Dave Riggert – Page 625 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Western women remain sixth, men in eight after second round of MIAA Championship

Posted on April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team held steady in sixth place at the MIAA Championship after shooting a second round score of 335. Missouri Western has a total score of 683 and trail tournament leader Central Oklahoma by 52 strokes after two rounds of play.

Freshman Celine Lim improved her score by 11 strokes in the second round of the MIAA Championship, scoring a 77. Lim is currently tied for 12th place. The other Griffon in the top-20 is Madison Romjue, recording an 85 in both of her rounds. Tiffanie Yabut and Amber Chivington both improved their scores in the second round as well, scoring an 85 and 88, respectively.

Missouri Western is 10 strokes behind Central Missouri for fifth place and 12 strokes behind Nebraska-Kearney in fourth place. Central Oklahoma leads the tournament with a 631 and Lindenwood is second with a 644 after day two.

Baylee Price is the individual tournament leader, scoring a 74 first round and an 80 in her second round of competition.

The Griffon men’s team moved into a tie for eighth place with Nebraska-Kearney after shooting a second round score of 316. Missouri Western improved their score by 19 strokes on the second day and have an accumulated total of 651.

All five players improved their scores for Missouri Western on day two at the MIAA Championship. Scott Sheldon is currently leading the team with a 160 over his first two rounds. Sheldon and Jakob Rudosky both recorded a 79 in their second round. Savannah native Ryan Hand tallied a score of 78 in his second round, improving his score by 11 strokes. James O’Brien and Corey Knight recorded an 80 and 81 respectively.

Missouri Western sits three strokes behind Northeastern St. for seventh place while Lincoln and Southwest Baptist are tied with a 638 at fifth place.

The MIAA Championship also has a tie on the individual leader board with Cy Moritz of Central Missouri and Eric Kline of Central Oklahoma each scoring a 147 in their first two rounds.

The final round of the event will conclude on Wednesday in Lawrence, Kansas at the Alvamar Golf Club.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats lose seventh straight as they fall to Midland Tuesday

Posted on April 21, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team fell to Midland University 13-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Bearcat Field in Maryville, Mo.

The Bearcats are now 19-25 on the year while Midland improves to 23-28.

This was the last non-conference game of the season for Northwest. It was also the team’s final regular season home game.

Nick Gotta was 2-for-3 on the day with a walk. Kevin Handzlik, Steven Garber and Adam Pennington each recorded an RBI.

Zach Douglas, Austin Wulff and James Holler each picked up hits.

Northwest used seven pitchers in the game. Taylor Bruch worked a scoreless 1.1 innings with three strikeouts.

Hondo Pearcy worked a scoreless sixth inning with a strikeout. Nikko Pablo pitched the ninth, allowing no hits, no runs and recorded a strikeout.

Northwest Missouri State will face Missouri Western in the final series of the regular season. First pitch is scheduled for Friday in St. Joseph, Mo.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Kansas City’s Herrera suspended five games for throwing behind Lawrie

Posted on April 21, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Major League Baseball suspended Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera five games and fined him and pitcher Yordano Ventura on Tuesday after both targeted Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie during a testy series over the weekend.

Herrera was tossed in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game after throwing behind Lawrie, the second time he had thrown inside to him. Ventura was ejected on Saturday when he hit Lawrie with a 99 mph fastball above the left elbow immediately after Josh Reddick’s home run.
Kelvin Herrera has been suspended five games for throwing behind Oakland’s Brett Lawrie. AP Photo/Ed Zurga

Herrera was to start his suspension Tuesday night against Minnesota, however he is appealing the punishment, according to multiple reports.

“Nobody likes going through what we went through this weekend, nobody,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Nobody likes it, but it happens.”

The incidents came after Lawrie’s hard, late slide into Alcides Escobar covering second base Friday night left the Kansas City shortstop with a sprained left knee. Escobar and several of his teammates called it a “dirty slide” and unnecessary given the situation.

Lawrie said he texted an apology to a phone number for Escobar he got from Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. Escobar denied receiving the text.

The incident on Friday night triggered both benches and bullpens to empty, though no punches were thrown. And it led to a tense series between teams that met in last year’s AL wild-card game, which the Royals won in come-from-behind fashion in 12 innings.

The benches cleared again Saturday after Ventura’s pitch, and for a third time Sunday, when the teams began playing a dangerous game of dodgeball involving 90-plus heat.

The Athletics’ Scott Kazmir started things off by hitting Lorenzo Cain. Both teams were issued warnings by plate umpire Greg Gibson, and Yost came out to argue. He was immediately tossed from the game along with pitching coach Dave Eiland.

Things settled down until the eighth, when Herrera threw inside to Lawrie. Moments later, he sent a 100 mph fastball behind Lawrie’s shoulders and was quickly ejected. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu and Escobar, who had been in the dugout, also were tossed.

“I don’t mean to hurt anybody,” Herrera said. “Just trying to throw inside, but a bad grip on that fastball. It started raining pretty good. And they just tossed me out.”

Herrera did point to his head as he left — what he called a “think about it” warning.

“That’s what got me hot,” Lawrie said. “That’s what got me mad. You can’t throw at my head and then say, ‘Next time I face you, it’s in the head. He needs to pay for that.”

The Royals were already on edge when the series began after a number of their players had been hit by pitches earlier this season. Among them was outfielder Alex Rios, who landed on the disabled list with a broken finger after getting hit by Twins rookie J.R. Graham.

Kansas City players were hit 14 times in the team’s first 13 games.

“At first I thought it was more of a fluke. Now I’m starting to think the other way a little bit,” Yost said. “Hopefully it’ll slow down a little here.”

— Associated Press —

Volquez leads KC to 7-1 win over Twins in series opener

Posted on April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edinson Volquez is quickly proving his breakthrough season of a year ago was no fluke.

The Royals right-hander held down the Twins for seven innings Monday night, and Kansas City’s opportunistic offense took advantage of a series of Minnesota miscues in a 7-1 victory.

“It feels good because the way I’m pitching, I’m carrying over everything,” said Volquez, who went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA for Pittsburgh. “Just trying to do what I did last year.”

Royals manager Ned Yost said that pitching coach Dave Eiland has been working on mechanics with Volquez (2-1) that have allowed him to pitch even better than he did with the Pirates. He only allowed five hits and a walk while striking out five against Minnesota.

“We’ve been talking about him since he first got here,” Yost said. “We felt last year was a big year for him. He really turned the corner with his mechanics on some things.”

Alcides Escobar returned from a sprained knee to score a run Monday night, and Kendrys Morales and Paulo Orlando drove in a pair each as the Royals finally figured out Kyle Gibson.

Their nemesis gave up four runs in five-plus innings after beating the Royals the first four times he faced them. Gibson (1-2) was dominant last week in a 3-1 victory at Target Field.

“Gibby didn’t have his best command, four walks and a couple of wild pitches,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He was struggling with his feel for off-speed pitches. His last start he had a good slider and changeup. Tonight he had to battle with his fastball.

“He didn’t give up a lot of hits, but had a lot of base runners with the base on balls.”

Gibson also didn’t have the kind of defense that Kansas City has behind him.

After first baseman Eric Hosmer threw the ball away trying to start a double play in the second inning — helping to contribute to Minnesota’s only run — he was on the receiving end of a double-play relay to end the threat. Alex Gordon also made a diving catch in left field, and Mike Moustakas made a couple of difficult plays at third base look routine.

The Royals left the bases loaded against Gibson in the second, but they evened the score in the third. Escobar doubled to lead off the inning, went to third on Moustakas’s groundout, then trotted home easily when Gibson’s pitch in the dirt got away from catcher Kurt Suzuki.

The score remained deadlocked until the sixth, when the Twins’ Oswaldo Arcia dropped a slicing liner from Moustakas in left field. Hosmer worked a full-count walk, and Morales hit a double down the left-field line to give Kansas City its first lead of the game.

Hosmer scored moments later on a wild pitch by reliever Blaine Boyer, and Perez added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 through six innings.

Morales added an insurance run in the eighth when the Twins lost track of a pop fly in shallow right field, and Orlando’s two-run triple moments later put things out of reach.

Kelvin Herrera breezed through the eighth inning in relief of Volquez, and former Phillies closer Ryan Madson handled the ninth inning to wrap up the win.

“We’ve had a few of those games where they’ve had shape for a while and then things kind of broke down for us,” Molitor said. “We missed the play in left and we can’t contain them at the end to give ourselves a chance.”

TRIPLE TROUBLE

Orlando has been a solid fill-in for OF Alex Rios, who continues to recover from a broken finger. His triple against Minnesota was his fifth in 26 at-bats.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) is scheduled to make a rehab start Saturday for Class A Cedar Rapids. He threw off a mound Sunday with no problems.

Royals: 2B Omar Infante was feeling better after straining his left groin Sunday. Manager Ned Yost said the positive news put a hold on any plans to place him on the DL.

UP NEXT

Twins: LHP Tommy Milone (2-0) went 5 1/3 innings to beat the Royals last Thursday.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (1-1) allowed 10 hits and five runs in three innings against the Twins last Thursday. It was his shortest start since 2011.

— Associated Press —

MWSU women sixth, men ninth after first day of MIAA golf championship

Posted on April 20, 2015

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Missouri Western women’s golf team is in sixth place after the first round of the MIAA Championship at the Alvamar Golf Club. MWSU opened the first round with a score of 348 and tournament leader Central Oklahoma finished with a 320.

The Griffons trail Central Missouri by one stroke and Nebraska-Kearney by 10 strokes.

Western was led by sophomore Madison Romjue, who is currently tied for sixteenth place after recording a first round score of 85. Callie Wilson finished second on the team with an 87 first round score. Celine Lim and Tiffanie Yabut each posted an 88 on their scorecard.

The tournament lead belongs to Baylee Price of Northeastern St., as she scored a 74 in her first round.

The Missouri Western men’s golf team finished with a 335 in their first round in Lawrence, which has them ninth in the standings at the MIAA Championship.

Central Missouri leads the tournament, recording a 310 in their opening round of competition. The Griffons sit two strokes behind Northeastern St. for eighth place and six strokes behind Southwest Baptist for seventh place.

Senior Scott Sheldon led the team with a first round score of 81 and tied for 18th individually. James O’Brien and Corey Knight scored an 83 and 84, respectively in their first round.

The tournament leader is Cy Mortiz of Central Missouri, he tallied a 74 on his first round scorecard. Central Oklahoma’s Eric Kline trails by one stroke, scoring a 75 in his round.

The MIAA Championship will continue tomorrow at the Alvamar Golf Club.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Griffon men’s basketball signs three for 2015-2016 season

Posted on April 20, 2015

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western men’s basketball head coach Brett Weiberg has announced the signing of three student-athletes for the 2015-16 season. All three signees have ties to the state of Iowa and one has a family connection to Griffon Basketball.

Mataika Koyamainavure
Suva, Fiji / Southwestern Community College
6-8, Forward

Brother of Griffon Women’s Basketball student-athlete, Miliakere Koyamainavure…second team All-Region at Southwestern Community College where he averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game…won MVP awards all four years as a high school player at Marist Brothers High School…his favorite athlete is Tim Duncan…plans on majoring in communications…dream job would be broadcasting.

“Mataika is an exceptional young man,” Weiberg said. “He is a quality student and is the type of person we want here at MWSU. Mataika is a big, physical power forward that can post and also play facing the basket. He will come in and compete for playing time immediately. Mataika played for Todd Lorenson at SWICC and Todd has done a great job developing Matiaka. I also believe his better days are ahead of him.”

Trey Sampson
Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Des Moines Area Community College
6-0, Guard

Second team All-Region, averaging 10.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game at DMACC…two-sport athlete at Xavier High School…second-team All-Conference and first team All-Metro in basketball…first team Alll-State and All-Metro in football…second team All-Conference in football…plans on majoring in biology…would like to be a marine biologist…favorite athlete is Bo Jackson…chose MWSU because it felt like family.

“I am pleased that Trey has decided the join the Griffon Basketball Family,” Weiberg said. “He is a young man that can really shoot the ball. Trey defends at a high level and he was a very important part of the DMACC team that won their conference and made it to the Final Four of the NJCAA National Tournament. Trey plays with passion and plays hard. Most importantly, Trey is an outstanding young man, a good student and a fantastic teammate and competitor. Coach BJ McGuinn and his staff have done an excellent job developing Trey.”

Miles Wentzien
Ft. Madison, Iowa / Ft. Madison High School
6-3, Guard

Lettered four years in basketball and golf and two years in baseball…all-time leading scorer at Fort Madison High School…averaged 23 points, eight rebounds, three steals and five assists per game…host of honors as a high school basketball player, including conference MVP, Academic All-Conference, All-District and All-State (on-court and academically)…undecided on his major.

“Miles is a young man that we have recruited all year,” Weiberg said. “He is a strong, physical guard. Although Miles is the all-time leading scorer at Fort Madison High School, we feel that one of his best attributes is defending. We believe Miles is a competitor and a leader and we expect him to have an opportunity to play. More importantly, Miles is a good young man, a good student and will be a great teammate. Miles played for Jon Schmitz at Fort Madison. Coach Schmitz has done a great job with Miles.”

Koyamainavure, Sampson and Wentzien join Calvin Winker as signees to the 2015-16 team. Winker’s signing was announced in November. The team went 12-15 and 8-11 in the MIAA in Weiberg’s second season as the head coach. They advanced to the MIAA Tournament, losing in the first round at Central Oklahoma. Weiberg and his staff will be looking to replace four departed seniors, including All-MIAA honorable mention selection Cortrez Colbert. Zack Price, Dareon Jones and Hans Thun were the team’s other three seniors.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State sweeps weekly MIAA tennis honors

Posted on April 20, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University tennis student-athletes Aniek Kolen and Fin Glowick were each named MIAA Tennis Athletes of the Week in a release from the league office on Monday.

Kolen went a perfect 6-0 last week in singles and doubles play as the Bearcats went 3-0 in MIAA play. Kolen won at No. 3 singles against Washburn and picked up wins over Nebraska-Kearney and Lindenwood at the No. 4 position. She paired with Stephanie Mannix to win at No. 3 doubles in all three matches last week.

Glowick helped lead the Bearcat men’s team to a 3-1 record last weekend. Glowick went a perfect 4-0 at No. 3 doubles with Josef Altmann, including a win over Division I member UMKC. He was 3-1 in singles play during the week. He picked up wins at No. 6 singles against Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney. He had a win at No. 5 singles against Lindenwood. The lone blemish came at No. 5 singles against UMKC.

The Bearcats head to Emporia, Kan., for a 6 p.m. match with the Hornets on Tuesday, April 21.

— Northwest Sports Information —

KU hires former Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider as women’s basketball coach

Posted on April 20, 2015

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Brandon Schneider, who has led Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball to the 2014 and 2015 Southland Conference regular-season titles, has been named head women’s basketball coach at the University of Kansas.

Schneider will be formally announced at a press conference scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 at 10 a.m., in the Allen Fieldhouse media room.

In five seasons at SFA, Schneider’s teams have won 95 games and reached postseason play three times, including an appearance in the championship game of the 2014 Women’s Basketball Invitational.

Before going to SFA, Schneider won 306 games and the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championship at Emporia State University in Kansas. He led the Lady Hornets to 11 NCAA tournament appearances in his 12 seasons in Emporia, winning 81 percent of his games there. In addition to the 2010 NCAA Championship, his Lady Hornets reached the Division II Final Four in 1999, two Elite Eights (2000 and 2006) and three Sweet 16’s (2001, 2005, 2008).

Schneider is a 1995 graduate of Wayland Baptist University and was a four-year letterman in basketball. He came to coaching naturally: His father, Bob, won more than 1,000 women’s basketball games in a coaching career that spanned 43 years, and coached West Texas A&M to the NCAA Division II Championship game in 1988.

“Brandon is an excellent fit for the University of Kansas,” said KU Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger. “He is an exceptional teacher, and someone who has spent his entire career in Kansas and Texas. He is known as a terrific recruiter and a firm, knowledgeable coach. And we know he has coaching in his blood, having watched his dad have so much success for so many years. We are confident that Brandon’s teams at KU will display the same tenacity and competitiveness that his teams have shown at Emporia State and Stephen F. Austin.”

— KU Sports Information —

Royals overcome five ejections to beat Athletics 4-2

Posted on April 19, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — After Oakland and Kansas City cleared the benches for the third straight game and five more Royals got ejected, Lorenzo Cain tried to put a positive spin on the day.

“We didn’t get into a fight, so that’s always good,” he said.

Hit by a pitch early, Cain came back to deliver a key blow, a tying double during a three-run rally in the eighth inning that sent the Royals over Oakland 4-2 on a tense Sunday.

Cain stole third after his hit and later scored on Kendrys Morales’ go-ahead double.

The trouble started right away when Kansas City manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland were ejected in the first inning after Cain was hit by a pitch from Scott Kazmir. That prompted plate umpire Greg Gibson to warn both teams.

“I’m not really sure if it was intentional,” Cain said. “I felt like it was intentionally. He (Kazmir) did ask if I was OK.”

“No one likes getting hit. It doesn’t feel good. It was definitely an intense series. A lot of guys got hit by pitches. A lot of bench clearings,” he said.

Cain said that at least the sides avoided a brawl.

“Fighting is not the most important thing. Winning the ballgame, beating those guys is what hurts. The way we beat them tonight is huge,” he said.

In the eighth, Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera was tossed after throwing a 100 mph fastball behind Brett Lawrie. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu, the acting manager after Yost’s ejection, got tossed during an ensuing argument, as did injured Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar.

“I don’t mean to hurt anybody,” Herrera said. “I was just trying to throw inside, but just a bad grip on that fastball. It started raining pretty good. And they just tossed me out of the game.”

Herrera pointed to his head as he went into the dugout, which irritated Lawrie.

“That’s what got me hot. That’s what got me mad. You can’t throw at my head and then say, `Next time I face you, it’s in the head,” Lawrie said. “He needs to play for that. He doesn’t throw 85. He throws 100.”

Lawrie was in the middle of the problems all weekend. His late slide forced Escobar to leave early Friday night — the shortstop called it a “dirty slide” and didn’t play the rest of the weekend.

On Saturday, Royals ace Yordano Ventura was ejected when he Lawrie with a pitch after Josh Reddick homered.

Herrera said he pointed to his head to say “think about it.”

“Do whatever you want to do, I’m out of the game already,” he said.

Said A’s manager Bob Melvin: “What are you going to do?”

“Brett got put in a tough situation. The umpires got it right. The umpires did the right things. It’s hard when they’re throwing at your head. It makes you uncomfortable.”

With Kansas City trailing 2-1 in the eighth, Kazmir walked Paulo Orlando and Cain hit a one-out RBI double off Eric O’Flaherty (0-1). Cain stole third, Eric Hosmer walked and Morales doubled to deep center.

Franklin Morales (1-0) threw two pitches, retiring Lawrie on a popout.

With Greg Holland on the disabled list because of a pectoral strain, Wade Davis struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save.

Ben Zobrist hit a pair of run-scoring singles against Royals starter Danny Duffy.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: Zobrist exited in the fifth inning with left knee soreness. “I jammed it pretty hard,” he said. “I didn’t feel I had the range to stay in the game. It didn’t feel right. I iced it. But it’s not swelling up. I’ll have to see how I wake up tomorrow.”

Royals: 2B Omar Infante left with a strained left groin in the fifth. Orlando Calixte ran for Infante, making his major league debut.

YOU SNOOZE, YOU WIN

After being tossed in the first inning, Yost joked he fell asleep on the new comfortable couch in the manager’s office. “By the time I woke up everybody was screaming and yelling in the locker room,” he said.

BUTLER’S STREAK ENDS

A’s DH Billy Butler went 0 for 2 and walked twice, snapping his 12-game hitting streak.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Rookie RHP Kendall Graveman starts Monday at Anaheim in the first game of a four-game series that continues a three-city trip.

Royals: C Salvador Perez has one single in 12 at-bats against Minnesota RHP Kyle Gibson, who is slated to start Monday.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western tennis comes up short at Central Oklahoma

Posted on April 19, 2015April 19, 2015

EDMOND, Okla. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team fell to Central Oklahoma 5-4 after returning to action on Sunday afternoon. The Griffons are now 10-8 overall and sit 4-5 in MIAA competition, ranking them sixth in the conference.

Missouri Western fell behind early in singles matches with the No. 1, No. 2 and No.3 positions all coming up short. The Griffons did manage to snag two singles victories, coming from Yasmine El Ghazi and Meara Smith. El Ghazi won 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 4 position and Smith earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory in her match.

In doubles matches, the Griffons won the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Sarah Giraldo and El Ghazi won their match 8-4 while Sophia Aguilera and Kayla Dysart won 8-6.

Missouri Western will finish up their trip to Oklahoma on Monday with a match against Southern Nazarene and Northeastern St. starting at 9 a.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —