Dave Riggert – Page 606 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Lackey K’s 9, Cardinals beat Dodgers 3-0 for 5th in row

Posted on May 29, 2015

ST. LOUIS (AP) — John Lackey worked seven scoreless innings and the St. Louis Cardinals got just enough against Mike Bolsinger to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 for their fifth straight victory on Friday night.

The Cardinals ended Bolsinger’s streak of 18 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings on Randal Grichuk’s bases-loaded double play ball in the first. Jhonny Peralta doubled twice with an RBI and Grichuk, starting in left field in place of ailing Matt Holliday, batted cleanup for the first time and had an RBI double in the third.

The Dodgers have been shut out four straight times on the road, also getting outscored 10-0 in a three-game sweep at San Francisco May 19-21. Jimmy Rollins and Justin Turner had two hits apiece.

Lackey (3-3) struck out nine and allowed five hits, and the Dodgers got their lone runner in scoring position his final inning. Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner singled to open the seventh but Lackey retired the next three in order with two strikeouts.

Lackey is 6-3 with a 1.76 ERA against the Dodgers and beat them in Game 3 of the NL division series last fall.

Manager Don Mattingly was ejected for the third time this season for arguing a called third strike on Andre Ethier for the first out of the seventh inning. Catcher A.J. Ellis struck out all three at-bats and was ejected for the first time of his career for arguing ball four to Matt Carpenter in the bottom half with J.P. Howell pitching.

Bolsinger (3-1) gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He had won his previous three starts and allowed just one base runner in eight scoreless innings his last time out against San Diego, giving up a leadoff hit and then retiring 23 in a row.

Trevor Rosenthal earned his 14th save in 15 chances for St. Louis, which entered with a major league-best 2.76 ERA.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: Mattingly said C Yasmani Grandal would be activated from the 7-day disabled list from a concussion.

Cardinals: Holliday missed the game due to flu-like symptoms. Jon Jay, activated from the 15-day DL before the game, pinch hit in the eighth and fouled off nine pitches before singling off Paco Rodriguez.

UP NEXT

GNOME GIVEAWAY

The attendance of 44,223 attracted by a Whitey Herzog garden gnome giveaway was the Cardinals’ eighth sellout. The Hall of Fame manager waved to the crowd and held a gnome aloft during a break.

The Dodgers’ Carlos Frias (3-2, 5.34 ERA) surrendered a career-high 10 runs on 12 hits in four innings in a loss at San Diego on Sunday. Michael Wacha (7-0, 1.87) is tied for the NL lead in wins, and his ERA is among the league leaders.

— Associated Press —

Northwest Missouri State tennis earns spots in final national and regional rankings

Posted on May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Northwest Missouri State University men’s and women’s tennis teams were listed in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national and regional rankings. The Northwest men were ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 2 in the central region. Women’s senior Camila Quesada was ranked No. 37 in singles nationally.

MIAA Men’s Tennis Player of the Year Romain Boissinot finished the year ranked No. 35 nationally and was the No. 2 player in the central region. Mauro Tete finished the year ranked 13th in the region and Alvaro Riveros was No. 20. The doubles team of Riveros and Boissinot were ranked No. 9 in the region.

On the women’s side, Quesada earned the region’s No. 2 singles ranking. Quesada and Lorena Rivas Jarolim ranked No. 7 regionally in doubles. The Bearcat team finished the year ranked No. 5 in the final regional rankings.

— Northwest Sports Information —

St. Joseph uses seven-run sixth to cruise past Carroll 10-0

Posted on May 28, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs improved to 2-0 Thursday night as they defeated the Carroll (IA) Merchants 10-0 inside Phil Welch Stadium.

St. Joe’s summer college baseball team is now 2-0 as they broke open a 1-0 game with a seven-run sixth inning against Carroll.

The Mustangs pounded out 12 hits in the game as Ramsey Scott and Josh Cassidy had three hits each. Scott also drove in three runs, while Cassidy had two RBI and he scored twice.

Jacob Richardson and Scott Braren added two hits a piece, while Jackson Schnurbusch chpped in with two RBI.

Tanner Smith started the game and went five innings to earn the win. He walked five batters but allowed just one hit.

Humberto Medina and Ross Juliana came on in relief and each threw two perfect innings as the three St. Joe pitchers combined on a one-hitter and retired the last 13 batters they faced.

The Mustangs are back at home Friday night as they host Clarinda in their first MINK League game of the season. The first pitch is at 7:00 p.m. and it’ll air on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament stays in KC through 2020

Posted on May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Big 12 is keeping its men’s basketball tournament in Kansas City through at least 2020, and the conference plans for the baseball and women’s basketball tournaments to be held in Oklahoma City for multiple years.

Kansas City has annually hosted men’s basketball since 2010, and was already set for 2016 before the new multiyear agreement Thursday through 2020. The tournament was a sellout in each of the past two seasons, averaging more than 18,000 fans a game there.

The women’s tournament was in Dallas this year, and it was previously announced Oklahoma City would host in 2016. Pending final negotiations, that will extend to 2019.

Baseball is returning to Oklahoma City next year, and Big 12 officials said final negotiations are pending for that to go through 2020.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou to play Arkansas on Thanksgiving Friday for second-straight year

Posted on May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

DESTIN, FLA. – CBS Sports has selected a handful of Southeastern Conference football games for early television designation, and the two-time defending SEC Eastern Division champion Missouri Tigers will play on Thanksgiving Friday for the second-straight year against Western Division rival Arkansas.

Mizzou (11-3 overall, 7-1 in SEC play in 2014) will play at Arkansas (7-6, 2-6) on Friday, November 27th, with kickoff in Fayetteville set for 1:30 p.m. (central time) on CBS. Last season, Mizzou clinched the SEC Eastern Division title by knocking off Arkansas, 28-21, in Columbia on the Friday of Thanksgiving week (Nov. 28, 2014).

All other game times for the 2015 schedule are undetermined currently, as further television selections from the SEC will be forthcoming in the near future.

— MU Sports Information —

Mustangs open season with 7-4 win over Carroll

Posted on May 28, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs opened their 2015 season at home Wednesday night with a 7-4 victory over the Carroll (IA) Merchants.

St. Joe’s summer college baseball team got a go-ahead two-out RBI infield single from centerfielder Jacob Richardson in the seventh inning that drove in Orencio Fisher and broke a 3-3 tie.

St. Joseph added three more runs in the eighth inning for insurance and they held on for the three-run victory.

The Mustangs led 2-0 after two innings and 3-1 after three, but Carroll came back to tie the game with a two-run fifth inning.

Ramsey Scott finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Richardson and Scott Braren had two hits each and Anthony Maselli drove in two runs.

Mitch Steinhoff started for St. Joe and received a no-decision as he lasted 5.2 innings and allowed four hits and three runs. He struck out four and walked six batters.

Tony Yacovetta earned the win in relief as he went 1.1 innings and didn’t allow a run or a hit.

The Mustangs are back at home Thursday night as they host Carroll again at 7:00 p.m. inside Phil Welch Stadium. The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

Royals get sweep by Yankees for first time since 2007 in New York

Posted on May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez checked off another age-old milestone in a comeback season that’s surpassing almost anyone’s expectations.

The three-time MVP hit a three-run homer to break Lou Gehrig’s American League record for RBI, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Wednesday to finish a three-game sweep.

“I haven’t played a lot of baseball in the last two years, but I feel like I’m in a good place. I’m happy. I’m having fun,” said the 39-year-old Rodriguez, who sat out last season while serving a drug suspension.

“I think for me in a weird way the time off was a blessing in disguise. I was able to get some rest, change my workout regimen a little bit. I just feel like I’m in a better place and more explosive than I’ve been.”

Michael Pineda (6-2) rebounded from consecutive losses and Brian McCann hit a solo shot for the Yankees, who outscored the AL champions 23-4 in their first home sweep of Kansas City since August 2007.

Coming into the series, New York had lost six in a row and 10 of 11.

“We responded well, especially after getting swept by Texas,” reliever Dellin Betances said.

Mike Moustakas homered early for Kansas City, but Chris Young (4-1) gave up both Yankees long balls. The slumping Royals have dropped four straight for the first time since Aug. 28-31, mustering only five runs during the slide.

“A lot of it was Pineda. Some of it was us right now. We’re not swinging the bats. We’ve cooled off a little bit,” manager Ned Yost said.

Betances allowed an unearned run in the eighth — he has not yielded an earned run all year. Andrew Miller worked a 1-2-3 ninth and is perfect in 14 save opportunities.

“Our pitchers really showed up in this series against an offense that was swinging the bat really well,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Brett Gardner doubled to start the third, Chase Headley walked and Rodriguez pulled a line drive into the left-field corner that cleared the fence near the 318-foot sign.

Earlier this season, A-Rod passed Willie Mays (660) for fourth place on the career home run list. With No. 665 on Wednesday, he ended his season-worst homer drought at eight games and increased his career total to 1,995 RBI. The Yankees said that’s two more than Gehrig gets credit for from the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s official statistician.

Records get tricky when it comes to runs batted in, partly because RBI did not become an official stat until 1920. So while baseball-reference.com lists Gehrig with 1,995 RBI and Babe Ruth with 2,214, Elias puts Rodriguez ahead of both of them and behind only Barry Bonds (1,996) and Hank Aaron (2,297).

“You see the guys that he’s passing, and it’s really pretty amazing,” Girardi said. “It’s longevity, but it’s also being productive for an extremely long time.”

Rodriguez’s 11th homer of the season plus a single in the seventh left him 19 hits shy of 3,000.

“You see it all. You think about it. But right now, it’s about wins,” Rodriguez said. “We desperately needed these three wins against a great team. That’s a team over there that hopefully we’ll see in October.”

Rodriguez also pointed out he was “extremely grateful” to hear supportive comments last week from Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, who said the slugger has been “a great asset.”

“It certainly made me feel a lot more welcome, and I wouldn’t be here breaking these records if he didn’t give me a chance playing on his team,” Rodriguez said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Rios (broken left hand) was scheduled to be the DH for nine innings Wednesday night in his third rehab game with Triple-A Omaha, Yost said.

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (wrist tendinitis, forearm strain) threw 62 pitches over three innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He gave up three runs and four hits, including a homer, while striking out four and walking two against Pawtucket.

ROLLING ALONG

Carlos Beltran extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

SWISH!

Chris Mullin, the former St. John’s basketball star recently hired to coach his alma mater, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Wearing a No. 20 pinstriped Yankees jersey and a red St. John’s cap, the lefty fired wide from the mound, but reached the plate on a fly. He said it was his first visit to the new Yankee Stadium. “Everything I’ve been doing the last few months is kind of like being in a time machine,” he said. Mullin mentioned he played baseball as a kid but hated practicing. “It was the one sport I progressively got worse at,” he said.

UP NEXT

Royals: After a day off Thursday, the Royals play three interleague games against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. RHP Edinson Volquez, who is 7-0 vs. the Cubs, starts the series opener Friday against RHP Jake Arrieta.

Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (2-6, 5.47 ERA) starts Thursday night at Oakland in the opener of a seven-game West Coast trip. Coming off a dreadful outing vs. Texas, Sabathia is 8-10 with a 4.66 ERA against his hometown team.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis rallies in ninth to sweep Arizona

Posted on May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jason Heyward shook off a critical error with a game-tying homer. Peter Bourjos’ legs did the rest to ensure a St. Louis Cardinals sweep.

Heyward homered to tie it leading off the ninth inning and Bourjos’ slide at the plate upended catcher Jordan Pachecho resulting in a throwing error that allowed the winning run to score in a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

“I was going in hard, I had no intention of trying to hurt anybody,” Bourjos said. “I was trying to make it tough for them to turn a double play.”

Mark Trumbo homered for Arizona, which has lost nine of its last 10 against the Cardinals. The Diamondbacks have re-tooled with former Cardinals Tony La Russa as chief baseball officer, pitching consultant Dave Duncan and first base coach Dave McKay.

Pacheco replaced Tuffy Gosewisch, who jammed his left knee on a groundout in the sixth. Third baseman Yasmany Tomas threw home for a force out on Jhonny Peralta’s grounder against Brad Ziegler (0-1) and Pachecho tried for a double play but threw well above first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s head after Bourjos’ foot made contact with his back leg.

