Dave Riggert – Page 930 – St. Joseph Post Archive

No. 6 Griffons lose series finale to Central Missouri

Posted on April 21, 2013April 22, 2013

No. 8 Central Missouri put together a two-run ninth inning to sneak a win past No. 6 Missouri Western Sunday afternoon at Griffon Spring Sports Complex.

Missouri Western fell behind 4-1 after three innings, but the Griffons dominated the middle of the game with a two-run fourth inning and two-run eighth inning, taking a 5-4 lead.

Spencer Shockley singled to left center and Grant Fink followed with a double in the bottom of the fourth. Jimmy Smelcer hit a single to score Shockley, and on the next bat Jake Schrader doubled to draw within one.

After three scoreless inning, Bubba Dotson tripled to score Michael Schulze and tie the game at four. Kyle Simpson singled up the middle for the go-ahead run, but the Mules got out of the inning down by just one run.

Behind 5-4, UCM had two outs before Mules designated hitter Barrett Noirfalise singled to left field. On the next bat second baseman Jon Cotter doubled to right field to score Noirfalise.

Samuel Domingue, the Mules No. 1 batter singled to shortstop and after the bases were loaded, Logan Hollingsworth, who picked up his first loss of the season, walked Kyle Grieshaber, who had the only home run in the game — a two-run blast in the third inning — to take the 6-5 lead.

Still, the Griffons had a chance to pick up the victory in the bottom of the ninth. Fink singled and Smelcer walked to bring to runners on with no outs. But after Payton Scarbrough fouled a bunt attempt to first baseman John Oropeza, Shawn Egge grounded out to the pitcher to move the runners to second and third base. But Mules pitcher Zach Davis struck out Michael Schulze to end the game.

Central improves to 31-9 and 25-8 in the conference, while Missouri Western still leads the MIAA with a 32-7 record overall and 26-4 in the conference. The Mules also won game two on Saturday, giving the Griffons their first back-to-back losses since opening weekend, when the Griffons dropped two straight to Arkansas Tech.

Several Griffons had multiple hits on the day. Shockley, Simpson and Fink all went 2-for-4. Smelcer was 2-for-3. The Griffons had 11 hits and the Mules finished with nine.

Next up for the Griffons is a doubleheader set for Wednesday night against Washburn. Times are scheduled for 4 and 6 p.m. It will be the final home games of the regular season.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats finish off sweep of Lincoln and extend win streak to five

Posted on April 21, 2013April 21, 2013

The Northwest Missouri State baseball team scored in every inning but two completing a sweep of Lincoln with a 10-3 win Sunday.

The Bearcats extended their winning streak five games with the sweep and improved to 19-25 on the season.

Another solid pitching performance from the Bearcats helped Northwest hold Lincoln at bay. Chase Anderson picked up the win after scattering 11 hits over seven innings of work and only allowing one earned run.

Northwest jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Eric McGlauflin doubled home Eric Swain and Brandon Huske. Swain and Huske both walked to set the table for McGlauflin who finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

After Lincoln scratched a run across in the top of the third and another in the fourth, the Bearcats answered with two more in the bottom half of the fourth. Huske singled home Steven Garber before Cameron Bedard stole home. Huske finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

The Bearcats added another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to break the game open and take a 8-2 lead.

The Blue Tigers pushed one more run across in the eighth, but the Bearcat offense continued to roll adding a pair of hits as they finished with nine. Eric Swain belted a double to left scoring Huske and Ryan Abernathy for the final 10-3 score.

Northwest closes out its regular season home schedule with a double-header against Fort Hays State. The Bearcats and Tigers are scheduled for a first pitch at 1 p.m. from Bearcat Field.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Kansas City sweeps doubleheader at Boston Sunday

Posted on April 21, 2013April 21, 2013

The Boston Red Sox had the emotion and a seven-game winning streak on their side. The Kansas City Royals had the pitching and enough timely hitting to come away with a doubleheader sweep.

Lorenzo Cain walked with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to give Kansas City a 5-4 victory in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday as the Royals swept a Red Sox team coming off an emotional week.

”Doubleheaders haven’t fared too well for us. We haven’t won many series here,” said Billy Butler, who tied the game with an eighth-inning homer. ”We were real close to winning all three of them. (Daniel) Nava had the big hit yesterday, and we had the big hits today.”

Ervin Santana (2-1) pitched seven strong innings in the opener, when Kansas City won 4-2. Kelvin Herrera (2-2) got the win in the night game, a makeup of the one postponed on Friday night because of the city-wide lockdown during the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers.

Alex Gordon had three hits in the second game, including a single with one out in the 10th. Alcides Escobar walked and, after Billy Butler struck out, Eric Hosmer reached on an infield single – his fourth hit of the day.

Andrew Miller (0-1) walked Cain on four pitches to bring home Gordon, who scored his third run of the game. Herrera allowed one hit and one walk, striking out three in two innings.

”I thought we had great at-bats in crucial situations,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”It was a great at-bat right there. He laid off four pitches to plate the winning run. A lot of times guys get overanxious there.”

Boston led 4-3 before Butler tied it with his third homer of the year, clearing the Green Monster. The Red Sox put runners on first and second in the ninth, and Mike Napoli hit a long fly ball to center field but Cain caught it short of the warning track.

”He’s come up with some big hits for us in some RBI situations,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. ”Unfortunately, that last at-bat where he squares up the ball to the track in center field is somewhat of a picture of this entire day, where we miss a couple of opportunities when we had men in scoring position. And that was the difference in the two games today.”

It was a disappointing ending to an emotional weekend for the Red Sox, who returned on Thursday night with a six-game winning streak and a hometown still reeling from the Boston Marathon bombings. Friday’s game was postponed while police searched for the suspects, and on Saturday the emotion of the pregame ceremony seemed to carry the ballclub to a seventh victory in a row.

A more subdued atmosphere – and smaller crowds – greeted the teams on Sunday, but there were still some signs that things had changed: The American flag in left-center field remained at half-staff, Red Sox players wore a ”B STRONG” patch on their jerseys and law enforcement officers were cheered whenever they were shown on the scoreboard.

In his first two at bats on the day game, Jonny Gomes used a bat with the words ”Boston Strong” and the names of the four people killed in the bombings and its aftermath. He popped out and grounded out, then said he planned to auction off the bats for charity.

”It was my agent,” Gomes said, standing at his locker with the bats leaning against his stall after Boston’s 4-2 loss in the first game against Kansas City. ”He made it happen.”

For his third straight start, Santana allowed runs in the opening inning then settled down, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. Santana has given up four runs and nine hits in his first innings, and one run on 12 hits in his other 20.

”Once he gets settled in, he gets on a nice roll,” Yost said.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth against Bruce Chen and Aaron Crow, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia grounded out to Crow. Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.

The Royals scored three runs in the fourth. Salvador Perez’s two-run single broke a 2-2 tie against Ryan Dempster (0-2), who had struck out the previous two batters.

Dempster allowed four runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking three. That ended a season-opening streak of 16 games by Red Sox starters of allowing three runs or less, tying an AL record achieved by the Oakland Athletics in 1978 and 1981.

— Associated Press —

Northwest softball splits two games with Emporia State

Posted on April 21, 2013April 21, 2013

It was a good weekend for the Northwest Missouri State softball team who went 3-1 in four games after splitting a double-header Sunday with Emporia State winning game one 4-3 and dropping game two 6-1.

ESU scored first in the top of the second inning going up 1-0. Northwest was able to tie the game up in the third inning when Rachael Schmitz scored from third on a passed ball.

The bats came alive in the fourth inning for the Bearcats as they were able to plate three runs on two hits. Stephanie Price led off the inning with her team leading seventh home run of the season to go up 2-1. Kristine Labertew reached first base on a walk and was knocked in by Schmitz who hit the team’s second home run of the inning to put her team on top 4-1.

