EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Three, two-out runs in the top of the 11th inning lifted the Missouri Western baseball team (7-9) to a 6-4 series clinching win at No. 16 Southern Indiana (5-4) on Sunday. The Griffons won two-of-three against USI.

The win was Buzz Verduzco’s 540th as the head coach at Missouri Western, tying him with Doug Minnis, the Griffons only other head coach.

Southern Indiana got a two-out run of its own in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Maurice Bruce put the Griffs back on top in the 11th with an RBI-single that scored Ryan Smith. Dusty Stroup added to the lead with an RBI-single of his own and a throwing error led to Missouri Western’s third two-out run of the inning.

NOTABLES
– Nate Hunter (2-2) picked up the win in relief in his second-straight appearance as the team’s closer. Hunter went 4 2/3, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out four

– Stroup went 3-for-5 at the dish with an RBI and a walk

– The Griffons scored six runs on six hits, all singles, but had four sacrifice bunts and a sacrifice fly

– Griffon pitchers combined for six strikeouts and just one walk

– Stroup and Bruce each had four hits and two RBIs in the series

– Casey Danley went 4-for-12 in the series with an RBI

– Brooks Days scored three runs in the series

UP NEXT
The Griffons return to conference play and the Spring Sports Complex, hosting Washburn (6-9) for a three-game series, Mach 9-11.

— MWSU Athletics —

ORLANDO, Fla. – Missouri Western tennis (7-3) won its third straight match as it defeated Minnesota State (3-7) 7-2. It was the first of three matches the Griffons will play in Orlando, Florida.

MWSU cruised to three early wins in doubles action. Bojana Vuksan and Sophia Aguilera claimed No. 1 doubles 8-2. Karolina Strom and Joanna Abreu Roman made easy work of the Mavericks in No. 2 doubles 8-1. The Griffons picked up the third point 8-6 in No. 3 doubles from Emilee Dent and Federica Salmaso.

Singles play again saw Missouri Western make easy work of Minnesota State. MWSU claimed straight set wins in No.2 through No. 5 singles. Joanna Abreu Roman remains undefeated on the season in singles action as she won 6-4, 6-1. At No. 2 singles, Karolina Strom won her eighth consecutive match by a score of 6-3, 6-3. The Mavericks only wins came in No.1 and No.6 singles.

RESULTS
Singles
1. Streeter, Erin (MSU) def. Vuksan,Bojana (MWSU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Strom,Karolina (MWSU) def. Ryan, Monika (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Abreu Roman,Joanna (MWSU) def. DeWees, Kylie (MSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) def. Ojeda, Camila (MSU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) def. Risselman, Nina (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Muotka, Madeline (MSU) def. Dent,Emilee (MWSU) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
1. Aguilera,Sofia/Vuksan,Bojana (MWSU) def. Streeter, Erin/Ryan, Monika (MSU) 8-2
2. Strom,Karolina/Abreu Roman,Joanna (MWSU) def. DeWees, Kylie/Risselman, Nina (MSU) 8-1
3. Dent,Emilee/Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) def. Bresnahan, Valerie/Washa, Tyanna (MSU) 8-6

UP NEXT
Missouri Western continues its Orlando road trip against Saginaw Valley State on Monday, March 5. First serve is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The incredible postseason run by the Missouri Western women’s basketball team ended with a 59-41 loss to Lindenwood in the MIAA Championship semifinals Saturday.

The No. 12-seed Griffons missed their first seven shots of the game and scored their first points on a Cera Ledbetter layup more than four minutes into the game. Missouri Western trailed by as many as 25 and never captured the lead against No. 9-seed Lindenwood.

Missouri Western ended the season with a 13-18 record and became the first No. 12-seed to advance to the conference semifinals.

NOTABLES
– After allowing 36 points in the first half, Missouri Western limited Lindenwood to 23 in the second half, just eight in the fourth quarter

– Lindenwood’s 59 points were 18 fewer than the team averaged this season

– Missouri Western limited Kallie Bildner to eight points. She came in averaging 18 per game

– Lindenwood scored 25 points off 19 MWSU turnovers. The Griffons scored 13 points on Lindenwood’s 19 turnovers

– Ledbetter led Missouri Western with 11 points, nine in the first half

– Savannah Lentz had 10 points and six rebounds in her final game as a Griffon

– The Griffons were 16-of-53 from the field (30 percent) and 2-of-10 from three point range

– It was the second time Rob Edmisson led the Griffons into the MIAA semifinals (2016)

– Lindnewood became the lowest seed to ever advance to the MIAA Championship final

Lindenwood will play #3-seed Fort Hays State in Sunday’s championship game.

— MWSU Athletics —

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Griffon baseball (6-9) snapped a four-game skid with a 3-1 win at No. 16 Southern Indiana (5-3), Saturday.

Down 1-0 after four innings, the Griffons scored two in the sixth and another in the seventh to snap the streak and put the team in position for a road series win against a ranked opponent. Casey Danley tied the game with an RBI-single in the sixth and scored the go-ahead run on Will Jibas’ RBI-single. Dusty Stroup added the insurance with an RBI-single of his own in the seventh.

NOTABLES
– Danley went 3-for-4 at the plate with the RBI and the run scored

– Brooks Day’s double was the only extra base hit for the Griffons who had seven hits

– Jacob Miller picked up the win, pitching 5 1/3 of three-hit baseball. He allowed the one run, and unearned run, while striking out four and walking one

– Nate Hunter earned a 3 2/3-inning save.

– Hunter struck out a pair and allowed just one hit

– Griffon batters struck out eight times

UP NEXT
The series will be decided Sunday at noon in Evansville, Indiana.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon football head coach Matt Williamson has named Andre Crenshaw as the team’s new special teams coordinator and running backs coach.

Crenshaw comes to Missouri Western after spending the 2017 season at Tennessee Tech where he coached running backs, returners, and specialists.

Before his time at Tennessee Tech he had a two-season stint at Morehead State where he also coached the running backs, returners and specialists. With the Eagles, Crenshaw helped recruit student-athletes, monitored their academic performance, broke down game film and put together scouting reports. He also helped oversee training and developed game plans.

Prior to his tenure in Kentucky, Crenshaw was a graduate assistant, overseeing the running backs and specialists at Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, South Dakota, then was also the running backs and athletes coach at Riggs Football Academy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

At Dakota Wesleyan, he helped develop Francois Barnaud, who became the school’s leading rusher in just two seasons, picking up 1,893 yards as a junior and 1,409 yards as a senior, the top two seasons in program history. He led the NAIA and Great Plains Athletic Conference in rushing as a junior, was a second-team All-American selection and twice named all-conference.

A native of Lancaster, California, Crenshaw rushed for more than 500 yards and accumulated more than 1,000 career all-purpose yards during a four-year (2006-09) career at Oregon. He rushed for a career-best 133 yards and two touchdowns at Washington as a sophomore in 2007. He totaled more than 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground as a senior at Antelope Valley High School.

Crenshaw earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Oregon in 2010 and a Master’s degree in educational policy and administration from Dakota Wesleyan 2015.

— MWSU Athletics —

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – One inning created a gap Griffon baseball (5-9) couldn’t close Friday in the opening game of a three-game series at No. 16 Southern Indiana (5-2). Missouri Western lost its fourth-straight game, 8-1.

Southern Indiana scored six — five with two-out — runs in the bottom of the first on Carson Dwyre (2-1) who suffered his first loss of the season. After Southern Indiana tied the game at one in the first, Dwyre struck out Southern Indiana’s designated hitter for the second out. Four-straight Screaming Eagle singles with two outs drove in five more runs in the inning and proved to be enough to hold off Missouri Western.

NOTABLES

• It was the seventh game this season against a team currently ranked in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll. MWSU is 1-6 in those games
• Maurice Bruce and Michael Miller both went 2-for-4 in the game. Bruce drove in the Griffon run
• MWSU batters struck out 10 times in the game while walking once
• Dwyre went 4 1/3, allowing six runs – one earned – on six hits. He struck out five and walked one
• The Griffons were charged with three errors in the game
• Kellan Richards struck out two in 1 2/3 innings of relief. He’s now struck out five batters in 5 1/3 innings

UP NEXT
Game two of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 3.

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western State University Director of Athletics Josh Looney announced Thursday that the University has accepted the resignation of men’s basketball head coach Brett Weiberg. Weiberg spent five seasons (2013-18) as head coach at MWSU and compiled a 47-93 overall record, including a 29-69 mark in MIAA play.

“Brett has led our men’s basketball program with high character, integrity and passion. We appreciate his dedication to our student-athletes and always representing our program and university in a first-class manner. We wish Brett and his family nothing but the best moving forward,” Looney said.

MWSU was 6-21 this season and 4-15 in the MIAA.

Weiberg led the Griffons into the postseason four times including a first round win at Washburn in the 2016 MIAA Championships. Five Griffons were named All-MIAA during Weiberg’s tenure and his student-athletes were consistently named to Missouri Western and MIAA academic honor rolls.

“I have been blessed to be the coach of Griffon Basketball and want to thank my family, my players and staff for the countless hours of hard work and dedication,” Weiberg said. “While I take great pride in the fact that we made significant improvements in almost every aspect of the program, the simple fact is we did not win enough games.”

“The athletic staff and coaches at Missouri Western are outstanding and a special thanks to each and every one of them. The MWSU employees are second to none and the people of the city of Saint Joseph are simply the best.”

An extensive national search to find a new head coach will begin immediately. Aaron Coombs will serve as the team’s interim head coach until a new head coach is named.

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The 2017-18 Missouri Western men’s basketball season ended with a 75-59 loss to Central Missouri (20-9) Tuesday in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. MWSU ends its season 6-21, while the Mules improve to 20-9.

The 12th-seeded Griffons traded runs with the 5th-seeded Mules. Central Missouri’s 12-2 run to end the first half gave the Mules the cushion they needed to hold off several pushes by the Griffons. Missouri Western opened the second half on an 11-2 run to cut the UCM lead to four, but the Mules answered with another 12-2 run to stretch their lead to 17 with nine minutes remaining. The Griffons got within eight with six minutes left off a 9-0 run but gave up 9-0 UCM run right after.

NOTABLES
– Lavon Hightower led Missouri Western with 23 points and six rebounds

– Bryan Hudson scored 16 points off the bench for the Griffons

-Missouri Western went 4-for-12 from three-point range in the first half and 2-for-10 in the second half

– Central Missouri shot better than 55 percent in the game with the Griffons shooting 45 percent

– Two Griffon starters (TJ Evans and Beau Baker) were held without a point in the game

– Missouri Western is now 25-21 all-time in the MIAA Championships and 1-4 in the current format’s first round

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Phil Thompson will make history March 9 when the senior track and field athlete becomes the first-ever Griffon to represent Missouri Western at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Thompson’s provisional 49-5 triple jump at the Graduate Classic on Jan. 12 held up and got him into the national championships. He won’t have to adjust to a new runway with the championships being held in Pittsburg, Kan. The Griffons competed there several times this year including Thompson’s fifth place finish in the triple jump at the MIAA Championships last week.

The jump that got Thompson into the championships was fourth best in the MIAA this season and 14th best in all of Division II this season. While it’s the first-ever appearance for a Griffon at nationals, it isn’t Thompson’s. He finished 12th in the triple jump last year as a member of the St. Joseph’s College track and field team.

This year’s national championships will be held March 9 and 10 at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University. Heat sheets will be released by March 5.

— MWSU Athletics —