Dave Riggert – Page 464 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Cardinals fall to Pittsburgh in 11 innings

Posted on April 5, 2016

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jordy Mercer singled home Gregory Polanco from second base with one out in the 11th inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Polanco, who agreed to a $35 million, five-year contract earlier in the day, drew a walk from Seth Maness (0-1) with one out and made it to second on Josh Harrison’s infield single. Mercer slapped a single to right for his fourth career game-ending hit.

Kyle Lobstein (1-0) pitched two innings of relief for the win. Andrew McCutchen had three hits for Pittsburgh. Mercer, Harrison and David Freese had two hits each.

Jedd Gyorko hit his first home run for St. Louis. Stephen Piscotty went 2 for 4 with two RBI.

Cardinals relievers retired 18 straight batters before Polanco’s walk started the winning rally.

Pittsburgh left-hander Jon Niese, acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Mets for popular second baseman Neil Walker, labored through five innings in his first start in a color other than blue and orange.

Niese gave up five runs, four earned, and five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. The defense behind him didn’t help.

Polanco took a wide route on Piscotty’s shot to the gap in the fifth that turned into a triple, and Piscotty scored as Mercer threw wide to first on a grounder to shortstop by Matt Holliday, putting the Cardinals up 5-3

St. Louis starter Michael Wacha, who won his first seven decisions in 2015 en route to his first All-Star appearance, struggled with his curveball and Pittsburgh pounced. Wacha gave up five runs, four earned, in 4 1/3 innings, leaving after four straight Pirates reached.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: St. Louis placed outfielder Tommy Pham on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain he aggravated in Sunday’s opener. … Backup catcher Brayan Pena underwent surgery to repair loose cartilage in his left knee. Pena is expected to be out a month.

Pirates: Gerrit Cole’s bumpy spring training appears to be behind him. The All-Star will make his first start of 2016 on Saturday in Cincinnati. Pittsburgh brought its ace along slowly after Cole dealt with rib issues in January.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Mike Leake will make his debut with St. Louis on Wednesday when the series wraps up. St. Louis signed Leake to a five-year, $80 million deal last December. The 28-year-old went 11-10 with a 3.70 ERA last season for Cincinnati and San Francisco. Leake is 8-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 24 career starts against the Pirates. He’s won his last seven decisions against Pittsburgh dating to Sept. 11, 2012.

Pirates: Juan Nicasio hopes to build off his impressive spring when he makes his first start for Pittsburgh. Nicasio beat out veteran Ryan Vogelsong for the final spot in Pittsburgh’s starting rotation after pitching 15 shutout innings in Grapefruit League play. The 29-year-old is 21-20 with a 5.12 ERA as a starter. He went 1/3 with a 3.86 ERA while working out of the bullpen in 2015 for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

— Associated Press —

MWSU’s Hamilton named MIAA softball Hitter of the Week

Posted on April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – An unforgettable week for Missouri Western softball player Taylor Hamilton has earned the freshman designated player MIAA Hitter of the Week honors.

The Cameron native slugged six home runs last week and hit .522 while piling up 17 RBIs as her team went 5-1. She hit walk-off home runs in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader with Fort Hays State. She had two, two-home run games on the week and started two back-to-back-to-back home run performances for the Griffons.

On Tuesday at Northwest Missouri State, Hamilton kicked off the first of three straight home runs that erased a five-run deficit with two out in the top of the seventh. She kicked off another three-straight home run rally in the fifth inning of game two against Fort Hays State. Her seven RBIs in that game tied a Missouri Western record set by Shelbie Atwell earlier this year. Hamilton slugged 1.348 on the week with 12 hits and 31 total bases. She also scored seven runs for the Griffons.

On the season, Hamilton is batting .372 with nine home runs and a team-high 45 RBIs. She’s also drawn a team-high 21 walks.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest’s Holler & Caenepeel earn weekly MIAA baseball honors

Posted on April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University’s James Holler and Anthony Caenepeel were each named the MIAA/AstroTurf Baseball Athletes of the Week in a release from the conference office on Tuesday. The junior duo helped lead the Bearcats to a 4-0 record last week, including a sweep of Pittsburg State over the weekend.

Holler hit .643 for the week in four contests, going 9-of-14 from the plate. He had 12 RBI, four runs scored and four doubles. On Friday, he hit a first-inning grand slam as part of a six-RBI performance. In addition, Holler had a 1.143 slugging percentage, a .688 on base percentage, drew one walk and was also hit by a pitch.

Caenepeel collected a pair of wins in two starts last week. He struck out a career-high 13 batters in a 6-1 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on March 29. For the week, Caenepeel went 15.0 innings, allowing four runs. He walked just three batters and struck out 16.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffon golf teams wrap up first day at Southern Bancorp Invite in Arkansas

Posted on April 5, 2016

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – The Missouri Western men’s and women’s golf teams finished the first day of the Southern Bancorp Invitational on Monday afternoon. The event is being played at the Big Creek Country Club.

Men’s Recap – Played from Black Tees. Course measured 7,235 yards – Par 72

Missouri Western Men’s Golf team currently sits fifth in the standings, shooting a 308 team score after one round of golf.

Ryan Hand fired a 73 after his first round of golf and currently sits tied for seventh in the individual standings. The Griffons also received a solid effort from Corey Knight as he shot a 75 in his first round, tying him for 12th. Jakob Rudosky scored a 77 in his first round.

MWSU is four strokes behind Southwest Baptist for fourth place and trail Lewis by 11 strokes for third place. Henderson State leads the tournament, firing a 285 team score.
Wess Webb of Henderson State scored a 68 in his first round of golf and leads the individual standings.

Women’s Recap – Played from Gold Tees. Course measured 5,892 yards – Par 72

Missouri Western Women’s Golf team scored a 316 team score in the first round of the Southern Bancorp Invitational, sitting in third place in the standings.

Shi Qing Ong and Madison Romjue were effective for the Griffons, each firing a 76 in the opening round of the tournament. They both sit tied for fourth place individually. Celine Lim had a 79 in her first round of competition.

The Griffons are seven strokes behind Central Oklahoma and trail Arkansas Tech by 20 strokes for first place. Missouri Western is one stroke ahead of Henderson State for third place.

Caroline Fredensburg scored a 70 in the opening round and sits in first place individually.

The second round of the tournament will continue tomorrow at the Big Creek Country Club.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats’ Pitts, Schneider selected for USA D-2 tour

Posted on April 5, 2016

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State Universty men’s basketball student-athletes Zach Schneider and Justin Pitts have been selected to play for the USA D-2 Men’s Basketball Team’s 2016 Brazil Tour. The tour will begin in Orlando, Fla., on May 10th. The tour runs from May 10-19, and will feature stops in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. The tour is sponsored by USA Sports Tours and Events. The men’s team will be coached by Doug Karleskint from the University of Central Missouri.

“This is an outstanding group of basketball players that come from 11 different states and 12 different colleges and universities,” said Ron Smith, Director of USA Sport Tours and Events. “We feel that we have some of the best of the best representing NCAA Division II basketball and their universities. These players have been high achievers both on the court and in the classroom. They represent everything good that the NCAA Division II institutions have to offer.”

Schneider is Northwest’s career leader in three pointers made with 262. He was a third team All-MIAA performer in 2015-16. The Prairie Village, Kan., native averaged 9.8 points per game and 35.5 minutes per contest. He started all 32 games he appeared in as a junior. Justin Pitts was the 2015-16 MIAA Player of the Year. He earned DII Bulletin Third Team All-America honors and D2 CCA honorable mention All-America accolades. Pitts averaged 21.7 points, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 36.4 minutes per game as a sophomore.

The team will head to Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 11 following orientation and practices in Orlando, Fla. On May 14th, the teams will hold a “Skills Clinic for the Youth of Jundiai.” The final two men’s games will take place in Rio de Janeiro. The team will tepart Brazil on May 18th and return to the USA on May 19th.

— Northwest Athletics —

MIAA announces 2016 Hall of Fame class

Posted on April 5, 2016

Kansas City, Mo. – Eleven Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association legends have been elected to the MIAA Hall of Fame Class of 2016, the conference office announced today. Included is an inaugural legacy member that is part of this 2016 class.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on June 1, 2016 in the Truman Forum Auditorium at the Kansas City Public Library – Plaza Branch, 4801 Main Street in Kansas City, Mo. Reservations for the event are available by visiting www.themiaa.com/sb_output.aspx?form=4 and filling out the form. Reservations will be given out on a first come, first served basis.

Below are the bios for the 2016 Hall of Fame class.

Becky Belland, Volleyball Athlete
Central Missouri, 1987-90
Belland was a three-time All-American earning NCAA Division II Player of the Year honors in 1990, the only Jennies volleyball player in history to receive that award. She was named the MIAA Player of the Year in 1989 and 1990. She still holds school records in career blocks, solo blocks and block assists.

Chris Brown, Football Athlete
Pittsburg State, 1992-95
Brown earned All-American honors three times between 1993 and 1995 earning consensus first team honors as a senior in 1995. He was a three-time first team All-MIAA selection and he was the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year during the 1995 season. He finished his career holding the school record in tackles. He also established a Division II Championship Game record with 21 tackles in the 1992 game.

Eric Czerniewski, Football Athlete
Central Missouri, 2006-10
Czerniewski was the 2010 Harlon Hill Trophy winner for the top player in Division II also earning consensus first team All-American honors. He set MIAA records for career passing yards, single season passing yards, completions and passing touchdowns.

Jim Frazier, Football Coach/Athletic Director
Missouri Southern, 1971-2000
Frazier lead MSSU to the NAIA National Football Title during the 1972 season and is the school’s all-time winningest football coach. Frazier would then serve as the director of athletics where under his tenure the school won 23 conference championships and one NCAA Division II National Championship. Frazier helped in the development and improvement of several MSSU facilities including Young Gymnasium, Fred G. Hughes Stadium and the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center.

Kenneth Gardner, Track and Field/Football/Basketball Coach, Director of Athletics
Truman, 1939-88
Gardner served as a football, basketball and track and field coach at Truman where from 1959 until 1968 he won every indoor and outdoor MIAA Championship in track and field. He coached 39 individual NCAA Division II All-Americans and 11 individual National Champions. He also served as the Athletics Director for the Bulldogs from 1974 until his retirement in 1988.

Aaron McConnell, Football Athlete
Pittsburg State, 2000-03
McConnell was named an All-American in each of his four seasons with the Pittsburg State football program including being a consensus first team selection and the MIAA Defensive Player of the year in 2003.

Jeanette (Mott) Owens, Cross Country/Track and Field Athlete
Pittsburg State, 1998-2002
Owens earned five All-American honors in track and field including winning the National Championship in the steeplechase in 2002 for Pittsburg State. In cross- country she also earned two All-American honors winning the MIAA Cross Country title twice. She was named a COSIDA Academic All-American in 2002 as well as the Ken B. Jones award winner for Female Student Athlete of the Year.

Neal Philpot, Football Athlete
Pittsburg State, 2001-04
Philpot was named a two-time All-American at quarterback for the Gorillas during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. He set MIAA career records for total offense and rushing yards for a quarterback. In his career he went 38-8 as the PSU starting quarterback, which was the second highest win total in NCAA Division II at the time.

Eddin Santiago, Men’s Basketball Athlete
Missouri Southern, 1998-2002
Santiago holds the MIAA career record in both steals and assists. His 383 steals mark ranks second all-time in Division II. He was a three-time first team All-MIAA selection and was twice named an All-American earning MVP of the 2000 NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament.

Delanie Walker, Football Athlete
Central Missouri, 2004-05
Walker was a two-time All-MIAA and All-Region selection for the Mules. He has the third highest single game reception total in UCM program history. He has played in the NFL after being drafted in 2005 where he has 340 career receptions for over 4,000 yards and 234 touchdowns scored. He was named to the pro-bowl at the end of the 2015 season.

A.J. McDonald, Basketball and Golf Coach (LEGACY Inductee)
Southwest Missouri State, 1925-69
The first legacy member inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame, McDonald won five conference titles as a basketball coach and 17 MIAA titles as a golf coach. He would coach the golf team to six straight regional titles between 1959 and 1963 with the team winning the national title in the 1963 season.

— MIAA Press Release —

Northwest’s Fontcuberta earns weekly MIAA tennis honor

Posted on April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis freshman Sergi Fontcuberta has been named the MIAA’s co-Athlete of the Week in a release from the conference on Monday. Fontcuberta helped lead the No. 16 ranked Bearcats to a 4-0 week, including three MIAA victories.

Fontcuberta won all four of his singles matches at the No. 3 position. He also went a perfect 4-0 at No. 1 doubles with teammate Alvaro Riveros. On March 28, they beat the nation’s No. 16 ranked doubles team from Washburn, 8-6.

The Northwest men’s team heads to Bolivar, Mo., on Thursday, April 7, to take on Ouachita Baptist at 11 a.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

Mizzou’s Pingeton to be inducted into Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame

Posted on April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Mizzou Women’s Basketball head coach Robin Pingeton will be inducted into the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame, it was announced Sunday. Pingeton is a former NAIA All-American in basketball and softball at St. Ambrose University. She also was the women’s basketball head coach for the Fighting Bees from 1992-2000, going 192-76 (.716) and twice leading the program to the NAIA Elite Eight.

As a basketball standout, Pingeton established a school record with 2,502 points that still stands. Following her college career, she spent three seasons playing professionally in the Women’s Basketball Association.

After taking over the program as head coach in 1992, Pingeton led St. Ambrose to five NAIA national tournament appearances in eight seasons, including the Elite Eight in 1995-96 and 1999-2000.