The Hornets battled back in the sixth to bring them within one, down 4-3. Jenna Creger was able to shut the comeback down to get her second complete game victory in as many days. Creger allowed five hits, no walks and struck out five on her way to her 12th victory of the season.

ESU jumped out to an early lead in game two when the leadoff batter hit a solo home run to center field to take a 1-0 lead.

The Hornets added another run in the third inning and four more runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-0 lead. Price was able to end the shutout when she hit a double to left center to score Hailee Hendricks from second as the Bearcats fell 6-1.

Abbie Vitosh was tagged with the loss in game two.

Northwest moves to 25-12, 13-8 on the season. The Bearcats will be back in action on Bearcat Field Tuesday to take on Lincoln University in a double-header with game one set to start at 2 p.m. with game two set to follow.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Cardinals blow late lead and settle for four-game split at Philadelphia

Posted on April 21, 2013April 21, 2013

Erik Kratz hit a three-run home run to break the game open in the eighth inning and lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Mike Adams (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth inning to help the Phillies split the four-game series. The Phillies snapped a 3-3 tie with a four-run eighth that put the game away.

Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an infield single off reliever Mitchell Boggs (0-2). Dom Brown singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Ben Revere made it 4-3 on a go-ahead single up the middle.

Kratz then hit the first pitch deep into the left-field seats for a three-run homer and a 7-3 lead.

— Associated Press —

Northwest Missouri State wins fourth straight MIAA men’s tennis title

Posted on April 21, 2013April 21, 2013

For the fourth time in four years the Northwest Missouri State men’s tennis team claimed the MIAA Men’s Tennis Championship with a 5-1 win over Southwest Baptist Sunday morning.

Northwest won its 12th straight match and improved to 19-3 on the season. The championship is the fourth straight for the Bearcats and 18th overall – prior to the 2009-10 the MIAA awarded the league title to only the tournament champion.

Northwest picked up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles as Alvaro Riveros and Guilherme Narducci claimed the 8-2 win. The victory moved the duo’s record to 9-1 at the No. 2 position this season.

Singles action saw the green and white Bearcats roll with wins at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles. The win at No. 4 singles was the 12th straight for Riveros as he picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win.

Harris also picked up his 11th consecutive victory at the No. 6 position with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Guido Margiotta.

Northwest will now wait to see if they host a Central Region match, which will be announced Tuesday. The Bearcats are also looking for their eighth straight NCAA tournament appearance.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Simmons breaks MIAA record as No. 6 Griffons split with 8th-ranked UCM

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013

The 6th-ranked Missouri Western baseball team came away with a double header split against 8th-ranked Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon. The Griffons got a walk off hit in game one getting a 3-2 victory before falling 2-1 in the night cap. The Griffons are now 32-6 overall and 25-3 overall.

Game 1
MWSU 3, UCM 2

In a pitchers dual the Missouri Western baseball team got a big hit in the seventh inning by Shawn Egge giving MWSU the 3-2 victory in game one against Central Missouri.

Brandon Simmons stays perfect on the season improving to 9-0 on the season. He went all seven innings giving up four hits and two earned runs. He also struck out three Mules. With the victory he broke the MIAA record for wins in a career. He has 33 victories breaking the old record of 32 which was held by Josh Reynolds of Central Missouri from 1998-2000.

The Mules got on the board in the fourth inning when Trevor Jones led off with a double down the right field line and later scored on a bunt by Brad Wilson.

The Griffons responded in the bottom of the inning with Kyle Simpson leading off with a single up the middle. He scored on a Nate Ramler triple to center field and then Ramler gave the Griffons the lead on a ground out by Spencer Shockley.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the 7th when Brad Wilson singled and then Kevin Gratza double down the right field line tying the score at two.

In the bottom of the 7th Grant Fink led off with a single up the middle and then Jimmy Smelcer got on by a hit by pitch. The Mules brought in Andrew Urban who balked over pinch runner Dylan Koch and Smelcer. The Mules then intentionally walked pinch hitter Jeremy Monty which loaded the bases.

Shawn Egge took a 2-0 pitch from Urban to left field scoring Koch giving MWSU the 3-2 victory. The Griffons had five hits with Fink going 2-for-3.

Travis Higgs got his first loss of the season going six innings giving up four hits and three earned runs. He falls to 5-1 on the season. The Mules had four hits in the contest.

Game 2
UCM 2, MWSU 1

Despite getting just three hits in the second game the Griffons had a chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the ninth. The Griffons had runners on first and second with two outs but a Shockley slow roller to third base ended any threat.

The Mules Kurtis Schuyler had the Griffon bats off track through 7.1 innings. He gave up just one hit through eight. Schulyer improved to 4-3 overall going 8.1 innings giving up two hits and one unearned runs. He also had six strikeouts in the game.

The Griffons Ethan Ward pitched a solid game going six innings giving up eight hits and two earned runs. He falls to 2-3 on the season.

The Mules got a run in the sixth and seventh innings giving them the 2-0 lead after seven.

In the ninth Michael Schulze got a double and scored Simpson’s sac fly. Nate Ramler singled through the left side moving Bubba Dotson to second but Shockley’s ground-out ended the game.

UCM improves to 30-9 overall and 24-8 in MIAA play. They ahd 10 hits with Samuel Domingue going 3-for-4.

The two teams wrap up the series on Sunday, April 21 with a single nine inning game starting at 12:00 pm. The Griffons will honor 16 seniors before the game for senior day.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats take two games from from Lincoln

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013

A pair of solid pitching performances bookended a double-header sweep of Lincoln Saturday taking game one 7-0 before the Northwest Missouri State baseball team held off the Blue Tigers in the second game 8-3.

Ryker Fox threw his second complete game of the season as the junior scattered just three hits over seven innings for his fifth win. Fox also struck out nine as the Northwest offense provided the fire power to aid in the victory.

Northwest scored runs in each of the first three innings to build a 6-0 lead. Ryan Abernathy drove a one-out double into the gap to score Charlie Krueger and Steven Garber in the bottom of the second giving the Bearcats a 3-0 lead.

Krueger would answer in the bottom of the third as he lifted one out single to left scoring Eric McGlauflin and Tyler Durant. On the very next pitch Krueger would come around to score as Garber belted a double off the center field wall pushing the Northwest lead to six.

Garber would record his second RBI of the game with a single in the fifth to give the Bearcats an insurance run.

Game two saw another strong outing on the mound from the Bearcats as Marcus Garrett picked up his third win of the year.

Garrett allowed just one hit over seven innings while striking out six. The bullpen also carried the Bearcats as Blane Reutter and Patrick Brady pitched the eighth and ninth innings to help preserve the win.

The offense again provided the power needed as the Bearcats scored runs in each of the first four runs to build a 6-0 lead. After a sacrifice fly from Tyler Durant in the first inning plated Abernathy Northwest added two more runs in the second.

Garber doubled home Paul Johnson before Brandon Huske singled home Garber to give the Bearcats a three run lead.

The Blue Tigers would post a small rally in the top of the sixth scratching one run across before getting two more runs in the eighth. However, the Bearcats would add the two runs back in the bottom of the eighth as Brady shut the door in the ninth for the 8-3 win.

The Bearcats and Blue Tigers close out the series Sunday with a single game at Bearcat Field. First pitch is slated for noon.

— Northwest Media Relations —

Western softball goes 1-1 against Emporia State Saturday

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013

The Missouri Western softball team split a pair of games on Saturday with Emporia State. The Griffons won game one 3-1 before falling in game two 4-0. Jackie Bishop picked up both the win and the loss and now sits at 18-5 on the season. The Griffons are now 32-12 on the season and 16-6 in MIAA play.

Game 1
MWSU 3, ESU 1

The Griffons got another outstanding performance from Jackie Bishop in the circle as she went all seven innings giving up just four hist and one earned run while striking out nine in the 3-1 victory. She improves to 18-4 with the victory.

The Griffons got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning getting three hits. Taylor Anding got the bit hit scoring Michelle Stevenson from second giving the Griffons the 1-0 lead after two.

