Dave Riggert – Page 450 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Tigers fall to Illinois in annual Braggin’ Rights baseball game

Posted on May 3, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball dropped its annual Braggin’ Rights game to Illinois, 6-4, on Tuesday night (May 3) at GCS Ballpark as Illinois has now won the last two meetings in the series. The loss drops Mizzou to 24-22 while Illinois improves to 22-19. Mizzou junior SS Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) tallied his fifth homer of the year and also added a double, reaching base in three of four plate appearances. He also made a pair of sparkling plays in the field.

The start went to freshman righty Grant Macciocchi (West Chester Township, Ind.) who was masterful over three perfect innings. Illinois then tagged four runs on five hits in the fourth inning after Macciocchi exited the game and that broke it open for Illinois. Freshman Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) took the loss, just his second of the season, after allowing the four runs and five hits in the fourth. Illinois RHP Andrew Mamlic earned the win, moving him to 4-6 on the year.

Mizzou got on the board in the top of the first as Howard continued his hot hitting of late, launching a solo shot on a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left center to give Mizzou an early 1-0 lead. Macciocchi got three 5-3 groundouts in the first as he looked sharp early. He sat down the first nine he faced in three perfect innings, getting seven ground balls, a strikeout and a flyout.

Howard again got things started for Mizzou in the fourth, leading off the frame with his 10th double of the year. He then scored on a two-out error by Illinois 3B Trent Hammond off the bat of Mizzou C Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and that gave Mizzou a 2-0 lead.

Tim Jamieson went to the bullpen in the fourth in favor of Sharp and he surrendered a leadoff homer to Jack Yalowitz as that cut the lead in half at 2-1. He then allowed a two-run homer to Pat McInerney to put Illinois on top, 3-2. Illinois then added another on an RBI single and that ended Sharp’s day as Illinois tagged him for five hits and four runs and took a 4-2 lead into the fifth inning.

Illinois added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Jason Goldstein. Mizzou then threatened to get to Mamlic in the sixth, putting the first two men on after a Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) double after a 10-pitch at-bat and an eight-pitch walk by Howard. But senior Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) grounded into a 3-6-1 double play and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) grounded out to end the threat.

Sophomore RHP Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) was sensational in relief, settling things down following late and keeping Mizzou in the game. He tossed 2.1 innings and struck out a career-high three batters. Mizzou then tallied two runs in the eighth inning on Lavy’s nation-leading eighth triple, cutting the lead to 5-4. Illinois then added an insurance run in the eighth inning.

Mizzou heads to Starkville, Miss., for a Thursday-Saturday series at No. 3 Mississippi State.

— Mizzou Athletics —

No. 1 recruit Josh Jackson officially signs with Kansas

Posted on May 3, 2016

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Top-ranked recruit Josh Jackson has signed and will be a freshmen at the University of Kansas in 2016-17, KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self announced Tuesday. Jackson verbally committed to KU in early April.

Jackson (6-foot-8, 205 pounds) is the second No. 1 rated player to sign with Kansas in the past three seasons. Jackson, No. 1 by Rivals.com and 247Sports, joins current Minnesota Timberwolves standout Andrew Wiggins who played at KU in 2013-14.

“Josh has been a guy that is so respected in all high school circles the last four years,” Self said. “He is probably as highly thought of as any recent player to come out of high school because of his competitive nature. He left Detroit to finish his high school career at Prolific Prep in the Napa (California) area. He is very similar to Andrew Wiggins. He’s a tall guard that can do a lot of everything. We feel his impact on our program next year will be as much as any freshman will have on any college program. He’s extremely athletic but more importantly extremely competitive. We have a very competitive culture at Kansas but I think it just got improved with the signing of Josh. He’s a guy that everybody enjoys playing with because he is so unselfish but also a guy that can take a game over.”

The list of accolades is aplenty when talking about Jackson. He was named McDonald’s All-America in 2016 where he earned co-Most Valuable Player honors of the McDonald’s game after scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting in leading the West team to a 114-107 victory. He also competed in the 2016 Nike Hoops Summit where the USA team defeated the World Team 101-67 on April 9 in Portland, Oregon.

Jackson grew up in Detroit and has played the past two seasons at Prolific Prep in Napa, California. He averaged 26.9 points, 13.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game at Prolific Prep in 2015-16 for head coach Billy McKnight. In his first season at Prolific Prep, Jackson averaged 31.2 points, 17.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals in 2014-15. Prior to going to Prolific Prep, Jackson led Detroit Consortium to the Class C state title his sophomore year in 2013-14. Jackson is described as an athletic wing who plays above the rim and is an ultimate competitor.

“I played him at the 1-4 positions this year,” McKnight recently told reporters. “Defensively, I adjusted our scheme this year because of Josh. We literally didn’t help off other players when Josh was guarding 1-on-1. He guarded 1-5 for us. He’s so quick off the ground. His ability to block shots and rebound will make a huge impact.”

Jackson has quite the resume when competing for USA Basketball. He has won three gold medals for USA at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Maldonado, Uruguay, the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship in Heraklion, Greece.

“Josh has a great feel for basketball, in large part, because his mother, Apples Jones, who played college basketball at Allen County Community College in Kansas and UTEP,” Self said. “His recruitment was fierce, and deservedly so. Coach (Kurtis) Townsend has done such a good job for a long period of time making sure Josh and Apples were both comfortable and educated on our situation and how Kansas could be a good fit for them.”

Jackson joins forward Mitch Lightfoot who signed with Kansas in November 2015. Lightfoot (6-foot-8, 219 lbs.) had an outstanding senior season at Gilbert Christian High School in Gilbert, Arizona. Named the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year for 2015-16, Lightfoot, 6-foot-8, averaged 22.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots this past season in leading Gilbert Christian to a 21-6 record. Lightfoot, who is ranked No. 67 by ESPN100, scored 32 points in the BallisLife All-America game April 30, at Long Beach City College in California.

“Mitch is going to be a guy that nobody can sleep on,” Self said. “Give him a little bit of time and he is going to continue to grow and get stronger. He’s going to be a guy that will help us win games as a freshman but could be a big contributor as moves forward in his career.”

— KU Athletics —

Northwest’s Pablo repeats as MIAA Pitcher of the Week

Posted on May 3, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second straight week, Northwest Missouri State University junior Nikko Pablo was named the MIAA/AstroTurf’s Pitcher of the Week. Pablo threw the third no-hitter in Bearcat history on Tuesday, April 26, against Missouri Western.

Pablo went the full 9.0 innings, allowing no hits, no runs and just one walk. He struck out six batters on the day and at one point, retired 21 straight batters between the first and eighth innings. Even more remarkable, Pablo withstood a 49 minute rain delay between the eighth and ninth innings. He emerged in the ninth after sitting for close to an hour to strike out the side in the ninth. Only three Griffon batters reached base against the right hander, one via a walk, one was hit by a pitch and one reached on an error.

Northwest will conclude the 2016 regular season with a three-game series at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan., starting on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

St. Louis gets shutout by Nola, Phillies

Posted on May 3, 2016May 3, 2016

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Howard still gets psyched up to play in St. Louis.

The Philadelphia first baseman homered and Aaron Nola threw seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia has won seven of eight while St. Louis has lost five of six.

Howard, a St. Louis native, has 12 homers and 40 RBI in 36 games in Busch Stadium.

“This is home, this is where it all began for me,” Howard said. “I guess, being at home, I do feel I see the ball a lot better.”

Howard has 22 homers in 66 career games against the Cardinals, his favorite boyhood team.

“For some reason guys hit well in certain ballparks,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. “It was good to see him bust out.”

Howard broke out of an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning homer off Michael Wacha (2-2) that traveled 411 feet. Howard, who attended Lafayette High in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, picked on the first pitch.

“I was just looking for something up in the zone,” Howard said. “He does a great job of keeping the ball down and putting it where he wants to put it. He kind of left that one over the middle and I tried to take advantage of it.”

Wacha admitted he made a mistake.

“A backed up cutter, I left it over the middle,” Wacha said. “He put a good swing on it. He doesn’t miss those.”

Nola (2-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in a career-high 111-pitch stint. He has a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating to April 22. Nola, who retired the last 10 batters, has given up one run or fewer in four of six starts this season.

“I feel like I’m mixing my pitches in well,” Nola said. “I’ve been trying to throw my changeup a little more. And tonight, when I did it, I felt like I used it efficiently.”

Jeanmar Gomez picked up his ninth save in as many opportunities. Hector Neris struck out the side in the eighth.

Right fielder Peter Bourjos made a diving catch of a sinking liner by Randal Grichuk to end the fourth inning with Yadier Molina on base.

Wacha gave up one run and five hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

“What a great outing, he had everything,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s shame we weren’t able to get a little more going offensively.”

The Cardinals also threatened in the first inning. Matt Carpenter led off with a double, but Nola retired the next three hitters in order.

LATE SHOW

The Cardinals have scored a major league-best 61 runs after the sixth inning this season. They have hit 19 home runs in that stretch, also tops in the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who took batting practice on Monday, will likely go out on a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pham has missed 26 games after being placed on the DL with a left oblique strain on April 4.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40) will make his second start of the season in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday. Morgan gave up three runs in five innings of a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Friday.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83) will start for the Cardinals. He has given up four or more runs in all five starts this season. Leake, who was signed as a free agent on Dec. 23 after six years with Cincinnati, is 2/3 with a 6.00 ERA in eight career starts against Phillies.

— Associated Press —

MWSU women’s golf tied for first after day one of NCAA Central Regional

Posted on May 2, 2016

AXTELL, Neb. – Missouri Western Women’s Golf shot a season-low 297 in the first round of the NCAA Central Regional. They currently sit tied for first in the team standings with UCO. The event is being played at Awarii Dunes Golf Course which is a par 72, 6248 yard course.

The Griffons received career best rounds from Celine Lim and Tiffanie Yabut. Lim is tied for first individually as she scored a 71 in the first round of the tournament. Yabut fired a 74 in the first round and currently sits tied for ninth. Freshman Shi Qing Ong finished day one with a 75, tying her for 15th place in the standings. Junior Madison Romjue finished with a 77 and tied for 32nd after round one.

Missouri Western is currently tied with Central Oklahoma at 297 for first place. Northeastern State is in third place, scoring a 298 in round one. Concordia St. Paul is in fourth place with a 300 team score.

Lim is joined by two others at the top of the leaderboard. Daniela Martinez of Central Oklahoma and Sierra Langlie of Augustana finished the day with a one-under par, 71.

The second round of action will continue on Tuesday morning in Axtell, Nebraska.

— MWSU Athletics —

Kansas City drops series opener to Washington 2-0

Posted on May 2, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gio Gonzalez and the Washington bullpen combined on a five-hitter, Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy drove in first-inning runs and the Nationals beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 on Monday night.

Gonzalez (2-1) scattered four hits and a pair of walks over six innings in his latest smooth start. He’s only allowed four earned runs combined in his first five outings.

Sammy Solis needed eight pitches for a spotless seventh, and Shawn Kelley and Oliver Perez combined to strike out three straight after a leadoff double in the eighth.

Jonathan Papelbon breezed through a perfect ninth as the Nationals followed up a sweep of the Cardinals with their fourth straight win.

Edinson Volquez (3-2) needed 29 pitches just to navigate the decisive first inning for Kansas City. But he wound up giving his team a chance, allowing seven hits and a walk in 7 2/3 innings.

The loss was the sixth in seven games for the weak-hitting Royals. Three have been shutouts.

In the first inning, it looked as if the Nationals would continue the misery Volquez experienced his last time out against the Angels, when he allowed eight runs on a career-high 12 hits in five innings.

Michael Taylor worked a full-count, leadoff walk, and Anthony Rendon followed with a single. Zimmerman drove in the game’s first run with a double, and Murphy’s run-scoring groundout made it 2-0.

Volquez eventually settled down, retiring nine straight before Murphy’s single in the fourth. But by that point, Gonzalez was doing such a good job keeping the slumping Kansas City lineup off balance that even a two-run lead seemed insurmountable.

Gonzalez didn’t allow a single until the third, then watched catcher Jose Lobaton throw out Lorenzo Cain trying to steal to end the inning. Gonzalez allowed another single in the fifth before getting out of a two-on, one-out jam by inducing back-to-back fly balls to end the sixth.

Alcides Escobar brought some life to a crowd of 32,394 with his double off Kelley in the eighth, but the Washington reliever bounced back to strike out Cain. Perez set down Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales to end the inning, and Papelbon took care of the rest.

ROYAL (BLACK AND) BLUE

Kansas City outfielder Alex Gordon was plunked leading off the second inning. It was the 71st time that Gordon has been hit by a pitch, tying him with David DeJesus for third-most in club history.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals RHP Luke Hochevar was available out of the bullpen after getting a couple of days off to rest some minor tightness in his elbow. Hochevar has had Tommy John surgery in the past, so manager Ned Yost said he was being cautious with him. “He feels good,” Yost said.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Chris Young and Nationals RHP Tanner Roark spent part of the 2013 season as teammates at Triple-A Syracuse in the Nationals organization. Young returned to the big leagues the following season with Seattle, and he has spent the past two seasons in Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

Griffon softball earns No. 3 seed in Central Regional; open with Minnesota Duluth

Posted on May 2, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western softball team will make its ninth NCAA Division II Regional appearance since 2005 later this week in Magnolia, Arkansas.

Missouri Western earned the No. 3 seed in the regional and will open with Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday afternoon at No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas. Also in the Southern Arkansas regional is seventh seeded Central Oklahoma. UCO is the only school in the Southern Arkansas regional that Missouri Western has played this season.

On the other half of the regional bracket is No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech, No. 4 Minnesota State, No. 5 Northwest Missouri State and No. 8 Upper Iowa. The winners of each regional will meet May 11 and 12.

— MWSU Athletics —

Cardinals hit five home runs in 10-3 win over Phillies

Posted on May 2, 2016

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run — the first of five for St. Louis — as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to help St. Louis overcome a 3-0 deficit and avoid its first five-game slide since losing seven straight from July 26-31, 2013.

Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight. Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27.

In this victory, Wainwright pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He improved to 6-2 in 11 career starts against the Phillies.

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-2) got chased after 5 1/3 innings. In his first outing against St. Louis since 2011, Hellickson gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks as the Phillies had a six-game winning streak ended.

The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the fourth inning when Wainwright walloped a three-run homer 408 feet into the second deck in left field. Wainwright hit a 3-1 fastball for his seventh career home run and first since Sept. 5, 2012, against the New York Mets.

In his previous two plate appearances, Wainwright had extra base hits. He doubled in the first inning and hit a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Arizona.

St. Louis made it 5-3 on back-to-back home runs by Adams and Diaz to start the sixth. Diaz’ 417-foot blast, his fifth, went into the second deck in left field. The sixth run came on Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single.

Wong hit his first homer of the season with two outs in the eighth and Grichuk followed with a solo shot, giving St. Louis a 9-3 lead.

St. Louis hit six homers in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on April 15.

The final run for the Cardinals came on an RBI single by Brandon Moss.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the third on three singles and a walk. Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to left.

BATTING EIGHTH

The Phillies hit their pitcher in the eighth slot in the lineup for the 11th straight game. Philadelphia is 9-2 with that arrangement.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LF Cody Asche, who has been on the 15-day DL due to a Grade 1 strain of his right oblique he suffered in February, took some swings before the game as he starts to begin some baseball activities.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who sustained a left oblique strain on Opening Day, took batting practice for the first time Monday since going on the DL April. 4. It is expected Pham may begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He has missed 25 games.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. Nola’s last two starts have been solid. The 22-year-old rookie, who was the Phillies’ 2014 first-round draft pick, threw seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball in a 5-2 win in Milwaukee on April 22. In his last outing, Nola allowed two hits during seven innings in a 3-0 win at Washington but did not get the decision.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) will make his sixth start of the season. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with the Cardinals winning three games. He threw a season-high seven innings in his last start, a 3-0 loss at Arizona. He had a season-high nine strikeouts but gave up two home runs after not allowing any in his first four starts.

— Associated Press —

Royals snap losing streak with 4-1 win against Mariners

Posted on May 1, 2016

SEATTLE (AP) — Ian Kennedy felt like he only had one pitch working for him against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. He was still able to take a shutout into the sixth inning, and get a big boost from his bullpen when he finally ran into trouble.

Kennedy had a three-run lead when he loaded the bases in the sixth inning on two singles and a walk. Reliever Danny Duffy came on to bail out the Royals, who went on to win 4-1 to end a five-game losing streak.

“Danny coming in with the bases loaded right there and coming at them with great stuff was huge right there,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “We had a three-run lead and it was starting to get away from us.”

Eric Hosmer homered, Lorenzo Cain had an RBI single and scored a run, and Alex Escobar had three hits and also scored for the Royals, who had been shut out in the first two games of this series.

Kennedy (3-2) said his curveball and other off-speed pitches weren’t working against the Mariners, but he was still able to hold Seattle to four hits and struck out six in five-plus innings.

“At least I had a good fastball going,” Kennedy said. “Good location, good life on it. It was one of those days where I was trying to get by with the one good pitch I had.”

Kennedy loaded the bases in the sixth, Duffy struck out Dae-Ho Lee and Kyle Seager before Chris Iannetta hit a run-scoring single. However, Jarrod Dyson easily threw out Robinson Cano at home trying to score a second run.

“It was a big point in the game, would have been a big run with momentum and everything going in our favor, but they made a play,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

The Royals, who came in with seven straight road losses, extended their scoreless streak to 27 innings before ending the drought in the second. Alex Gordon started it when he was hit by a pitch. He advanced to third on a short hit by Salvador Perez, then scored on Omar Infante’s single.

Kansas City added a run in the third on Cain’s RBI single up the middle.

The Mariners’ defense helped out the Royals in the fifth. With two outs and Cain on second base, Seattle shortstop Ketel Marte fielded Hosmer’s grounder moving toward third. Marte’s throw to first was wild, allowing Cain to score.

Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his eighth save in eight chances.

Taijuan Walker (2-1) pitched five innings, his shortest outing this season, and allowed a season-high three runs and seven hits for Seattle. Walker had opened the season with four starts of at least six innings while allowing two or fewer runs, which tied a team record.

Hosmer capped the scoring with his fourth home run in the eighth.

“We knew we were going to have to find ways to scratch runs across the board, and we did a good job of that,” Hosmer said. “We had some things going on the bases today, we had some big hits.”

LINEUP SHUFFLE

Nori Aoki, Seattle’s usual leadoff hitter, was on the bench to start Sunday’s game. Mariners manager Scott Servais wanted to give 2B Cano some rest by slotting him at DH. With both Nelson Cruz and Seth Smith, who have split time at DH this year, in the outfield, Aoki was left out. Servais said Aoki, who has struggled at the plate so far this season, would remain the team’s usual leadoff hitter.

Aoki pinch-hit for 2B Luis Sardinas in the seventh inning and stayed in the game as the left fielder. Cano then moved from DH to 2B, taking the DH spot away for the Mariners.

TRAINING ROOM

Yost said reliever Luke Hochevar was not available for the game with soreness in his elbow. “As a precaution, we wanted to give him the day and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Yost said.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez (3-1, 3.64 ERA) opens the series against the Nationals on Monday, facing off against LHP Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 1.42 ERA).

Mariners: RHP Nate Karns (2-1, 3.63 ERA) goes in the series opener against Oakland on Monday. He will be opposed by RHP Kendall Graveman (1-2, 4.03).

— Associated Press —

Northwest men’s tennis defeats SBU to win MIAA Tournament title

Posted on May 1, 2016

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis team captured the 2016 MIAA Tournament title on Sunday with a win over Southwest Baptist 5-0 in Springfield.

No. 12 Northwest improved to 19-3 on the year with the victory while No. 18 SBU finishes with a 13-7 record.

This was the seventh year the MIAA has gone to a postseason tournament. The Bearcats have won all seven titles dating back to 2010. They’ve also won both the regular season and tournament titles each of the past seven seasons.

Northwest has secured the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Match Results
1. #16 Sherif Abohabaga (SBU) vs. #42 Romain Boissinot (NW) 6-7, 1-4, unfinished
2. Sergi Fontcuberta (NW) def. Chris Blodig (SBU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Gyorgy Argoston (SBU) vs. Alvaro Riveros (NW) 4-6, 2-2, unfinished
4. Torben Semrau (SBU) vs. Mauro Tete (NW) 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
5. Raul Cabaerlo (SBU) vs. Aymeric Autones (NW) 6-7
6. Fin Glowick (NW) def. Marcel Castillo (SBU) 6-2, 6-3

1. #16 Fontcuberta/Riveras (NW) def. Abohabaga/Argoston (SBU) 8-3
2. Boissinot/Autones (NW) def. Blodig/Semrau (SBU) 8-6
3. Tete/Altmann (NW) def. Cabalero/Omar Diab (SBU) 8-3

Northwest will await seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division II Selection Show scheduled for Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —