ST. JOSEPH – Weather has again forced changes to the Griffon baseball schedule. Missouri Western’s MIAA opening series at Central Missouri has been pushed back one day.

The two teams are now scheduled to begin the series on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. with game two on Feb. 25 and game three on Feb. 26.

REVISED SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Saturday, Feb. 24, 4 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, Feb. 25, 1 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Western softball junior outfielder Shelby Uhl was named MIAA Hitter of the Week after going 11-for-22 at the plate through six games last week.

Uhl hit four doubles, scored four runs and drove in five runs through three doubleheaders at the Spring Sports Complex last week. The junior from Pleasant Hill, Iowa is off to a blistering start to the season, batting .545. She leads the MIAA in batting average and ranks second in the conference with a .568 on base percentage. Uhl is also second in the MIAA in hits (18) and ranks third in doubles (4).

Griffon softball travels north this week to play in the Kelly Laas Invite in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Missouri Western opens play Thursday with a doubleheader against Minnesota State.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – After dropping the first two games of their series with No. 21 St. Cloud State, the Missouri Western baseball team salvaged the final game of the series Sunday 9-5. The Griffons improve to 5-5 on the season.

Missouri Western jumped out early with three runs in both the second and third innings. After the Huskies cut the lead down to two runs, Casey Danley added insurance for MWSU. Danley belted a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the Griffons avoid being swept.

NOTABLES
– Jake Miller had a game-high five strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs

– Will Jibas scored four runs and recorded an RBI

– Casey Danley went 2-for-3 at the plate, scored two runs and had three RBIs

– Trever Carroll tossed four innings and gave up two earned runs

– MWSU’s nine RBIs is the second most this season

– St. Cloud State committed four errors and five of its nine runs allowed were earned runs

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Central Missouri to open MIAA play with a three-game series beginning on Friday, Feb. 23.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western softball team (3-7) snapped a four-game skid with a split in a Sunday doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth (6-2).

Missouri Western jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and held on for a 6-4 win in game one to end its losing streak and to give the Griffons their first home win of the season. Hits were harder to come by in game two as MWSU was limited to five in a 5-1 loss to the Bulldogs.

NOTABLES
– Riley Wilson went 3-for-5 at the plate with a walk and an RBI in the doubleheader

– Shelby Uhl pushed her season batting average to .545 with a 3-for-7 day at the plate. The junior centerfielder scored two runs and drove in one.

– Shelbie Atwell and Gabi Carter each drove in two runs for the Griffons

– Kenzie Hilzer (2-4) picked up the win in game one, pitching all seven innings and allowing four earned runs on nine hits. Hilzer coaxed to fly outs with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to secure the victory

– Missouri Western scored seven runs in the doubleheader on 15 hits and were limited to just one extra base hit, a double by Gabi Carter

UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota next week for four games in the Kelly Laas Invitational at the Husky Dome. Missouri Western opens play in the crossover with a doubleheader against No. 1 Minnesota State on Feb. 22.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team lost to Pittsburg State at home Saturday 93-80. The Griffons are now 5-19 this season and 3-14 in the MIAA.

Missouri Western looked poised for a run midway through the game. The Griffons went on an 11-3 run to cut the Gorilla lead to five points a few minutes into the second half. After PSU pushed its lead back to 15 points, MWSU used another 11-3 run to get the lead to six points with 8:04 left in the game. Pittsburg State countered the Missouri Western run and closed the game with 10-2 run.

Pittsburg State shot 61.5 percent from the three-line in the first half and 48.1 percent for the game. Missouri Western was 50 percent from the field in the second half and 48.3 percent throughout the game.

NOTABLES
– The two teams had four different players scored 21 points

– Missouri Western tied its season-high of 80 points in the game

– Lavon Hightower netted a career-high 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Griffons

– The Griffons forced the Gorillas into 16 turnovers

– MWSU scored 22 points off the Pittsburg State turnovers

– PSU’s Donovan Franklin had a game-high 31 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western begins its final road trip of the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Griffons travel to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri for a 7:30 p.m. game.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team fell to Pittsburg State Saturday 61-52 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons drop to 11-15 and 4-13 in the MIAA.

Missouri Western used a 7-1 run with 2:19 left in the second quarter to take its first lead of the game. Savannah Lentz scored all seven points of MWSU’s points in the third quarter run. The run gave Missouri Western a two point lead with less than four minutes to go. However, PSU outscored the Griffons 18-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Missouri Western forced the Gorillas into 14 turnovers. Pittsburg State also turned up its defensive in the game and limited the Griffons to shoot just nine percent from the three-point line.

NOTABLES
– Savannah Lentz scored a game-high 15 points and Cera Ledbetter added 13 points in their final game in the MWSU Fieldhouse

– Missouri Western was 75 percent from the free-throw line and Pittsburg State was just 57.1 percent

– The Griffons scored 12 points off Gorilla turnovers

– PSU outrebounded MWSU 36-26

UP NEXT
Missouri Western begins its final road trip of the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 22. The Griffons head to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri for a 5:30 p.m. game.

— MWSU Athletics —

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Missouri Western track and field teams added two more wins, three new school records and a host of personal bests in their final regular season competitions of the indoor season.

The throwers competed at the Nebraska Wesleyan Open while the jumpers and runners competed at the Nebraska Tune-Up hosted by the University of Nebraska.

Phil Thompson won the triple jump at the Nebraska Tune-Up, besting marks by four Division I competitors and two from the MIAA. Thompson claimed the championship with a 48-11 1/5 (14.92m) triple jump. Thompson’s winning jump was sixth best in the MIAA this season. The senior transfer has the second best triple in the conference this season with his 49-5 at the Graduate Classic earlier this season.

At Nebraska Wesleyan, Friday, Jordan Garr won the shot put with a 52-4. Kallin Sheppard finished fifth in the weight throw (45-1 1/2) and sixth in the shot with a 40-1/2 throw. Simone Baldeh finished sixth in the weight throw and eighth in shot put.

In addition to Thompson’s win at the Nebraska Tune-Up, Kaitlyn Shoemaker finished 10th with an MWSU record 5:08.03 and Allison Goos won both her heats in the 800m before finishing 11th (2:27.02).

SCHOOL RECORDS
Kallin Sheppard – Women’s Weight Throw (45-1 1/2)
Kallin Sheppard – Women’s Shot Put (40-1/2)
Kaitlyn Shoemaker – Women’s 1-Mile (5:08.03)

PERSONAL RECORDS
Simone Baldeh – Shot Put (36-5) Weight Throw (44-9 1/2)
Alex Bautista – 1-Mile (4.33.77)
Kelsey Cox (season best) – 1-Mile (5:36.72)
Morgan Doyle – 400m (1:01.25)
Allison Goos – 1-Mile (5:22.97)
Alison Nutt (season best) – 400m (59.75)
Paul Sanchez – 60m (7.41)
Andrew Stroud – Shot Put (40-6 1/4) Weight Throw (33-8 1/2)
Emily Zorich – 3,000m (12:18.03)

UP NEXT
It’s the first-ever MIAA Indoor Championships for the Griffons next week in Pittsburg, Kansas. Competition begins Friday, Feb. 23 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 25.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball lost at home to Missouri Southern Thursday night 61-52. The Griffons fall to 11-14 this season and 4-12 in the MIAA, while Southern improves to 11-13 and 8-8 in league play.

After three quarters of back and forth basketball, MWSU’s offense went cold. The Griffons shot 14 percent from the field and went the final eight minutes without a field goal. The fourth quarter woes overshadowed a hot start to the game and end of the third quarter by Missouri Western.

The Griffons shot 70 percent from the field and put up 19 points in the first quarter. MWSU built momentum in the third quarter with a 12-6 run over the last 5:06. However, the first and third quarter efforts were not enough to prevent the fourth quarter struggles.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western outscored Missouri Southern 16-3 off the bench

– The Griffons were whistled for 25 fouls, 10 more than the Lions

– MWSU forced 20 turnovers, the most since Southwest Baptist on Jan. 15

– Melia Richardson had a team-high 18 points for the Griffons and broke a three game drought of 10 or less points

– MWSU was 60 percent from the three-point line in the first quarter but made one three over the next three quarters

– MSSU’s Desirea Buerge (25 points) and Chelsey Henry (20) combined for 45 of the team’s 61 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western plays its final home game on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. against Pittsburg State. The Griffons will honor their four seniors on Saturday as well.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Despite 17 runs on 23 hits by the Missouri Western softball team (2-4) on Thursday, the Griffons were swept in its home opening series by Minnesota Duluth (4-0).

MWSU dropped game one 22-12 after jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. They fell in game two 14-5.

NOTABLES
– MWSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game one after two innings and led 10-6 after a six run third by UMD was answered with a three-run third for the Griffons

– Shelbie Atwell had a team-high four hits in the doubleheader, going 4-for-6 at the plate with a double and a run scored

– Shelby Uhl went 3-for-8 on the day with three doubles in game one

– Morgan Frost had a team-high four RBIs on the day, hitting her first home run as a Griffon and going 3-for-8 at the plate

– Rebekah Mueller went 3-for-7 and hit a home run in her third consecutive game in the first game

– All three Griffon pitchers appeared in game one with Kenzie Hilzer pitching all seven innings in game two

– Kaili Hinds took the loss in game one with Hilzer taking the loss in game two

UP NEXT
The Griffons host a quad crossover this weekend in place of the cancelled Arkansas-Monticello 9-State Classic. Missouri Western kicks off the event with a doubleheader against Minnesota State at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17.

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball fell at home to Missouri Southern Wednesday night 81-70. The Griffons drop to 5-18 this season and 3-13 in the MIAA. The Lions have won five straight games as they improve to 17-8 and are tied for second in the MIAA at 12-4.

Missouri Western found itself in a back and forth battle in the first half. MSSU hit a three-pointer with four seconds left in the half to take a seven point lead. The Lions pushed their lead to 14 points after a hot start to the second half. Lavon Hightower and Bryan Hudson combined for 13 points and powered the Griffons to a 15-5 rally to cut the lead to four points with 11 minutes to go in the game.

After Missouri Southern scored five unanswered points, Hightower took off for seven of Missouri Western’s 11 points over a four minute stretch. The run allowed the Griffons to make it a one possession game with 5:38 left in the game. However, the Lions pulled away late to win the game.

NOTABLES
– Lavon Hightower and Missouri Southern’s CJ Carr scored a game-high 24 points

– Bryan Hudson had 12 points, it is third consecutive game in double-digits

– Missouri Western was 51.6 percent from the field in the second half

– The Lions shot 20 free throws in the game, 10 more than the Griffons

– The two teams combined for 24 assists in the game

– MSSU’s Kinzer Lambert had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds

UP NEXT
Missouri Western plays its final home game on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Pittsburg State. The Griffons will recognize their five seniors prior to tip-off.

— MWSU Athletics —