ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team will  not play either of two scheduled non-conference games this week.

The Griffons were scheduled to play at Truman State Tuesday before hosting Maryville on Wednesday.  The Truman State game is postponed to a later date, while the Maryville game has been canceled.

Missouri Western is off to a 7-2 start in MIAA play, entering the week tied atop the league standings. The Griffons are scheduled to begin a 3-game series at Washburn beginning on Friday.  Ichabods are 8-10 overall and 3-6 in MIAA play.

— MWSU Athletics —

Missouri Western men’s basketball received a verbal commitment from St. Louis prep guard JaRon Thames on Monday night.

Thames announced his commitment to MWSU on Twitter, “It was a long journey to get here and I’ve been dreaming about playing college basketball since I could remember. I would like to thank GOD, my parents, family, friends, and all the coaches and trainers that helped me get to this point. With that being said I’m blessed and proud to say that I’m committing to Missouri Western State University.”

Thames, who is a 6’5″ combo guard, played at Trinity Catholic High School and help the Titans to a 25-4 record this season as they lost to eventual state champion Vashon in the Class 3 quarterfinals. Thames averaged 15 points per game and also played his AAU ball for Team Carroll in St. Louis.

When Thames signs his letter of intent, he’ll be the third prep standout to sign with Missouri Western. Reese Glove (Franklin, TN) and Alex John (Champlin Park, MN) have already signed letter of intent to play for Sundance Wicks.

ST. JOSEPH – The weather is warming and snow is melting, but soggy field conditions have forced the Missouri Western softball team to postpone its home opening doubleheader against Texas Woman’s University on Tuesday.

Missouri Western was set to open an 18-game homestand against Texas Woman’s, but instead will travel to Illinois-Springfield for two games away from St. Joseph on Tuesday. The first game of that doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m.

The Griffons will then return home to open a 16-game homestand against Central Missouri on Friday.

Missouri Western is 11-10 overall and 1-3 in MIAA play after splitting a doubleheader at Northeastern State and dropping two games at No. 8 Central Oklahoma last week on the road. Griffon Softball fans will have a good chance of witnessing history during the three-week stretch of home games. Head coach Jen Bagley Trotter needs just six more wins to become the winningest softball coach in MIAA history. In her 18th season, Trotter has 609 wins at MWSU.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Northeastern State (2-18, 2-7) jumped out to an early lead then put the game away with a flurry of offense late to take the third game of its series from Griffon Baseball (9-7, 7-2), 8-3.

With a doubleheader sweep the day before, Missouri Western still took the series two games to one. Missouri Western played all three games as the home team due to the series being originally scheduled as a home series for the Griffons. Bad weather in St. Joseph forced the move to Tahlequah.

NOTABLES

• Northeastern State scored two runs on Roy Robles in the first then added six over the final three innings
• The Griffons were limited to just one hit through the first 4 1/3 before Jordan Jackson put MWSU on the board with his second home run of the series
• Trailing 2-1 after Jackson’s home run, the Griffs had the tying run at third with two out in the fifth when Conrad McMahon was picked off at first on a close play for the third out
• MWSU scored all three of its runs by way of home run, getting solo bombs from Jackson, Andrew Curry and Dusty Stroup – the last two in the ninth inning
• After NSU’s six runs in the seventh or later on Friday, MWSU has surrendered 54 percent of its runs this year in the final three innings
• Curry went 2-for-4 with an RBI
• Robles (0-2) took the loss, giving up three runs, one earned, on five hits. He struck out six and walked four over 6 1/3
• Zach Pych left the game after two batters with an injury suffered while diving for a ball hit through the right side

UP NEXT

• Missouri Western is scheduled for five games next week beginning with a single game at Truman State on Mar. 12
• The Griffons may get another chance at a home opener on Mar. 13 when they’re scheduled to host Maryville in a non-conference game before going to Washburn for a weekend MIAA series.

— MWSU Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – Griffon Softball (11-10, 1-3) built early leads in both games of a doubleheader at No. 8 Central Oklahoma (20-1, 4-0), but eventually became the latest victim of the Bronchos who stretched their win streak to 16 games.

Missouri Western led 3-0 in game one before falling 7-3 and led 2-1 in a 6-2 game two loss.

GAME 1
Central Oklahoma 7, Missouri Western 3

• MWSU led 3-0 after back-to-back solo home runs by Gabi Carter and Cassidy Kelsheimer in the third
• UCO answered with a six-run, three-hit bottom of the third
• Carter’s home run was her fourth of the weekend
• The Griffons were only able to take advantage of one of three UCO errors in the game
• Griffon pitchers walked seven UCO batters and didn’t record a strikeout in the game
• Kelsheimer went 2-for-3 with two runs scored
• Taylor Hoelscher was 2-for-3 as well

GAME 2
Central Oklahoma 6, Missouri Western 2

• Missouri Western led 2-1 after Kelsheimer’s second solo home run of the day in the fourth
• UCO got a pair of two-out runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead
• The Bronchos added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth
• MWSU was held to three hits in the game
• The Bronchos walked seven times again in game two

UP NEXT

• After playing its first 21 games away from St. Joseph, the Griffons are scheduled to begin an 18-game homestand next week
• A doubleheader at home vs Texas Woman’s is first on the docket on Mar. 12 with twin-bills against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist scheduled for next weekend.

— MWSU Athletics —

ORLANDO, Fla. – Missouri Western (7-3) continued play in Orlando with another win on Friday, this time coming with less suspense than the team’s 4-3 win on Thursday. The Griffons put together a dominating team performance in a 6-1 win against St. Cloud State (5-8).

All three Griffon doubles teams walked away with wins on Friday. Federica Salmaso and Bojana Vuksan managed to shut out their opponents as the duo improved to 4-0 in doubles play this season. Karolina Ström and Joanna Abreu Roman improved to 9-1 in duals doubles win a 6-3 win.

Abreu Roman kicked off the singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win on the number two courts. She was the only player to shut out her opponent in singles. Ström picked up her ninth win in as many dual matches this season in the number one spot on her way to a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Salmaso, Vuksan, and Ciarra Gilmore all claimed wins in the singles to round out the Griffons’ scoring.

After Friday’s win, Missouri Western has now won six of its last seven matches. The Griffons will face a team that enters with an impressive streak of their own on Sunday when they take on University of Mary. UMary is 9-2 this spring and has won four-straight matches, not allowing more than one point in each of those wins.

MWSU VS. SCSU
SINGLES
Karolina Ström (MWSU) def. Fernanda Dossantos (SCSU) 6-1, 6-3
Joanna Abreu Roman (MWSU) def. Samantha Fitzpatrick (SCSU) 6-0, 6-0
Ciarra Gilmore (MWSU) def. Melissa Nierenhausen (SCSU) 6-2, 6-4
Federica Salmaso (MWSU) def. Ann Marie White (SCSU) 6-2, 6-2
Bojana Vuksan (MWSU) def. Jill Kedrowski (SCSU) 6-1, 7-6
Olivia Fredrickson (SCSU) def. Erica Dunn (MWSU) 6-4, 6-4

DOUBLES
Ström /Abreu Roman (MWSU) def. Dossantos/Kedrowski (SCSU) 6-3
Salmaso/Vuksan (MWSU) def. Fitzpatrick/White (SCSU) 6-0
Birosta,Mireia/Dunn (MWSU) def. Fredrickson/Scheck (SCSU) 6-4

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Griffon Baseball swept a doubleheader at Northeastern State (2-18, 1-7), Thursday, to move to 9-6 overall and 7-1 in the MIAA.

The Griffons held off a late rally in game one and outdueled the RiverHawks in a game two pitching battle. The games count as road contests since they were played at Northeastern State, but because the games were originally scheduled to be at Missouri Western, the Griffons played as the home team in both games and will in the series finale on Friday.

GAME 1
Missouri Western 10, Northeastern State 8

• MWSU led 10-4 heading to the ninth, but Northeastern State got a sacrifice fly and a two-out three-run home run to pull within two
• Levi Abrahamson came in and got the final out to save the victory
• Jacob Purl didn’t allow a hit until the RiverHawks hit two, two-out home runs in the fifth
• Purl struck out nine and held NSU to three hits through five innings to get the win and move to 2-0 on the season
• Kellan Richards struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced, but gave up all four runs in the ninth, none of them earned
• Purl and Richards combined to break an MWSU single-game record, striking out eight batters looking
• Conrad McMahon led off the game with a solo home run down the left field line. McMahon went 3-for-3 in the game with four runs scored, an RBI and walked once
• Jordan Jackson hit a two-run home run in the first and finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs
• Nolan Monthei was 3-for-4 in the game
• Dusty Stroup drove in two and was 2-for-5

GAME 2
Missouri Western 3, Northeastern State 1

• McMahon stayed hot and drove in the game-winning run in the seventh, a double down the right field line that scored Monthei who had struck out, but reached on a passed ball
• That double in the seventh was one of five for the Griffons in the game, including two by Stroup
• After allowing three hits and a run in the first, reigning MIAA and NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Year Anthony Castaneda held Northeastern State to just two hits over the next six innings
• Castaneda moved to 4-0 on the year with seven strikeouts and just the one run allowed over seven innings
• McMahon’s double ended the day for NSU starter Jonathan Smithey who struck out 10 and gave up one earned run, two total, through 6 1/3
• Casey Danley went 2-for-3 with a run scored
• McMahon was 2-for-4 in game two with an RBI
• Stroup went 2-for-4 with a run scored

UP NEXT

• Missouri Western goes for the series sweep on Friday at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Griffon Softball (11-8, 1-1) got out of Tahlequah, Oklahoma with a doubleheader split with a pesky Northeastern State (11-10, 1-1) team.

Northeastern State spoiled a game one comeback by the Griffons with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to win 6-5. In game two, the Griffs had to hold off a late charge by Northeastern State to escape with a 13-10 victory. Gabi Carter hit three home runs in the doubleheader, including two in game one.

GAME 1
Northeastern State 6, Missouri Western 5

• The Griffons scored two in the top of the seventh and kept NSU off the plate in the bottom half to force extra innings
• Kaili Hinds (3-2) took the loss, facing one batter in the ninth and allowing the game-winning home run
• Gabi Carter bookended the scoring for the Griffons with home runs. She hit a solo shot in the first and tied the game with a two-run bomb in the seventh
• Missouri Western had 13 hits in the game and was not charged with an error in the game while Northeastern State committed two
• Tamara Hicks went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double
• Carter drove in three with the two home runs
• Emma Hoffart also homered and went 2-for-4
• Brea Banton was 2-for-5 at the plate
• Shelby Uhl went 2-for-3

GAME 2
Missouri Western 13, Northeastern State 10

• The Griffons led 10-2 headed to the bottom of the fifth, but couldn’t clinch a run-rule victory, allowing three NSU runs in the bottom half
• MWSU added two more runs in the top of the seventh, but NSU threatened to erase the big lead with five runs in the bottom of the seventh
• Olivia Goodale ended the game with a strikeout with two runners
• Three Northeastern State errors and eight walks helped the Griffons score 13 runs on 12 hits
• Gabi Carter homered again as did Taylor Hoelscher
• Morgan Frost and Blanton each doubled
• Frost went 3-for-5 with three runs scored
• Carter drove in three in game two and on the day was 4-for-7 with three home runs and six RBIs
• Uhl had two more hits in game two
• Hinds rebounded to get the win, allowing two runs on three hits

UP NEXT

• The Griffons head to No. 8 Central Oklahoma (18-1, 2-0) for a doubleheader on Friday.

— MWSU Athletics —