ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s golf team shot a two-round total of 661 and finished tied for fifth place at the MWSU Holiday Inn Express Invitational at the St. Joseph Country Club. It is Missouri Western’s third top-five finish of the season.

The Griffons were led by Shi Qing Ong and Chong Yong. Ong and Yong both shot a 161 over the two days and tied for seventh place. Tiffanie Yabut dropped six strokes off her first day score to card a total of 168. Katie Irvin finished the tournament inside the top 30 with a 171. Jenna Kosmatka trimmed off 12 strokes from her opening round total to record a 184.

William Woods won the team title with a 633 and WWU’s Katie Warren claimed the individual championship with a three-over-par 147. Missouri Western travels next to the Pack Springs Invitational in Pueblo, Colorado on Monday, March 26 and Tuesday, March 27.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second time this season Missouri Western centerfielder Shelby Uhl has been named the MIAA Softball Hitter of the Week.

Uhl’s historical accomplishment on March 17 against Wayne State helped push her to the honor. She hit for the cycle with a single, double, triple and home run in an 18-2 win over Wayne State College. The junior from Pleasant Hill, Iowa added a walk, three runs and six RBIs on the remarkable day. She did it all in five innings. It is believed to be the first time a Griffon has ever hit for the cycle.

On the weekend, Uhl helped her team to a 3-1 record with .533 batting average; .933 slugging percentage and .588 on base percentage. She scored nine runs, drove in nine runs and was 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.

While the rare achievement pushed Uhl into the limelight, she actually ranked third on the team in batting average over the weekend. Morgan Frost and Shelbie Atwell each batted .583 for the Griffons who hit .352 as a team during the Hy-Vee Classic. Frost drove in eight runs while Atwell pushed seven across. Atwell also added four doubles and seven runs scored over the four games this past weekend.

— MWSU Athletics —

BOLIVAR, Mo. – There was no comeback needed for the Missouri Western baseball team on Sunday as they stretched their win streak to eight with a second consecutive MIAA sweep.

Missouri Western (13-9, 6-3) took a 4-0 lead after the fourth and never looked back in a 6-1 win at Southwest Baptist (8-16, 2-10).

Six Griffon pitchers combined to hold Southwest Baptist to one unearned run on six hits. They struck out five and walked three. Preston Bailey (1-1) picked up the win in relief and Kellan Richards earned his second-straight save, pitching two innings of two-hit baseball.

NOTABLES
– Dusty Stroup went 3-for-5 on the day with two runs scored and a double

– Maurice Bruce went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored

– Casey Danley was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored

– Will Jibas drove in two and walked three times

– Bruce went 9-for-14 (.643) in the series with seven runs scored and six RBIs

– Danley hit .467 in the series with four RBIs

– Brooks Day hit .400 in the series and walked five times

– Jibas walked six times in the series

– Richards appeared in all three games of the series, giving up two hits and no runs in 3 1/3 innings

UP NEXT
Missouri Western returns home for its next four games, beginning with a mid-week game against Emporia State on Tuesday.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Softball (10-17) got its first home sweep of the season, defeating Upper Iowa (13-6) and Concordia, St. Paul (14-7) on the final day of the 2018 Hy-Vee Classic.

Missouri Western got two solid pitching performances from Kenzie Hilzer and Kaili Hinds to get double-digit wins. Both pitchers registered complete game wins with four strikeouts each. Upper Iowa struck first in game one, scoring two in the third, but MWSU answered with four runs in the bottom half of the third and never trailed again. The Griffons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on Concordia, St. Paul, but fell behind 3-2 after a two-run top of the fifth by the Golden Bears. Missouri Western answered again, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth and hanging on for the 5-3 win.

NOTABLES
– Shelbie Atwell went 4-for-7 with four RBIs and two runs scored

– Morgan Frost also went 4-for-7, scoring one run and driving in three

– The Griffons out-hit their opponents 16-12 and had five doubles to three for their opponents

– Hilzer and Hinds combined to allow 12 hits over 14 innings

– The two pitchers combined for five walks while the Griffons walked five times themselves

– Shelby Uhl had two more hits, Sunday, with her season average now up to .418

UP NEXT
The Griffons stay out of conference play, hosting Rockhurst in a doubleheader on March 21 at 4 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Griffon Baseball (12-9, 5-3), rallied to stretch its win streak to seven games with a 6-4 win at Southwest Baptist (8-15, 2-9) in 10 innings.

Dusty Stroup’s RBI-single in the 10th proved to be the game winner. Brooks Day scored on a wild pitch to provide another insurance run and to cap the Griffons’ rally from a 4-1 deficit.

Southwest Baptist took a 4-1 lead to the fourth before Missouri Western scored three to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Levi Abrahmson and Kellan Richards combined to keep the Bearcats off the scoreboard the rest of the way, allowing just one hit over the final six innings of the game. Abrahamson picked up his first win of the season and Richards got the save.

Maurice Bruce was 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and a run. Stroup had two hits, going 2-for-6.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western goes for its second straight MIAA sweep on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Bolivar.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Softball (8-17) split a pair of regional games on Saturday to open the 2018 Hy-Vee Classic.

Shelby Uhl hit for the cycle and walked once in an 18-2 run-rule win over Wayne State College (6-10) to help the Griffons rebound from a 9-8 loss to Northern State (10-7), Saturday morning.