The Hornets tied the game in the fourth as when Taylor Zordel led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and scored on a Tricia Vogel double to center field tying the game at one.

The Griffons responded in the bottom of the fourth getting back-to-back two out hits by Maegan Roemmich and Kendall Sorensen giving MWSU the 2-1 lead after four.

In the sixth the Hornets loaded the bases with one out but Bishop got Stephanie Goodwin to strike out and Cacy Williams to foul out to catcher ending the threat.

Michelle Stevenson gave MWSU an insurance run in the bpottom of the 6th with her third homer of the season.

The Griffnos had seven hits with Stevenson and Roemmich both going 2-for-3. Stevenson had two runs scored and one RBI.

Lauren Sharp went six innings falling to 7-7 on the season. She gave up seven hits and two earned runs. The Hornets had four hits with Vogel going 1-for-2 with one RBI.

Game 2
ESU 4, MWSU 0

The Hornets used a three run fourth inning helping them to a 4-0 victory over the Griffons in game two of the double header.

The teams played the first three innings to a 0-0 tie. In the fourth the Hornets scored three runs on five hits. The Hornets got a two out single to center field from Cacy Williams which scored two. The Hornets tacked on more on before the inning was over taking a 3-0 lead after four.

In the fourth they scored another run off Volgels double to right field. Karley Schmelzer picked up the victory scattering just four Griffon hits. She had one strike out improving to 21-6 on the season.

The Hornets are 28-13 overall and 15-7 in MIAA play. They had 11 hits with Zordel, Vogel and Williams all getting two hits.

The Griffons had just four hits with Lorbert going 2-for-3. Bishop falls to 18-5 going 4.1 innings giving up eight hits and three earned runs. Janie Smith pitched 2.2 innings giving up three hits while striking out two.

The Griffons honored five senior athletes on Sunday as they played in their final weekend games at the Griffon Softball Field. They are Emily Moe, Kendall Sorensen, Maegan Roemmich, Sarah Elliott and Keri Lorbert.

The Griffons return to action on Wednesday, April 24 when they host the Lincoln Blue Tigers in a double header. Game time is set for 5:00 pm from the MWSU Softball Field.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State softball sweeps Washburn

Posted on April 20, 2013April 20, 2013

The Northwest Missouri State softball team honored eight seniors before the double-header Saturday against Washburn and they did not disappoint as they won game one 6-0 and took game two 15-6.

Jenna Creger took the circle for the Bearcats in game one and threw her 15th complete game shutout of her career. Creger allowed three hits, one walk and stuck out five on her way to her 11th victory of the season.

Northwest took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Jordan Ereth scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kristen Uthe.

The Bearcat offense struck again in the fourth inning putting up three runs on four hits. Hailee Hendricks led off the inning with a solo home run, her fifth of the season. Kristine Labertew knocked in Stephanie Price from third with a sacrifice fly to short centerfield. Kylie Cantrell hit the second home run of the inning to put her team up 4-0.

Candace Miller Scored in the fifth inning on a Hendricks single through the left side. Northwest added one more run in the sixth when Sara Krysl was plated from second base by Jordan Ereth who singled up the middle to go up 6-0.

Game two was full of offense as the Bearcats put up six runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning.

Washburn was able to get two runs back in the third inning. The Northwest bats erupted again in the bottom half of the inning as they plated seven runs to go up 13-2.

The Lady Blues would not go quietly as they were able to put four runs on board in the top of the fourth. The Bearcats scored two runs on two hits in the bottom half and Paige Blythe was able to shut WU down in the top half of the fifth to walk away with the 15-6 victory.

Abbie Vitosh was the starter for Northwest but got the no decision. Senior Morgan Brunmeier picked up her third victory of the season for the Bearcats.

Head Coach Ryan Anderson picked up career victories 280 and 281 in the double-header sweep on Saturday. His team will be back in action on Sunday as the Bearcats will play host to Emporia State. Game one of the double-header is slated to start at noon with game two set to follow.

— Northwest Media Relations —