The Northwest Missouri State softball team dropped both games of a double header to Central Missouri Saturday falling 11-3 in game one, and 7-1 in game two.

The Bearcats were first on the scoreboard in game one as Chantel Adams led off the second inning with a solo home run over the left field fence.

The Jennies came back to take the lead in the bottom half of the third as they plated four runs to go up, 4-1.

Northwest hit their second home run of the game in the fourth inning when Kristen Uthe hit a two run shot to left center to bring her team within one, down 4-3.

UCM then scored one in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the six to end the game at 11-3.

Abbie Vitosh was tagged in the loss in game one.

The Bearcats managed only one run in game two which came in the top of the second inning when Baylee Scarbrough singled in Adams from third base.

UCM went on to score one run in each the second and third innings before scoring four runs in the fourth. The Jennies added one more run in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 7-1 victory.

Sarah Baldwin received the loss in game two.

Northwest moves to 6-13, 3-7 on the season and will take a break from conference play as they head to Rockhurst for a double header Wednesday. Game one is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State baseball team had their seven game winning streak snapped Friday as Southwest Baptist was able to hit their way to a 16-8 victory.

SBU was able to get on the board early as they plated two runs in the top of the first and the top of the second to take a 4-0 lead.

Northwest answered with two runs of their in the bottom half of the second inning.

An error and a home run led to a three run third inning for SBU, putting them up 7-2.

Zac Ferreira and Garret Fort both knocked in RBIs in the bottom of the third to bring the score to 7-4.

SBU put up four runs in the top of the fifth inning, which Northwest answered by bringing in three runs of their own in the bottom half, as they trailed 11-7.

James Holler was able to scamper home in the seventh to bring his team within three, as they were down 11-8 heading into the final two innings.

A five run ninth inning for SBU seemed to put the game out of reach for Northwest who were unable to comeback in the bottom half of the inning as they fell, 16-8.

Austin Warren was tagged in the loss for Northwest, as he is now 1-2 on the season.

Baseball moves to 11-6, 8-3 on the season and will play games two and three of the four game series Saturday at Bearcat Field. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team swept Southwest Baptist Friday in a double header, as they took game one, 2-0, and game two, 3-2, in nine innings.

Abbie Vitosh was in the circle for Northwest in game one and was able to silence the SBU bats from the beginning.

With Vitosh settling in for the long hull, the Northwest offense only needed a couple of runs to secure the victory.

Baylee Scarbrough ended the 0-0 tie in the top of the fourth inning with her second home run of the season, a solo shot that put her team up 1-0.

Northwest was able to add an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Chantel Adams scored on an error.

The two runs were more than enough for Vitosh, who went the distance for the complete game victory. The junior gave up only four hits and three walks, while striking out six on her way to her second win of the season.

Northwest took the lead in inning three of game two off the bat of Steph Mark who hit a two run home run to put her team up 2-0.

SBU answered back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the third inning, and tied the game up at 2-2 with a run in the fifth.

The game headed into extra innings and in the top of the ninth, Maddie Jones put her team up 3-2 with her first home run of the season.

Sarah Baldwin shut down SBU in the ninth inning one, two, three to claim the 3-2 extra inning victory. Baldwin earned the baseball version of a complete game going all nine innings as she gave up five hits, two walks and struck out nine on her way to her fourth win of 2014.

Northwest moves to 6-11, 3-5 on the season and will continue conference play Saturday as they take on Central Missouri for a double header in Warrensburg, Mo. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State senior guard DeShaun Cooper was named to the Daktronics Men’s Basketball Central Region First Team on Thursday in a release from the organization. Cooper is now eligible to receive All-America honors in a voting process that begins next week.

Cooper was the 2013-14 MIAA Player of the Year and a first team all conference performer. He led the Bearcats to a share of the regular season title, leading the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. He is one of just five players in program history to surpass 1,600 career points and is second all-time with 476 career assists.

Northwest will play Winona State at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 15 in Mankato, Minn. There will be a pregame event prior to Saturday’s game at Jake’s Stadium Pizza (330 Stadium Rd., Mankato, MN) starting at 4 p.m. for Bearcat fans making the trip.

Zach Monaghan – MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO (Central Region Player of the Year)
Josh Gibbs – UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Assem Marei – MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO
DeShaun Cooper – NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
Craig Nicholson – FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State head football coach Adam Dorrel was named the Burns & McDonnell Coach of the Year by the Kansas City Sports Commission. Dorrel will receive his award on Friday, April 11, at the Kansas City Sports Commission Awards Banquet at the Downtown Marriott-Muehlbach Towers. The program will begin at 7 p.m.

Dorrel led the Bearcats to the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship, going 15-0. He was named the MIAA Coach of the Year and the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year for his accomplishments.

Ticket and table sponsorship information is available online at www.SportKC.org.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State tennis players Sergio De Vilchez and Alexis Bartek were each named the MIAA Tennis Athletes of the Week on Monday in a release from the league office. De Vilchez led the men’s team to a 3-1 record over the weekend while Bartek’s play for the women gave them a weekend split at 2-2.

Bartek went 3-0 while playing at No. 2 singles. She had wins over Cameron’s Paula Gutierrez-Casa (6-3, 2-6, 10-3), Nebraska-Kearney’s Kristin Weems (6-2, 6-0) and Southeastern Oklahoma’s Darija Catipovic (6-3, 6-1). She was leading Drury’s Natalia Kozel 6-2, 5-5 before play was halted. Bartek teamed with Lorena Rivas Jarolim to win at No. 1 doubles against Nebraska-Kearney and Southeastern Oklahoma.

De Vilchez was 3-0 at No. 1 singles as he didn’t drop a set over the weekend. He beat Cameron’s Dennis Merdan (6-3, 6-2), Nebraska-Kearney’s Yeswanth Nadella (6-0, 6-0) and Drury’s Andy Blair (6-4, 6-4). He paired with teammate Lluis Altimires at No. 1 doubles, winning matches over Cameron, Nebraska-Kearney and Southeastern Oklahoma.

The Northwest women will play Missouri Western on Wednesday, March 12, in Maryville at 3 p.m. The men’s team will play at Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday, March 15, at 11 a.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team received the No. 5 seed in 2014 NCAA Division II basketball tournament on Sunday. The Bearcats will play the Central Region’s No. 4 ranked team, Winona State, on Saturday, March 15. Minnesota-State Mankato received the No. 1 seed in the Central Region and will serve as tournament host.

Tickets for the regional are $15 for reserved, $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, children (ages 5-17) and college students with valid student IDs.

Game times will be released at a later date.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team lost in the final inning of game one for the second day in a row, losing 7-5 and then falling 7-0 in game two to Emporia State, Sunday.

Taszia Roseberry hit a two out single in the second inning that plated Baylee Scarbrough, who scored from first base, to put her team up 1-0.

Torri Blythe led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and then preceded to steal second base. Jordan Ereth doubled to right center, scoring Blythe from second. Ereth would later score in the inning off the bat of Stephanie Mark who singled through the left side of the infield, as the Bearcats took a 3-0 lead.

Emporia state was able to tie up the contest in the bottom half of the inning, as they plated three runs of their own.

The teams were locked up for the next three innings with Taylor Blackford in the circle for Northwest. Blackford pitched three innings giving up three hits, allowed no walks, no runs and struck out one.

The Bearcats went down one, two, three in the top of the seventh.

Emporia state was able to get one runner on before hitting a game winning home run to end game one, 5-3.

The ESU pitcher was able to silence the Bearcat offense in game two, as they managed only three hits in the contest.

The Hornets plated two runs in the first inning, three in the third and one more in the fourth as they walked away with the 6-0 victory.

Paige Blythe was tagged with the loss in game two.

The Bearcats move their season record to 3-10, 0-4 in 2014. Northwest will head to St. Joseph, Mo. to take on rival Missouri Western Tuesday for a double header. Game one is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm, with game two set to follow.

— Northwest Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team fell to Missouri Southern State on Saturday evening in the MIAA Tournament semifinal round at Municipal Auditorium, 70-67. Northwest falls to 22-8 overall while Missouri Southern improves to 23-5 and will advance to play Central Oklahoma in the finals on Sunday.

Dillon Starzl had a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds, going 6-for-11 from the field. DeShaun Cooper scored 16 point on 5-of-11 shooting. Conner Crooker had 11 points to go along with six rebounds. Northwest outrebounded the Lions, 34-27, but committed six more turnovers, 16-10.

Northwest shot 48 percent from the field (24-for-50) and hit 15-of-20 from the charity stripe. The Bearcats also held a 21-9 bench scoring advantage and had 36 points in the paint.

For Missouri Southern, Marquis Addison had a game-high 22 points while Cameron Cornelius had 18.

Northwest will now await NCAA Tournament selection. There will be a selection show watch party on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. at Carson’s Sports Grille in downtown Maryville. The selections will also be available on NCAA.com.

— Northwest Sports Information —