Uhl didn’t wasted anytime getting to her historic accomplishment, leading off the game with a solo home run to left field. It was the first of six RBIs in the game for Uhl, who also singled in the first. Her triple came in the third inning and she completed the cycle in the fourth with an RBI-double up the middle.

In the game, Uhl was 4-for-4 with six RBIs, three runs scored and a walk. Shelbie Atwell went 2-for-3 against Wayne State with three runs, three RBIs and two walks. On the day, Uhl was 6-for-7 with eight RBIs, six runs and two walks. Atwell was 3-for-5 on the day with five runs and four walks. Morgan Froast hit two doubles and drove in five with a 3-for-5 day at the plate.

Missouri Western just missed sweeping the day. The Griffons led Northern State 6-1 after two innings and 7-4 after four. Northern State scored four runs in the fifth to take an 8-7 lead, but Missouri Western tied it in the bottom of the fifth. Another Northern State run in the sixth was the dagger.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western hosts two more NSIC competitors on Sunday, opening with Upper Iowa at 10 a.m. before taking on Concordia, St. Paul at approximately noon.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Forecasted rain this weekend has resulted in significant changes to the Hy-Vee Softball Classic schedule.

All games originally scheduled to be played at Heritage Softball Complex have been cancelled as well as all games on Friday. The classic will now be an eight-team crossover, co-hosted by Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri on Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18.

Missouri Western and Washburn will play two games each day at the Spring Sports Complex. Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri are scheduled to play two games each on each day in Maryville.

Northern State and Wayne State (Neb.) will be in St. Joseph on Saturday with Upper Iowa and Concordia, St. Paul in St. Joseph on Sunday. The Griffons will open with Northern State at 10 a.m. on Saturday followed by Wayne State at approximately noon. On Sunday, the Griffons will open with Upper Iowa at 10 a.m. before playing Concordia, St. Paul around noon.

A $7 admission fee will be charged each day at Missouri Western.

Hy-Vee Classic Adjusted Schedule
Saturday, March 17
9 a.m. – Northwest Missouri vs. Concordia, St. Paul (Maryville)
10 a.m. – MWSU vs. Northern State (St. Joseph)
11 a.m. – Northwest Missouri vs. Upper Iowa (Maryville)
12 p.m. – MWSU vs. Wayne State (St. Joseph)
1 p.m. – Central Missouri vs. Upper Iowa (Maryville)
2 p.m. – Washburn vs. Wayne State (St. Joseph)
3 p.m. – Central Missouri vs. Concordia, St. Paul (Maryville)
4 p.m. – Washburn vs. Northern State (St. Joseph)

Sunday, March 18
9 a.m. – Northwest Missouri vs. Wayne State (Maryville)
10 a.m. – Missouri Western vs. Upper Iowa (St. Joseph)
11 a.m. – Northwest Missouri vs. Northern State (Maryville)
12 p.m. – Missouri Western vs. Concordia, St. Paul (St. Joseph)
1 p.m. – Central Missouri vs. Northern State (Maryville)
2 p.m. – Washburn vs. Concordia, St. Paul (St. Joseph)
3 p.m. – Central Missouri vs. Northern State (Maryville)
4 p.m. – Washburn vs. Upper Iowa (St. Joseph)

— MWSU Athletics —

DENTON, Texas – A late inning push earned the Missouri Western softball a split Tuesday at Texas Woman’s University.

The Griffon are now 7-16 this season, while TWU is 14-10.

MWSU rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win game one, 7-5. Lonnie Groves hit a grand slam to center that proved to be the game winner. Groves also had the putout and assist on a game-ending, bases loaded double play in the bottom half of the seventh. Texas Woman’s dominated the late innings of game two, scoring three in the fifth and two in the sixth to bust out for a 7-2 win in the finale.

NOTABLES
– Groves went 3-for-7 at the plate in the doubleheader with a team-high four RBIs

– The Griffons also got homers from Shelbie Atwell and Shelby Uhl in game one

– Riley Wilson went 3-for-6 at the plate with two doubles

– Kaili Hinds picked up the win in game one, pitching 5 1/3 innings in relief. She didn’t allow a run and gave up four hits

– Rebekah Mueller threw out three would-be Pioneer base stealers in four attempts

– Missouri Western was not charged with an error in the doubleheader

UP NEXT
The Griffons come back to St. Joseph to host the Hy-Vee Classic, March 16-18.

— MWSU Athletics —

LAS VEGAS – A four month winter break didn’t slow down the Missouri Western men’s golf team as it finished with a 594 and third place finish at the Winona State Invitational. Patrick McCarthy tied a career-low with a 67 and was 5-under-par in the final round to finish tied for second.

McCarthy was 1-under-par 143 in the two rounds at Stallion Mountain Golf Club. Tom Buffington added a second career top-10 finish with a three-over-par 147 performance. Kevin Kim dropped a stroke off of his first round total to finish 15th at 5-over-par 149. Lucas Horseman shot a 155 and Jacob Majeske carded a 159.

Missouri Western recorded its fourth top-five finish in six tournaments this season. Rocky Mountain College won the team title with a 578. RMC’s Michael Tait took individual honors with a 10-under-par 134.

MWSU returns to action on Thursday, March 29 at the Upper Iowa Invitational in Waterloo, Iowa.

— MWSU Athletics —