COMMERCE, Texas – Back on the road two days after playing in Jefferson City, Missouri, the Missouri Western softball team lost both games of a doubleheader at No. 11 Texas A&M-Commerce 10-2 and 12-1.

The Griffon fall to 6-15 this season, while Commerce is now 19-3.

Despite out-hitting the No. 11-ranked team in the nation in game one, the Griffons fell 10-2 in five innings. Missouri Western had six hits in the game to Texas A&M-Commerce’s five and weren’t charged with an error in the first game, but 10 walks and four hit batters by pitchers Kenzie Hilzer (4-7) and Kaili Hinds helped the home team to a lopsided victory.

Shelby Uhl went 2-for-3 in game one with an RBI. Rebekah Mueller hit her fifth home run of the season and went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Lonnie Groves also went 2-for-2 in game one.

A six-run second inning in game two propelled Texas A&M-Commerce to a 12-1, five-inning victory. Missouri Western managed two hits and committed four errors in the game.

UP NEXT
The Griffons stay in the Lone Star state with a doubleheader at Texas Woman’s University on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

LAS VEGAS – The Missouri Western men’s golf team shot an opening round 300 on Monday and is tied for third place at the Winona State Invitational at Stallion Mountain Golf Club. It is the first tournament of the spring season for MWSU.

Tom Buffington led Missouri Western in the first round with a 1-over-par 73 and is tied for eighth place. Kevin Kim carded a 3-over-par 75 and sits in 17thplace. Patrick McCarthy and Lucas Horseman are tied for 21st after both shooting a 4-over-par 76. Jacob Majeske rounded out the MWSU scorecard with 5-over-par 77.

The Griffons tee off in the final round Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. CST.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – A seven run seventh inning propelled the Missouri Western baseball team past Washburn Sunday at the Griffon Spring Sports Complex 12-3. MWSU completes the three-game sweep of the Ichabods and they’ve now won five consecutive games. The Griffons are now 10-9 this season and 3-3 in the MIAA.

Washburn tagged three runs in the second inning to open an early lead before MWSU cut the deficit to one with runs in the fourth and sixth innings. The Griffons started a huge seventh inning with a Brooks Day double followed by back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases. Will Jibas gave Missouri Western the lead on a sac fly and Casey Danley’s two-run triple added insurance. MWSU added runs with the next three batters to continue to pull away from the Ichabods.

Nate Hunter came out of the bullpen and picked up his second win of the series. Hunter tossed 3 2/3 innings and allowed just two hits.

NOTABLES
– Six different Griffon recorded two or more hits in the win

– Missouri Western pitchers combined for seven strikeouts and just one earned run

– Casey Danley and Nick Schranck combined for seven RBIs, five hits and three runs scored

– Nolan Meyer was 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored

– Danley and Meyer both tripled in the seventh inning

– 12 runs is the most scored by MWSU since Feb. 4 when it won 13-7 at Harding University

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 16.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Jacob Miller tossed a complete game with a career-high nine strikeouts as Griffon baseball (9-9) beat Washburn (6-12) 5-0. It is the fourth consecutive win for Missouri Western win.

MWSU tried to supply plenty of run support in the first inning when it scored a run and loaded the bases on a pair of Ichabod errors. The Griffons only managed one run in the inning but added three insurance runs in the third inning and another run in the eighth inning.

Miller controlled Washburn throughout his complete first complete game at Missouri Western. He allowed just three hits and two walks as he faced 32 batters. Washburn committed five errors in the game.

NOTABLES
– Jacob Miller is Missouri Western’s third pitcher this season to throw a complete game

– The seven through nine batters for the Griffons combined to score three of the team’s five runs

– Brooks Day scored two runs for MWSU in his four at-bats

– Dusty Stroup drove in two runs for Missouri Western, it is fourth multiple RBI game this season

– Casey Danley went 2-for-4 at the plate

UP NEXT
Missouri Western goes for the series sweep tomorrow, March 11 at 1 p.m. from the Spring Sports Complex.

— Associated Press —

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Phil Thompson saved his best for last as the Griffon track and field senior finished third in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

The senior became the first Griffon All-American after becoming the first-year program’s first-ever national qualifier with a lifetime-best 15.53m (50-11 ½) on his third jump of the day. The record breaking jump won the heat for Thompson and put him in the finals against the top-10 jumpers in the nation.

Thompson entered the national championships ranked 14th in the nation with a 15.06m at the Graduate Classic. After just missing that mark on the first jump of his heat with a 15.04, Thompson set the personal best and the jump that made him an All-American two jumps later. After two low marks in his first two jumps of the finals, Thompson finished strong with a 15.37 on his final jump of the night, but it was his third that held up.

It wasn’t Thompson’s first national championship appearance, just his first as a Griffon. Thompson transferred to Missouri Western after St. Joseph’s College closed. At the same event last year, Thompson placed 12th. This year, he bested last year’s champion Michael Sandle of Minnesota State; last year’s second place finisher, Jumonne Exeter of St. Augustine’s; and last year’s third place finisher, Chalres Greaves of Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Thompson also overcame a fourth-place finish in the MIAA Championships, finishing second among MIAA competitors. Only Sedeekie Edie of Lincoln with a 15.55 was better than Thompson among MIAA competitors on Saturday. DeVontae Steele of Texas A&M-Commerce blew away the field with an event-record 16.25. Any of Steele’s six jumps would have been good enough to win the competition.

— MWSU Athletics —

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Griffon softball will come home, albeit briefly, with a 3-1 MIAA record after an impressive doubleheader sweep at Lincoln (3-13, 0-4) on Saturday.

Missouri Western (6-13) outscored Lincoln 20-2 in the doubleheader and saw both games end due to run-rule. Not only did the Griffons win three of their first four conference games this weekend, but they got two-straight shortened games ahead of next week’s 10-game schedule. After entering conference play on a six-game losing streak, the Griffons are in a tie for third place in the MIAA standings.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western totaled 21 hits in the doubleheader while Griffon pitchers allowed just five

– Griffon pitchers walked just four batters on the day and held Lincoln to a .125 batting average

– Griffon batters totaled seven extra base hits (four doubles, one triple, two home runs)

– Missouri Western had three sacrifice flies on the day

– Lonnie Groves went 4-for-6 at the dish with three RBIs and two runs scored. She hit one of the home runs in game one

– Tamara Hicks was also 4-for-6 with two runs scored

– Gabi Carter went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and four runs scored and hit the other home run in game one

– Emma Hoffart and Riley Wilson had three RBIs each in game two

– Kenzie Hilzer allowed one run on two hits through five innings in game one. She picked up her second-straight win to improve her record to 4-6.

– Barbara Billingsley picked up her first win of the season, allowing one run on three hits through five innings in game two

UP NEXT
The Griffs don’t get much of a break before hitting the road again. Missouri Western heads to Texas for two doubleheaders early next week. The team is at No. 11 Texas A&M-Commerce (17-3) on March 12 before another twin-bill at Texas Woman’s (13-8) on March 13. After the Texas two-step, it’s back home for the Hy-Vee Classic, March 16-18.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Buzz Verduzco became Missouri Western baseball’s all-time wins leader on Casey Danley’s walk-off single Friday at the Spring Sports Complex.

Danley’s only hit of the game gave the Griffons (8-9, 1-3) a 2-1 win over Washburn (6-11, 1-6) and Verduzco his program-best 541st wiv. Verduzco passed the only other man to ever lead the program, Doug Minnis.

Verduzco got the milestone victory in appropriate fashion. Known for his small-ball methods, the Griffons earned their first conference win of the season with six hits, only one for extra bases. Maurice Bruce led off the ninth with a single to center. Brooks Day bunted Bruce to second before Washburn intentionally walked Dusty Stroup. A passed ball got Bruce to third and Stroup to second before Danley bounced a 2-2 pitch through the middle for the game winner.

NOTABLES
– Stroup went 2-for-3, the only Griff with more than one hit. His double was the team’s only extra base hit.

– Nate Hunter picked up his second-straight win in relief, going 1 1/3 of perfect baseball with two strikeouts

– Trever Carroll got his first career start, allowing just one hit and no runs. He walked three and struck out one.

– Fahd Shakeel drove in the Griffons’ first run in the third and threw out what would have been Washburn’s first run at the plate from left field in the sixth

– Carroll’s three walks were the only free passes allowed by the Griffons who went without an error in the game

– The teams totaled 10 hits, four walks and no errors in a game that lasted 1:55

UP NEXT
Game two of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Missouri Western softball (4-13) went 1-1 in its MIAA-opening doubleheader at Lindenwood (9-7) Friday.

The Griffons rallied to take game one, 4-3 on an RBI-single from Shelby Uhl in the seventh inning. A seven-run third by Lindenwood blew game two wide open, ending in an 11-2 run-rule shortened win for the home team.

NOTABLES
– Shelby Uhl went 3-4 with three RBIs in game one. She hit a two-run home run in the third and delivered the game-winning RBI with a single in the seventh. On the day, Uhl was 4-for-6 with four RBIs, a walk and a stolen base in her only attempt

– Rebekah Mueller hit a solo home run in the fifth that tied the game at three
Emma Hoffart went 2-for-6 on the day

– Kenzie Hilzer picked up the win in game one, holding Lindenwood to three runs on seven hits. She pitched one inning in relief of Barbara Billingsley in game two.

– Missouri Western hit four doubles and two home runs on the day. Lindenwood hit one of each, but its home run was a grand slam in the third inning of game two

– Lindenwood had 18 hits in the doubleheader with the Griffons totaling 13

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Jefferson City for another MIAA doubleheader at Lincoln (3-11, 0-2) on Saturday, March 10.

— MWSU Athletics —

ORLANDO, Fla. – Griffon tennis (8-4) bounced back to finish their Florida road trip with an 8-1 win over St. Cloud State (2-9). Missouri Western won two of its three matches in Orlando.

The match started off with singles play and MWSU wasted little time in taking control of the match. The Griffons won five of the six singles matches before winning all three doubles matches.

Karolina Ström claimed her 10th consecutive win of the season with a straight set victory at No. 1 singles. Katherine Yeacker clinched the match with a hard fought three-set victory at No. 6 singles.

In doubles action, MWSU dominated all three matches as no match was closer than five points.

RESULTS
Singles
1. Strom,Karolina (MWSU) def. DosSantos, Fernanda (SCSU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Portz,Alexie (SCSU) def. Vuksan,Bojana (MWSU) 6-0,0-2 (retired due to injury)
3. Abreu Roman,Joanna (MWSU) def. Nierenhausen,Melissa (SCSU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) def. Fitzpatrick,Samantha (SCSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) def. White, Anna Marie (SCSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Yeacker,Katherine (MWSU) def. Kopff,Sommer (SCSU) 6-7, 7-6, 11-9

Doubles
1. Abreu Roman,Joanna/Strom,Karolina (MWSU) def. Portz,Alexie/DosSantos, Fernanda (SCSU) 8-2
2. Dent,Emilee/Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) def. Fitzpatrick,Samantha/Hanegraaf,Emma (SCSU) 8-3
3. Aguilera,Sofia/Yeacker,Katherine (MWSU) def. Scheck,Abby/White, Anna Marie (SCSU) 8-1

UP NEXT
Missouri Western begins MIAA conference matches with a trip to Washburn on Saturday, March 10. First serve in Topeka, Kansas is scheduled for 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ORLANDO, Fla. – Griffon tennis (7-4) had its three-match win streak snapped Monday morning in Orlando against Saginaw Valley State (11-6), 7-2.

Saginaw Valley State opened by winning all three doubles matches. The Griffons got on the board with wins at No. 2 singles by Karolina Ström and No. 4 singles by Frederica Salmaso. Ström’s ninth’ consecutive win came 6-4, 2-6, 12-10.

Joanna Abreu Roman lost 6-4, 2-6, 12-10 at No. 3 singles, suffering her first loss of the season. Bojana Vuksan battled at No. 1 singles, before falling 4-6, 6-4, 10-4.

RESULTS
Singles
1. Shea Donahue (SVSU) def. Bojana Vuksan (MWSU) 4-6, 6-4, 10-4
2. Karolina Strom (MWSU def. Maddie Miller (SVSU) 6-4, 2-6, 12-10
3. Joanne Gao (SVSU) def. Joanna Abreu Roman (MWSU) 6-4, 2-6, 12-10
4. Frederica Salmaso (MWSU) def. Taylor McLaughlin (SVSU) 6-2, 2-6, 10-7
5. Danielle Slonac (SVSU) def. Sofia Aguilera (MWSU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Nikkita Hill (SVSU) def. Emilee Dent (MWSU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles
1. Donahue/Miller (SVSU) def. Augilera/Vuksan (MWSU) 8-0
2. Gao/McLaughlin (SVSU) def. Abreu Roman/Strom (MWSU) 8-5
3. Hill/Slonac (SVSU) def. Dent/Salmaso (MWSU) 8-3

UP NEXT
The Griffons play their third and final match in Orlando, Tuesday, March 6 against St. Cloud State at 8 a.m. local time.