Pachecho had no issue with the play.

“I tried to get out of there as quick as I could,” he said. “He’s a fast guy. That’s what happens when you have speed on the bases.

“I wish I could say something about it, but it was a good slide.”

Nick Ahmed put the Diamondbacks ahead in the sixth scoring from first when Heyward booted the ball on pinch hitter David Peralta’s RBI single to right. Heyward popped out to short with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth.

“This game’s going to beat you up at times but you’ve got to put it past you,” Heyward said. “It’s not about you, it’s about your team.

“Thank goodness I was able to tie us up.”

Heyward said he’d been caught in-between trying to make the catch on Peralta’s hit.

“I try to catch everything all the time,” Heyward said. “But at times I find myself trying too hard to get there and come up too late.”

Gosewisch twisted and jumped to avoid a tag on an off-line relay and “landed on my leg kind of funny.”

“It probably looked like it was painful but once I got back inside and the doctor looked at it, he seems to think it’s nothing major,” Gosewisch said.

Kolten Wong hit his first career leadoff homer for St. Louis, which has won four straight. Mark Reynolds, the new first baseman replacing injured Matt Adams, had an RBI single.

Trumbo connected for the second time in the series for Arizona with a 425-foot drive to center leading off the fourth against Lance Lynn. Tomas extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single.

Matt Holliday set a Cardinals franchise record by reaching safely in 43 straight games to start the season, passing Albert Pujols’ 2008 standard. It’s the longest run in the majors since Derek Jeter set the big-league record with 53 in a row in 1999.

Seth Maness (1-0) got the last two outs of the ninth for St. Louis.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: 3B Jake Lamb (left foot stress reaction) played four innings and was 2 for 4 at extended spring training. He’s expected to play DH Thursday and could begin a rehab soon. David Hernandez (elbow surgery) struck out two in a scoreless inning for Double-A Mobile.

Cardinals: OF Jon Jay played the second game of what’s expected to be a brief rehab stint off a left wrist injury. The team expects to activate him off the DL on Friday.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: On Friday, Rubby De La Rosa makes his first career appearance against the Brewers. Goldschmidt is a career .386 hitter against Milwaukee with five homers and 15 RBI in 29 at-bats.

Cardinals: After a day off, John Lackey gets the call Friday to start a three-game series against the Dodgers. He’s 5-3 with a 1.93 ERA against the Dodgers and beat them in the NL division series last fall.

— Associated Press —

Heart agrees to TV partnership with ESPN and Niles Media Group

Posted on May 27, 2015May 28, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Heart of America Athletic Conference commissioner Lori Thomas has signed a historic agreement with the Niles Media Group to televise football games for the 2015 season. Games will be available on ESPN3, as well as in the Kansas City area on KSMO-TV, an affiliate of the Meredith Corporation.

Niles Media, located in Liberty, Mo., will produce a 13-game schedule that will be carried live in the Kansas City area on KSMO-TV as well as on ESPN3 with a consistent kickoff time of 11:00 a.m. CT.

As part of the broadcast schedule, the Raven Football program will be featured four times – Sept. 12 vs. Missouri Valley College, Sept. 19 at MNU, Oct. 10 vs. Culver-Stockton College and Oct. 31 at William Penn (Iowa) College.

“This is a great opportunity for the Heart of America Athletic Conference,” said Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis, chair of the conference’s council of presidents. “We are excited to have our alumni and friends that aren’t able to be at the games in person to be able to enjoy them on ESPN3 and KSMO-TV. The Heart is regarded as the best small college football conference in the country with six teams rated in the preseason top 25, so it is a nice opportunity to show off the Benedictine Ravens and the rest of the Heart of America Athletic Conference.”

All 12 teams will make at least one appearance on the schedule, while 11 of the 12 teams will have the opportunity to show off its respective campuses with a home contest. With the conference introducing divisional play for the 2015 season, the final game of the schedule will be kept open as a “flex” selection, providing the opportunity to select a game with championship implications.

“My goal as commissioner is to look for opportunities to improve the experience for student-athletes and coaches while raising the profile for institutions and the conference,” said Thomas. “To televise a 13-week football schedule achieves all of that. I want to thank Niles Media Group for their work and partnership with the Heart of America Athletic Conference to make this happen.”

“Niles Media Group and KSMO in Kansas City are proud to partner with the Heart of America Athletic Conference to produce and broadcast athletic events that showcase the institutions and student-athletes of this great conference,” said John Sprugel, Partner, Niles Media Group. “The Heart of America Athletic Conference and commissioner Lori Thomas are forward-thinking partners in their desire to brand, market and tell the great stories that these institutions and student-athletes exemplify in their daily pursuit of excellence. It is our honor and privilege to be actively involved in this partnership.”

Beginning on Saturday, August 29, at least one game will be televised each Saturday through the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday, November 14. Week two will include a doubleheader when Graceland travels to four-time defending conference champion Missouri Valley at 11:00 a.m. Conference newcomer Grand View will travel to Central Methodist in the second half of the doubleheader with kickoff set at Davis Field for 2:30 p.m.

2015 Television Schedule
Aug. 29 – Baker at Grand View, 11:00 a.m.
Sept. 5 – Graceland at Missouri Valley, 11:00 a.m.
Sept. 5 – Grand View at Central Methodist, 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 12 – Missouri Valley at Benedictine, 11:00 a.m.
Sept. 19 – Benedictine at MNU, 11:00 a.m.
Sept. 26 – Central Methodist at Graceland, 11:00 a.m.
Oct. 3 – Missouri Valley at Culver-Stockton, 11:00 a.m.
Oct. 10 – Culver-Stockton at Benedictine, 11:00 a.m.
Oct. 17 – William Penn at Peru State, 11:00 a.m.
Oct. 24 – MNU at Baker, 11:00 a.m.
Oct. 31 – Benedictine at William Penn, 11:00 a.m.
Nov. 7 – Evangel at Avila, 11:00 a.m.
Nov. 14 – Matchup TBA, 11:00 a.m.

— Courtesy Benedictine College Sports Information Office and Heart of America Athletic Conference —

St. Joseph Mustangs open 2015 season Wednesday night

Posted on May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

The St. Joseph Mustangs begin their seventh season Wednesday night as they host the Carroll (IA) Merchants at 7:00 PM inside Phil Welch Stadium.

The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here at StJosephPost.com.

St. Joe’s summer college baseball team is coming off a 41-18 season last year as they won their third MINK League championship and advanced to the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kansas for the fourth time in their first six years of existence.

The Mustangs bring back four position players (Evan McDonald, Kyle Richards, Josh Cassidy & Francisco Alvarez), six pitchers (Miles Gully, Dixon Marble, Blake Kolons, Tanner Smith, Trent Kinney & Austin Aspegren) and one that will both pitch and hit in Trent Hill.

There are also four St. Joseph natives on the roster as Dillon Mattice (Benton), Trevor Moeck (Central), Jonathan Zuptich (Bishop LeBlond) and Patrick Dillon (Bishop LeBlond) will play for the Mustangs this summer.

In the opener Wednesday against Carroll, left-handed pitcher Mitch Steinhoff will get the start on the mound as he was a redshirt this past season at Nebraska.

The rest of the starting lineup for Matt Johnson looks like this: Orencio Fisher LF (Missouri Western), Jacob Richardson CF (Barton CC), Evan McDonald 2B (Barton CC), Ramsey Scott 1B (Maple Woods), Scott Braren RF (Boston College), Francisco Alvarez (Arkansas State), Anthony Maselli 3B (Boston College), Josh Cassidy DH (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and Jackson Schnurbusch SS (Central Missouri).

The Spooner Bandits from Spooner, Wisconsin are actually playing as the Carroll Merchants this season. Spooner has secured an agreement to enter the MINK League officially in 2016 under the Carroll Merchants banner. The Bandits will play six games in Carroll in 2015, and the rest of their games on the road. Next year, the team will move to a full schedule in Carroll with an expected 22 homes games.

Again, the first pitch of the season opener for the St. Joseph Mustangs is at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.