Pingeton will be inducted at the 35th annual Salute to Sports banquet at Bettendorf (Iowa) High School on May 4. A plaque highlighting her induction will be added to the suite level at Modern Woodmen Park, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits, a Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Pat Angerer and NBA veteran Ricky Davis are also part of the induction class.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Royals raise championship banner, hold off Mets 4-3 in season opener

Posted on April 3, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The reigning champion Kansas City Royals picked up where they left off in November, beating Matt Harvey and the New York Mets 4-3 on Sunday night in the first opening-day rematch of a World Series.

With runners at the corners in the ninth inning, All-Star closer Wade Davis struck out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes to preserve the win.

Edinson Volquez (1-0), who started the decisive Game 5 at Citi Field last fall, allowed two hits and three walks over six scoreless innings, his night curtailed by an inflated pitch count rather than anything the Mets did.

It wasn’t until Joakim Soria came on in the eighth that New York rallied, scoring three times on Lucas Duda’s two-run single and Neil Walker’s RBI groundout. Luke Hochevar struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to strand runners on first and second.

Davis promptly got into another jam in the ninth before holding on.

Harvey (0-1) allowed four runs — three earned — on eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings for the Mets.

There wound up being little good about opening night for the NL East champs, still in search of their first championship in three decades. They spent nearly an hour before the first pitch reliving last year’s World Series defeat through a steady stream of highlights on the crown-shaped big screen, then had to watch the raising of the championship banner over the Royals Hall of Fame in left field at Kauffman Stadium.

Things didn’t get a whole lot better once the game began.

Cespedes, the Gold Glove outfielder whose shoddy fielding hurt the Mets in the Series, dropped an easy fly ball in the first inning that ultimately led to the Royals’ opening run.

Kansas City then strung together a couple of singles before Kendrys Morales popped a sacrifice fly to center in the fourth, and Alex Gordon and Omar Infante added two-out RBI singles in the sixth.

Volquez and the Kansas City defense had things well in hand by that point.

The right-hander escaped a jam by getting Travis d’Arnaud to ground out in the second inning, then watched first baseman Eric Hosmer make a nice diving stop to escape a sticky spot in the third. All-Star catcher Salvador Perez threw out Michael Conforto trying to steal second base to end the fourth.

The biggest misstep Volquez made may have been fashion-related — he wore his spring training hat with a gold crown over the interlocking “KC” to start the game. He swapped it out for the proper one before taking the field for the second inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: Harvey got the start despite having a blood clot in his bladder that led to a minor procedure last week. “When the word `blood clot’ came up, that’s severe stuff,” manager Terry Collins said. “We started to look at alternative plans and what we might do down the road. Fortunately, it came out he’s going to be OK.”

Royals: RF Jarrod Dyson was milling around the clubhouse before the game. He’s out a few more weeks with an oblique injury that he sustained in the first game of spring training.

MORE BLING

During the pregame festivities, DH Morales picked up his Silver Slugger Award, and 1B Hosmer, C Perez and SS Alcides Escobar got their Gold Gloves. The remaining members of last season’s team are scheduled to get their championship rings before Tuesday’s game.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard, whose inside pitch to Escobar in Game 3 was a flashpoint of the World Series, takes the mound Tuesday. Syndergaard allowed three runs in six innings in a 9-3 victory that night.

Royals: RHP Chris Young started Game 4 of the World Series against New York. He also earned the win in Game 1 when he tossed three scoreless innings in a 5-4, 14-inning victory.

— Associated Press —

Griffons lose series finale against Lindenwood

Posted on April 3, 2016

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Missouri Western Baseball fell to Lindenwood 9-6 on Sunday afternoon. It’s the Griffons second straight loss after winning seven in a row prior to this weekend.

Missouri Western allowed eight runs in the first three innings and was held scoreless until the seventh inning. Lindenwood opened the game with two-runs in the first inning, five runs in the second inning and added one more run in the third inning.

The Griffon offense came alive in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring all six runs with two-outs in the inning.

MWSU’s rally was started with a Landon Mason single and an Orencio Fisher walk. Cosmino Cannella drove in the first two runs for the Griffons with a deep fly ball to center field. The bases were eventually loaded via two straight walks and Jeremy Alvarado capitalized with a grand slam, moving the score to 8-6 in favor of the Lions.

The Lions were held to just one more run in the top of the eighth inning. Preston Bailey came in the third inning and allowed just five hits in seven innings of work. Bailey added seven strikeouts to his line as well.

Cannella and Mason were the only Griffons with multiple hits in the game. Alvarado finished with a team-high four RBIs and Cannella added two RBIs on the day.

The Griffons are in action next weekend at Central Oklahoma with the series starting on Friday at 2 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —