreu to end it. It was the first time a Royals pitcher struck out four in an inning since Kevin Appier on Sept. 3, 1996.
Meanwhile, Pelfrey had surrendered seven runs over 8 2/3 innings in his first two starts of the year, and that was only marginally better than his performances all of last season.
But the big right-hander bore down against the weak-hitting Royals, giving up a pair of singles and a walk over the first five innings, easily escaping trouble each time.
The Royals finally got to him in the sixth when Mike Moustakas followed Whit Merrifield’s one-out single with his double to the gap in right. Lorenzo Cain followed with an RBI triple to the same spot, and Hosmer’s fly ball to the wall in center gave Kansas City a comfortable cushion.
The Royals tacked on three more runs off the Chicago bullpen.
BROKEN LUMBER
White Sox center fielder Leury Garcia was so frustrated after striking out while chasing a pitch in the dirt in the fifth that he slammed his bat in the dirt. It promptly shattered, earning a jeer from the crowd.
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP Derek Holland takes the mound Thursday in the series finale. His last win against the Royals came on April 22, 2011, at Globe Life Park.
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy is winless in his last nine starts, dating to a 2-0 win in Chicago last Sept. 1. He has posted a 3.07 ERA during that streak.
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals’ home game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night has been postponed by bad weather.
A makeup date was not immediately announced. Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals and Chase Anderson of the Brewers had been set to start the game.
The Cardinals said Thursday’s game against the Brewers, originally scheduled for 12:45 p.m., had been pushed back to 6:15 p.m. because of the weather forecast.
Heavy rains have swollen many rivers to record levels in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Hundreds of people have been displaced and thousands more are potentially in harm’s way.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball freshman Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.) has accepted an invitation to attend the 2017 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team trials May 18-21 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee. Athletes eligible for this team must be 19 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1998) and U.S. citizens.
“These athletes represent the top talent our country has to offer at this age level,” said George Washington University head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the selection committee. “This is a very versatile group that will give the coaching staff a lot of options. They are all tough competitors, and it is not going to be easy for us to pare it down to the final 12-member team. The committee feels we will be able to select from this group a team that will represent the USA well on and off the court, and these athletes have what it takes to win a seventh-straight gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Cup.”
Smith was named Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Year after an outstanding first campaign at Mizzou, becoming the fourth Tiger in program history to earn a conference freshman of the year award. Smith averaged 5.9 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 40.0 percent from three-point range, 45.4 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line.
Smith reached double figures five times with Mizzou going 5-0 in those contests, scoring at least eight points nine times during the regular season, with seven of those occasions coming in league play. From Jan. 23 on, she averaged 7.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Mizzou was 9-4 in that span.
Smith is one of 33 of the nation’s top 19-and-unders who accepted invitations to the trials. University of Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, who led the 2016 USA U18 National Team to gold, will lead the USA U19 World Cup Team and will again be assisted by collegiate head coaches Kamie Ethridge from the University of Northern Colorado and Charlotte Smith from Elon University. Additionally, Georgetown University head coach Natasha Adair and Drake University head coach Jennie Baranczyk will serve as court coaches during the trials.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jose Quintana received some welcome early run support in beating the Kansas City Royals.
Quintana gave up four singles over eight innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Royals 6-0 on Tuesday night.
Quintana (2-4) walked two, struck out seven and allowed only one runner to reach second base. The White Sox had given him a career-low 1.84 runs per game in his first five starts, which was the second lowest in the American League. The White Sox, however, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings Tuesday, making easier for the 28-year-old Colombian left-hander.
“That’s good,” Quintana said. “That’s a nice thing. The hitters were aggressive the whole game. When you’ve got that support early, that’s really good.”
Quintana’s career record is 48-50.
“He pitches well whether he has run support or not,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “You ask anybody from the organization, even prior to me getting here, he’s pitched well enough to win more games than his record shows, but he just hasn’t had the run support. He’s done his job.”
Royals manager Ned Yost was impressed with Quintana.
“He was really, really good,” Yost said. “You’ve got to give him some credit. He made the All-Star team last year and he’s always been tough against us, even though we find ways to beat him.”
The Royals lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Starter Danny Duffy (2-2) allowed six runs, 10 hits and two walks over five innings. Duffy has lost back-to-back starts to the White Sox, giving up 12 runs and 19 hits in 9 2/3 innings.
“I let my team down today,” Duffy said. “The last two times I’ve gone out there I’ve cost my team a chance to win. So, I take all the responsibility for the last two losses.”
It was Duffy’s first home loss since Sept. 5, 2015, snapping his franchise record of 16 consecutive Kauffman Stadium starts without a defeat.
Yolmer Sanchez had three hits and Avisail Garcia and Geovany Soto each had two to lead Chicago’s offense.
Garcia was 2 for 2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. He leads the American League with a .382 batting average, and his on-base percentage hiked to .433. He scored a run in the second and drove in Sanchez with a third-inning single.
Sanchez led off the third with a double and drove in Soto with a single in the sixth. Soto had two hits, a sacrifice fly and two RBI. His second-inning single scored Todd Frazier with the first run of the game. His fly out to Whit Merrifield in the third scored Jose Abreu to make it 4-0.
TRES GARCIAS AGAIN
The White Sox recalled OF Willy Garcia from Triple-A Charlotte and started him in left field. Leury Garcia was in center and Avisail Garcia in right, giving the White Sox an all-Garcia outfield for the second time this season. The trio also started April 14, the first time in major league history that a team began a game playing three outfielders with the same last name. Willy Garcia has hit .294 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 18 games in the International League.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: RHP James Shields (right lat strain) threw off a flat surface, but it could be a while before he returns to the rotation. “It’s kind of a slower process than I thought, right now,” Shields said. “It’s not really responding the way I would like it to be. I’ll keep moving forward.”
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Mike Pelfrey is 1-4 with a 6.51 ERA in nine career games against the Royals.
Royals: RHP Nate Karns is 0-2 with 5.24 ERA in four career starts versus the White Sox.
The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team defeated William Jewell, 6-3, in 11 innings at Talley Baseball Stadium in Liberty, Mo., on Tuesday afternoon.
– The Bearcats move to 28-18 overall while the Cardinals fall to 18-24.
– Kevin Handzlik went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. He was also hit by a pitch and had a sacrifice.
– It was the final non-conference game of the year for Northwest.
Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats scored one in the third, one in the fifth, one in the sixth and three in the 11th. William Jewell scored on in the fifth, one in the sixth and one in the eighth.
– Northwest had six runs on nine hits with two errors. The Cardinals had three runs on seven hits with two errors.
– James Holler went 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
– Garrett Fort scored twice, going 1-for-4. He drew a pair of walks.
– Landon Figg was 1-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored.
– Jay Hrdlicka hit a home run in the sixth inning, going 1-for-4. He was also hit by a pitch.
– Logan Rycraft scored two runs, going 1-for-4 with a walk.
– Ozzie Adams was hit by a pitch and had a sacrifice.
– Luke Wilkinson drove in a run in the 11th.
– Northwest used nine pitchers in the game. Quintin Van Ackeren threw 2.0 innings in the start, allowing one hit,with one walk. He did not allow a run and struck out one.
– Joseph Hietpas, Bryce Shea, Cole Otto and Austin Battaglia all worked an inning without allowing an earned run.
– Nikko Pablo did not allow a hit in the final 4.0 innings of the contest. He struck out three and did not issue a walk. He retired the last six WJC batters in order.
Key Northwest Innings
– In the second, Fort drew a one out walk and went to second after Adams reached on an error. After a flyout, Fort went to third on a wild pitch and Holler drew a walk to load the bases. Handzlik hit the first pitch he saw for an RBI single, scoring the game’s first run.
– Rycraft started the fifth with a single to right. After Fort drew a walk, the Cardinals changed pitchers. Adams was immediately hit by a pitch to load the bases. A pair of strikeouts kept the bases loaded for Handzlik who hit an RBI single to left, driving in Rycraft to make it 2-0.
– The sixth inning started with a home run by Hrdlicka down the right field line, giving Northwest a 3-1 lead.
– Rycraft walked to start the 11th inning and Fort reached on a bunt single. Adams laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up to second and third. William Jewell loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Figg. Wilkinson, worked a full count and eventually grounded out to the shortstop, allowing Rycraft to score from third. Handzlik then drove in his third and fourth runs of the game with a single to center, scoring Figg and Fort to make it 6-3.
Up Next
– Northwest concludes the regular season with a three-game home stand with Fort Hays State starting on Friday, May 5, at 3 p.m. Senior Day is slated for Saturday’s 2 p.m. contest.
ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western softball head coach Jen Bagley Trotter announced the signings of three student-athletes set to join the team for the 2018 season.
Alyssa Griggs
UT | 5-7 | R/R
Louisburg, Kan. / Louisburg High School
Second team All-Frontier league as a junior … three-time Tri-County Spotlight team … batted .352 with a team-high 21 RBIs as a junior … three-year letter winner
“Alyssa has a ton of power potential,” Trotter said. “She is an eager talent who projects to be a force in our lineup.”
Kayla Prai
UT | 5-3 | R/R
Lincoln, Neb. / Lincoln East H.S.
Batted .486 with a .534 on-base percentage at Lincoln East … a two-time all-conference and scholar-athlete award winner … Lincoln Journal Star All-State in 2016
“Kayla is a quick and versatile player,” Trotter said. “She will provide competition in our middle infield as well as in our outfield. She’s a great kid who will be a positive influence on our team.” Melanie Rasmussen
OF | 5-7 | L/R
Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny High School
Second team All-Conference and All-Eastern Division as a junior … batted .368 and slugged .444 as a junior … both parents and three brothers all played sports at the collegiate level
“Melanie will provide our team with valuable left-side hitting ability,” Trotter said. “We are excited to see her growth as she commits to softball full-time in our program. She will be an exciting one to watch.”
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carlos Martinez pitched effectively into the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals once again beat Wily Peralta, topping the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Tuesday night.
Martinez (1-3), making his sixth start of the season, retired the first 12 batters. He gave up an unearned run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one.
Trevor Rosenthal pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in three chances.
Peralta (4-2) fell to 0-9 in his last 11 starts against the Cardinals. He allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty and Kolten Wong each had two hits, combining for all of the Cardinals’ six.
It was scoreless when Carpenter led off the sixth with a single and Piscotty had a one-out double. Yadier Molina had a sacrifice fly off reliever Jacob Barnes and Wong singled with two outs for a 2-0 lead.
Wong, who had a baserunning blunder and a fielding error in the Cardinals’ 7-5, 10-inning loss on Monday, extended his hitting streak to eight games. He’s batting .423 (11-for 26) during the string.
The Brewers scored in the seventh when Domingo Santana singled off Martinez’s glove, Nick Franklin, reached on an error by Carpenter at first base and Jett Bandy singled.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: LF Ryan Braun (right trapezius soreness) was not in the lineup for the second consecutive game, but did pinch hit in the ninth inning. He remains day to day.
Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons (right intercostal strain) was placed on the 10-day disabled list and RHP Sam Tuivailala was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (2-0, 2.10) is 7-1 with a 2.41 ERA over his last 17 starts dating to last season. He is 0-2 with a 1.97 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 6.12) is 15-8 with a 2.19 ERA and six complete games in 29 career starts and 36 appearances against the Brewers.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball got another stellar midweek start from junior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) as it snapped a six-game skid with a 11-0 win over Murray State Tuesday night (May 2) at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou also got a solo homer and three hits from junior C Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) as the Tigers improve to 28-18 on the year. Head coach Steve Bieser is now tied for the most wins ever by a first-year Mizzou head coach, matching the mark set by the 1974 team under legendary Mizzou head coach Gene McArtor.
Toelken pitched 7.0 innings and allowed just five hits and no runs for his first shutout appearance of the season. He struck out five batters and walked just two. He now has a 2.12 ERA in his last five starts and has surrendered just 21 hits in 34.0 innings while striking out 29 during those five starts. He improves to 3-3 on the year.
Mizzou took advantage of an error to score three runs in the bottom of the second. Junior Robbie Glendinning (Scarborough, Australia) reached on a throwing error by the MSU shortstop and Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) hit an infield single to put two men on. Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) then singled through the right side to plate a run. Mizzou tacked on another on a sacrifice fly and a two-out double by Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) to take a 3-0 lead after two.
Senior Kirby McGuire (Round Rock, Texas) manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth inning after singling, stealing a base and taking third on a passed ball. He was knocked in by a Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) groundout to short to extend Mizzou’s lead to 4-0. Bond then hit his ninth homer of the year to push the lead to 5-0.
Mizzou broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh inning. After an RBI double by Misner, SS Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) hit a single into right field and it got past the right fielder and all the way to the wall. That scored two runs and Cornelius came all the way around to score to complete the little league home run. That extended the lead to 9-0. The Tigers added two more runs in the eighth inning.
Sophomore RHP Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) took over on the mound in the eighth and pitched a shutout frame and got the first out of the ninth. Junior RHP Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) then got the final two outs.
Mizzou will be back in action this weekend as it heads to Vanderbilt for a three-game series.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Declaring “I still have more in my tank,” Jamaal Charles, the Kansas City Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader, signed with the AFC West rival Denver Broncos on Tuesday for a chance to prove it.
“Excited to have Jamaal Charles join the Broncos,” general manager John Elway tweeted Tuesday afternoon upon signing Charles to a one-year, incentive-laden deal. “A great addition to our backfield, and we’re thrilled we won’t have to play against him!”
While it may be strange seeing him in navy and gold, Charles said he already feels right at home.
“I always wanted to play with Denver,” Charles said. “Growing up, John Elway was my favorite player.”
Charles played in just eight games over the past two seasons after tearing his right ACL in October 2015, leading the Chiefs to cut him this winter.
Charles posted videos on Twitter of his workouts to show how primed he is for a comeback at age 30.
“I still can play ball,” Charles said. “I still can keep up with the young people. So, I feel I still have more in my tank.”
Charles ran for 7,260 yards and 43 touchdowns in nine seasons with the Chiefs. He added 2,457 yards receiving and 20 TD catches. But a career that looked as if it would land Charles in the Hall of Fame was derailed the past few years by injuries that cut short several seasons in his prime.
He tore his left ACL while taking an awkward step out of bounds in Detroit in 2011. He tore his right ACL against Chicago four years later.
After missing the start of last season, Charles returned to play in only three games, carrying 12 times for 40 yards, before requiring more operations on his knees.
The Chiefs cut the four-time Pro bowl running back to clear more than $6 million in salary cap space so they could focus on solidifying their O-line and keep the heart and soul of their defense — All-Pro safety Eric Berry.
At the NFL combine in March, Chiefs GM John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid reminisced about Charles, saying they believe he’ll be enshrined in Canton one day.
“Jamaal Charles, to me, is one of the finest football players to ever play in the National Football League,” Dorsey said. “These are hard decisions to make when you have a player of that magnitude and that caliber.”
“One of my favorite guys I’ve had a chance to coach,” Reid said at the combine. “You know, he’s not a very big guy but he’s fearless, he ran inside, had the speed outside, world-class speed to turn the corner. Had great hands and on top of that he’s a great kid and just dirty tough. … But we all do get older and that’s the way the National Football League is.”
When he cut him, Dorsey wished “Jamaal and his family the best of luck in their next step.”
That’s in Denver, where Charles, whose 5.5-yard career rushing average is the best in NFL history, will get two cracks at his former team: the Broncos visit the Chiefs on Oct. 30 and host them Dec. 31.
“I’m just happy I get to play them twice a year,” Charles said, chuckling. “I’ll just leave it like that. I’ll let those two games speak for themselves. At the end of the day, I love my (former) teammates. I wish them the best. I know they wish me the best, too. At the end of the day, it’s about how we can feed our families. I’m here with the Broncos.”
Charles joins a backfield that was bruised and battered last season and was unable to keep pressure off the Broncos’ young quarterbacks and wide receivers.
C.J. Anderson missed the second half of the season with a torn meniscus and he was joined on IR by Kapri Bibbs (hamstring) and fullback Andy Janovich (ankle). Rookie Devontae Booker, who was coming off two knee surgeries, led the team with 612 yards rushing and four TDs.
As a group, the Broncos averaged 92.8 rushing yards, ranking 27th in the NFL, a big reason they failed to make the playoffs a year after winning the Super Bowl.
The Broncos also drafted De’Angelo Henderson of Coastal Carolina in the sixth round last weekend.
“I just love C.J. Anderson’s game,” Charles said. “He’s powerful and he’s fast. He is physical and he breaks tackles. Just playing with a guy like that, I just want to come in here and help the team with my explosiveness. I want to come up and play for each other and push each other to get better. That’s the goal at the end of the day.
“Now we’re on the same team,” added Charles, who will join his new teammates Monday, “so we’re going to try and push each other to get to the one goal, and that’s another Super Bowl.”
T. JOSEPH – Dustin Agnew was nearly perfect and the Missouri Western bats weren’t far behind in a 12-2 regular season finale win over Drury (30-16) for the Griffons baseball team (29-18) Wednesday night.
