Hays, Kan. – A late rally by Griffon tennis came up just short as it fell to Fort Hays 5-4. MWSU won three consecutive singles matches in straight sets to tie the match at 3-3.

The first Missouri Western win came at #1 singles as Yasmine El Ghazi won 6-3, 6-1. Karolina Strom picked up a 6-0, 7-5 victory at #2 singles. The run was capped off by Federica Salmaso at #6 singles with a 6-4, 7-5 win.

After dropping #5 singles, the Griffons tied the match 4-4. Joanna Abreu Roman claimed the win in #4 singles 6-4, 7-5. MWSU dropped a heartbreaker to decide the match at #3 singles 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Missouri Western continues its road stretch tomorrow, March 25 at the University of Nebraska Kearney.

— MWSU Athletics —

EMPORIA, Kan. – The Missouri Western baseball team snapped its four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win at No. 8 Emporia State Tuesday.

The Griffons improve to 12-11 this season and 9-4 in the MIAA, while the Hornets are 19-5 and 8-2 in league play.

NOTABLES
– Dustin Agnew didn’t allow a hit until a leadoff single in the fourth, and didn’t allow more than one hit in any of his 7 1/3 innings of work

– The two teams were scoreless through six innings until Alex Heuring hit a two-out solo home run to left

– Emporia State had the bases loaded with two out in the bottom of the ninth before Jared Lloyd coaxed a fly out to left to end the game

– The Griffons have now won five of their last six against traditional MIAA power Emporia State, including four of five last season

– Missouri Western needed just two pitchers in the game, resting the bullpen for this weekend’s three-game series with Northeastern State at the Spring Sports Complex

TOP PERFORMERS
– Agnew allowed just four hits and one run in his first start of the season, striking out three and improving to 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA on the season

– Lloyd went an inning and a third in relief, allowing two hits. It was Lloyd’s 11th appearance this season. He’s 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA, allowing 15 hits in 19.1 innings pitched

– Heuring was 2-for-4 at the plate with the RBI and two runs scored

– David Glaude went 2-for-4 on the day

UP NEXT
The seven-game road swing is over and Missouri Western returns to the Spring Sports Complex later this week to host Northeastern State (11-9, 5-4) in a three-game series. Game one is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch on Friday, March 24.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s golf team shot a 654 over two rounds to finish fourth in the Holiday Inn Express MWSU Spring Invitational at the St. Joseph Country Club Tuesday.

Missouri Western was led by Shi Qing Ong, who placed sixth, with a 9-over-par 153. Chong Yong improved her score by a stroke from the first day and finished in 14th with a 165. Madison Romjue shot a 166 to notch a top 20 finish. Tiffanie Yabut dropped her day two score by nine to card a final total of 173. Jenna Kosmatka fired a 175 for MWSU.

Henderson State won the team title with a score of 625 as Katie Warren of William Woods University took individual honors with a 9-over-par 153. The Griffons travel to the UNK Invite at Awarii Dunes in Axtell, Nebraska on March 25.

— MWSU Athletics —

OKLAHOMA CITY – Missouri Western men’s golf shot a 924 over three rounds to finish 10th in the Broncho Invitational Tuesday at Gaillardia Country Club. MWSU trimmed off 20 strokes from the first round to its third round total.

Jakob Rudosky placed 13th with an 8-over-par 224. Jacob Majeske carded a 231 as Patrick McCarthy was a stroke behind at 232. Lucas Horseman shot a 241 and Cole Roberts a 249 to finish out the Griffon scorecard.

Brendon Jelley of Oklahoma State won the individual field with a 6-under-par 210. Central Missouri claimed the team title with an 875. Missouri Western travels to the Southern Bancorp Invitational in Mountain Home, Arkansas on April 3.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – For the second straight week and the third time this season, the MIAA Softball Hitter of the Week its a Missouri Western Griffon.

Missouri Western shortstop Shelbie Atwell was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week after batting .438 and slugging .938 last week in the Hy-Vee Classic. The junior had a team-high seven RBIs and scored six runs to go with her seven hits. Her hit total included two doubles and two home runs. Atwell also walked four times as her team went 4-2 against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition for a .524 on base percentage.

Atwell joins last week’s MIAA Hitter of the Week and NFCA National Player of the Week, Kailey Green and Katie Klosterman as Griffons to claim the weekly league honor this season. On the season, Atwell leads the MIAA with 13 doubles and her .451 batting average is second-best in the league. She also leads the MIAA with a .500 on base percentage.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s golf team is currently fourth with a 327 after one round Monday of the Holiday Inn Express MWSU Spring Invitational at the St. Joseph Country Club.

Shi Qing Ong is the team leader and fifth in the field as she ended the day with a 6-over-par 78. Chong Yong, Jenna Kosmatka and Madison Romjue all shot an 83 and finished the round inside the top-20. Tiffanie Yabut scored a 91 to round out the Missouri Western team card.

William Woods University and Henderson State lead the team race with a 313. Henderson State’s Allison Davis sits atop the individual leaderboard with a 2-over-par 72. The final round gets underway at 9 a.m. Tuesday from the St. Joseph Country Club.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Much like the previous day, it was a tale of two games for the 18th-ranked Griffon Softball team (22-6) on Sunday with the team splitting two games on its final day of the Hy-Vee Classic.

Missouri Western started the day with a 6-1 win over Wayne State (6-18) before dropping its afternoon game to Minnesota State (22-4), 8-1.

NOTABLES
– Morgan Rathmann tripled against Wayne State and now needs just five more stolen bases to break the MIAA career record (31) and is just four from breaking her own MWSU season record of nine

– Missouri Western was out-hit by its opponents Sunday, 16 (.281) to 11 (.234), but Missouri Western pitchers carried a 2.50 ERA on the day compared to its opponents’ 3.23

– The Griffons were 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts Sunday, getting a single game record-tying, three from Rathmann against Wayne State

– Over the six-game Hy-Vee Classic, Missouri Western batted .318 with 40 runs, 50 hits, eight doubles, seven triples and six home runs

TOP PERFORMERS
– Sydney Washington went 3-for-7 (.429), Sunday, with a team-high two RBIs

– Shelby Uhl batted .333 (2-6) on Sunday with a run scored

– Kenzie Hilzer picked up a complete game win against Wayne State, holding the Wildcats to one run on six hits

– Katie Klosterman and Shelbie Atwell paced the team offensively over the weekend, both batting .438 (7-16), and both hitting two home runs

– Atwell slugged .938 over the weekend, also adding two doubles, and had a team-high seven RBIs

– Paige Shifflett batted .400 on the weekend and raised her season average 32 points

– Hilzer went 3-0 on the weekend with three complete games and a 3.32 ERA

UP NEXT
Missouri Western gets back into MIAA play with a rare Saturday-Sunday road trip to Northeastern State (15-14) on March 25 before visiting No. 9 Central Oklahoma (18-4) on March 26

— MWSU Athletics —

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Western baseball team got swept by Missouri Southern this weekend as they lost to the Lions on Sunday 21-8. Western drops to 11-11 and 8-4 in MIAA play.

NOTABLES
– MWSU led 2-0 after an inning and a half and tied the game at five with a three-run top of the third

– The Griffons led 7-6 going into the bottom of the fourth, before giving up 12 runs in the Missouri Southern half of the inning

– Missouri Southern hit a program-record seven home runs in the game, three of them in the fourth inning

– All 21 Missouri Southern runs were earned

TOP PERFORMERS
– Bailey Zimmer went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs scored

– David Glaude was 2-for-3 with a runs cored

– Dusty Stroup went 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored

– Logan Marston was 2-for-5 with a home run and a run scored
Ryan Smith and Connor Simpson also homered for Missouri Western

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Emporia State (19-4, 8-1) for a single MIAA game on March 21 before returning home to host Northeastern State (11-9, 5-4) for three games March 24-26.

— MWSU Athletics —

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Western baseball team fell at Missouri Southern 5-4 Saturday. MSSU scored the game winning run on a walk in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Lions won in walk-off fashion for the second straight game.

NOTABLES
– The Griffons broke a 3-3 ninth inning tie on a David Glaude single that scored Alex Heuring, Glaude is now two RBIs shy of the career record.

– After MWSU took a two run lead in the sixth inning, MSSU answered with a two run rally in the seventh inning.

– A pitching duel was displayed early in the game as both starters allowed one run each on eight combined hits.

– Missouri Western carried a one hit advantage in the game, 9-8, the eighth straight game it outhit the opponent

– All nine MWSU hits came from the top third of the lineup

TOP PERFORMERS
– Bailey Zimmer was a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs and a home run

– David Glaude batted 4-for-4 with one RBI

– Missouri Southern’s Max Hogan was 2-for-4 with three RBIs

UP NEXT
Missouri Western closes the series with Missouri Southern tomorrow, March 19 at 1 p.m. in Joplin.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – No. 18 Griffon Softball’s (21-5) bats played hot and cold on Saturday as the team split a pair of games in the Hy-Vee Classic Saturday at the Griffon Spring Sports Complex.

Missouri Western was held to just one run for the first time in 18 games with a 6-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth, before the Griffons bounced back with a 14-4 win in six innings over St. Cloud State.

NOTABLES
– Morgan Rathmann hit her 26th career double in the Minnesota Duluth game. Already Missouri Western’s career leader, Rathmann needs six more to break the MIAA record.

– Missouri Western had seven extra base hits against St. Cloud State including three home runs and three doubles

– The Griffons scored their 14 runs in the St. Cloud State win on 13 hits

– Missouri Western was limited to five hits in the loss to
– Minnesota Duluth, the team’s lowest total since just five hits in a win over Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 19 in Bentonville, Arkansas

– MWSU hit .340 on the day with a .660 slugging percentage and committed just one error in the field

TOP PERFORMERS
– Katie Klosterman went 4-for-5 (.800) on the day with a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored

– Paige Shifflett went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored. She’s raised her average 137 points in the last month and is now batting .280

– Morgan Rathmann went 3-for-6 with three runs scored and an RBI

– Shelbie Atwell was 2-for-5 with four RBIs, a home run and a double

UP NEXT
The Griffons get two more at home Sunday in the Hy-Vee Classic, closing out its portion with Wayne State (5-17) at 11 a.m. and Minnesota State (21-3) at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —