The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team fell on Friday evening at Fort Hays State, 4-3, at Larks Park in Hays, Kan.

– The loss drops Northwest to 24-25 overall and 19-19 in MIAA play. Fort Hays improves to 22-26 and 16-21 in
conference action.
– Nick Gotta went 4-for-5 with a run scored. He also stole a base.

– Joseph Hietpas started and went 6.0 innings. He allowed four runs with three walks and struck out eight.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest scored single runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings. The Bearcats had three runs on 12 hits with no errors.

– The Tigers scored four runs on 11 hits with two errors. Fort Hays got one in the first, two in in the second and one in the fifth.

– James Holler went 2-for-4 with a run scored after he doubled to lead off the second.

– Garrett Fort was 2-for-5 with an RBI in the seventh.

– Kevin Handzlik was 2-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt.

– Jay Hrdlicka went 2-for-4 on the day.

– Jake Lewis got an RBI in the second inning.

– Kolby Greenslade scored in the seventh after reaching on a fielder’s choice.

– Ross Davis pitched 0.2 innings of scoreless relief.

– Nikko Pablo came in to record the final four outs for Northwest. He allowed just one hit. He struck out one and did not issue a walk.

Key Northwest Innings
– Holler doubled to lead off the second and he went to third on a groundout to short. With one down, Lewis grounded out to short, allowing Holler to score to tie the game, 1-1.

– In the sixth, Gotta hit a leadoff single to right. After a flyout, Gotta stole second and Adams drew a walk to put two runners aboard. Holler grounded into a fielder’s choice which moved Gotta to third but a throwing error on the play allowed him to score to make it 4-2 Tigers.

– Hietpas worked a perfect sixth inning, needing just 10 pitches. He struck out the first batter and then got a foul out and a fly out.

– Hrdlicka singled with one out in the seventh but traded places with Greenslade on a fielder’s choice. With two down, Gotta hit an infield single and a throwing error allowed Greenslade to move to third. Fort came up with an RBI single to center to score Greenslade, cutting the Fort Hays lead one, 4-3.

Up Next
– The regular season concludes tomorrow with a 1 p.m. game against the Tigers.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State softball team came away on the losing end of a pitcher’s duel with Minnesota State Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Softball Championship Central Region Tournament.

The tournament is being hosted by Arkansas Tech University at the Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex in Russellville, Ark.

The loss moves the Bearcats to 37-15 this season, while the Mavericks improve to 45-15 overall.

There were only four combined hits in the contest.

Northwest was unable to scrape together a run after loading the bases in the seventh inning.

Key Statistics
– Kendle Schieber (21-7) took the hard luck loss after tossing six innings of one run ball, giving up only a pair of hits. The senior struck out four MSU batters, retiring the side in order four times.
– Catcher Jessica Rawie reached base twice, finishing 1-for-2 with a walk.
– Rebecca Maher singled up the middle to lead off the top of the seventh.

Key Innings
– Minnesota State pushed across the lone run of the game in the bottom of the second when Jess Meidl lifted a solo shot to left field.

– Second baseman Torri Blythe flashed the leather several times late in the contest, including an over-the-shoulder basket catch to close the fifth inning and a nice stab going to her right in the top of the sixth.

– Maher started a Northwest rally in the top of the seventh when she slapped an 0-2 single back up the middle. Alexis Kelsey laid down a near-perfect bunt in the next at bat, but it rolled just foul. After Kelsey was retired, Chantel Adams sent a lazy pop up into shallow left that was dropped by the Maverick shortstop. Maher and Adams each advanced a base on a passed ball, putting runners in scoring position with one out for Rawie. The catcher worked a walk to load the bases, but MSU pitcher Coley Reis worked out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will face off with the loser of top-seeded Arkansas Tech and eighth-seeded Upper Iowa in an elimination game Friday, May 6, tentatively scheduled for 3:30 p.m. A win in that contest would mean a date in the loser’s bracket championship Friday evening at 6 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team fell at Fort Hays State, 7-3, on Thursday evening at Larks Park in Hays, Kan.

The Bearcats fall to 24-24 on the year and 19-18 in MIAA play. The Tigers improved to 21-26 overall and 15-21 in conference action.

Kevin Handzlik went 3-for-4 on the day with an RBI and a triple.

Northwest pitchers struck out seven batters and did not issue a walk the entire game.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest got two runs in the second and one in the sixth. The Bearcats got three runs on seven hits with four errors.

– The Tigers scored seven runs on 15 hits with one error. Fort Hays got one in the second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings. FHSU scored two in the sixth.

– Garrett Fort was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. He also drew a walk.

– Jake Lewis was 1-for-3 with a run scored. He also reached in the ninth with a walk.

– James Holler was 1-for-4 with a run scored. He hit a two-out single in the sixth and scored on Handzlik’s triple.

– Jay Hrdlicka was 1-for-4 on the day.

– Nick Gotta drew a walk to lead off the eighth, his 43rd free pass of the year.

– Aaron Barratt scored the Bearcats’ second run of the day after reaching on a fielder’s choice in the second.

– Anthony Caenepeel recorded six strikeouts, going 6.0 innings. He allowed six runs but only three were earned. He did not walk a batter.

– Nikko Pablo worked the seventh inning for Northwest. He had one strikeout and allowed one run. He did not issue a walk.

– Jimmy McElwain worked a scoreless eighth inning. He allowed just one hit.

Key Northwest Innings
– Handzlik led off the second with a single to right. He went to second on a passed ball and went to third on a Lewis single. With runners on the corners, Barratt grounded into a fielder’s choice, resulting in Handzlik being tagged out between third and home. Lewis moved to third on the play and Barratt went to second. With one down, Fort doubled down the right field line to score two.

– Handzlik hit an RBI triple with two down in the top of the sixth. His three-bagger drove in Holler who singled up the middle with two down in the frame.

Up Next
– The Bearcats and the Tigers will play at 5 p.m. on Friday night in game two.

— Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball head coach Ben McCollum has announced the signing of Ryan Welty to a National Letter of Intent. Welty was a two-time all-state selection at Park Hill South High School for coach Dan Parra.

“Ryan is extremely talented and has the ability to stretch the floor,” said McCollum. “He can score in a variety of ways. He can score in the post, he is capable off the dribble and can really shoot it from three. Defensively, Ryan is a very good shot blocker and rebounder. In addition to being a talented basketball player, he is also a great student and a great kid and will represent our program in a positive way. We are very excited that he chose to be a Bearcat.”

Welty helped lead his Park Hill South to a pair of district titles and Suburban Conference championships. The Panthers were state runners-up during his junior season. As a senior, Welty was named the Suburban Conference Player of the Year after earning co-player of the year honors as a junior. He twice earned first team all-conference honors after earning honorable mention accolades during his first two seasons. As a senior, Welty was named second team All-Metro. He averaged 18.0 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior, shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the charity stripe. As a junior, he shot 49 percent from deep and 84 percent from the free throw line, averaging 16.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

— Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Northwest Missouri State University men’s and women’s teams each earned bids to the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament on Tuesday. The Bearcat men are the Central Region’s No. 1 team and will host No. 4 on Southwest Baptist at Frank Grube Courts in Maryville, Mo. The Norhtwest women will face Augustana University in Bolivar, Mo., with the winner of that match taking on the winner of Central Oklahoma and host Southwest Baptist. Match dates and times will be released at a later time.

The Bearcat women finished the year at 12-12, advancing to the MIAA semifinals. This is the second straight year the Northwest women have qualified for NCAA play and the 17th time overall. This will be the first meeting in NCAA play between the Bearcats and Augustana. The two teams met earlier this season in St. Joseph, Mo., with the Vikings taking a 5-2 decision on March 6.

Northwest’s men captured the MIAA Tournament and were co-regular season champions, going 19-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Bearcats were 6-0 at home and entered the tournament with the ITA’s No. 12 national ranking. This will be the 19th NCAA tournament selection for the Northwest men and the 11th straight year, dating back to 2006. Northwest is 2-0 all time vs. SBU in NCAA play. Southwest Baptist beat Northwest in the regular season, 5-4, back on April 16. But Northwest won, 5-0, last weekend in the MIAA Championship match.

— Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Chariton (IA) High School guard Daric Laing has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Northwest Missouri State. Head Coach Ben McCollum announced that the first-team 3A All-State performer will join the Bearcats this fall.

“Daric loves to be in the gym and works extremely hard at his game,” said McCollum. “We love the qualities he brings to our program. He is competitive, has a good feel for the game and can really shoot the three. Even more, he is a high character kid and our faculty and fans will enjoy being around him and interacting with him.”

Laing was a four-time South Central Conference first team performer, recording 1,937 points and 433 assists in his prep career. His team, coached by Ben Schooley, won three straight conference championships. As a senior, he led his team to a fourth place finish in the 3A state tournament, earning first team all-state honors. He earned third team all-state honors during his sophomore and junior seasons.

In the classroom, Laing is a member of the National Honor Society, garnered the Principal’s Award, earned Academic All-Conference honors and will graduate in the top-20 of his class at Chariton High School.

— Northwest Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second straight week, Northwest Missouri State University junior Nikko Pablo was named the MIAA/AstroTurf’s Pitcher of the Week. Pablo threw the third no-hitter in Bearcat history on Tuesday, April 26, against Missouri Western.

Pablo went the full 9.0 innings, allowing no hits, no runs and just one walk. He struck out six batters on the day and at one point, retired 21 straight batters between the first and eighth innings. Even more remarkable, Pablo withstood a 49 minute rain delay between the eighth and ninth innings. He emerged in the ninth after sitting for close to an hour to strike out the side in the ninth. Only three Griffon batters reached base against the right hander, one via a walk, one was hit by a pitch and one reached on an error.

Northwest will conclude the 2016 regular season with a three-game series at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan., starting on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis team captured the 2016 MIAA Tournament title on Sunday with a win over Southwest Baptist 5-0 in Springfield.

No. 12 Northwest improved to 19-3 on the year with the victory while No. 18 SBU finishes with a 13-7 record.

This was the seventh year the MIAA has gone to a postseason tournament. The Bearcats have won all seven titles dating back to 2010.  They’ve also won both the regular season and tournament titles each of the past seven seasons.

Northwest has secured the MIAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Match Results
1. #16 Sherif Abohabaga (SBU) vs. #42 Romain Boissinot (NW) 6-7, 1-4, unfinished
2. Sergi Fontcuberta (NW) def. Chris Blodig (SBU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Gyorgy Argoston (SBU) vs. Alvaro Riveros (NW) 4-6, 2-2, unfinished
4. Torben Semrau (SBU) vs. Mauro Tete (NW) 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
5. Raul Cabaerlo (SBU) vs. Aymeric Autones (NW) 6-7
6. Fin Glowick (NW) def. Marcel Castillo (SBU) 6-2, 6-3

1. #16 Fontcuberta/Riveras (NW) def. Abohabaga/Argoston (SBU) 8-3
2. Boissinot/Autones (NW) def. Blodig/Semrau (SBU) 8-6
3. Tete/Altmann (NW) def. Cabalero/Omar Diab (SBU) 8-3

Northwest will await seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division II Selection Show scheduled for Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State came up on the losing end of a low-scoring affair with Southwest Baptist to open day two of the 2016 MIAA Softball Championship Tournament at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla.

– A pair of home runs off the bat of Caitlyn Cooner was all the offense SBU needed to take a 3-1 victory and advance in the tournament.

– Northwest moves to 37-14 this season and has been eliminated from the conference tournament with the loss. SBU improved its record to 24-34 overall.

– The game was interrupted by a 29 minute lightning delay in the top of the fourth inning.

Key Statistics

– Kendle Schieber (21-6) took the loss after scattering six hits in a complete game effort, striking out five SBU batters.

– Junior Torri Blythe singled twice and scored the lone Northwest run, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk.

– Kiana Baderdeen reached base twice, drawing a walk before singling in the top of the seventh.

– First baseman Alexis Kelsey singled in a run in the third inning, finishing 1-for-4.

– Sophomore Rebecca Maher singled in her second at bat before laying down a sacrifice bunt later in the contest.

Key Innings

– Northwest jumped in front in the top of the third with a string of two-out singles. Blythe sent a sharp grounder back up the middle before Maher lined one sharply into the hole at short. With two out and two on, Kelsey dropped in a bloop single just over the second baseman’s glove and into right field, allowing the speedy Blythe to score from second.

– Schieber retired eight straight SBU batters between the first and fourth innings, but a one out single followed by a home run in the bottom of the fourth gave Southwest Baptist the lead for good.

– A leadoff single from Baderdeen, a walk to Blythe and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Maher loaded the bases for Northwest in the top of the seventh, but the rally came up short after a pair of flyouts ended the contest.

Up Next

– The Northwest squad will await the release of the 2016 NCAA Division II Softball Championship Bracket, set to be announced Monday morning, May 2 at 9 a.m. Northwest was ranked fourth in the final Central Region poll.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team dropped a Friday double header to Emporia State at Bearcat Field in Maryville, Mo.

– Northwest fell in the first game, 7-1, and dropped the second game, 7-2.

– The Bearcats are now 24-22 overall and 19-17 in MIAA play. The Hornets improved to 33-14 overall and 25-11 in conference action.

– Between the games, Northwest honored Carson Smith, Nick Gotta, John Osborne, Derek Meyer and Zachary Douglas for Senior Day.

Game One Key Northwest Statistics (Emporia State 7, Northwest 1)

– Northwest scored one run in the sixth and finished the game with four hits and three errors.

– Emporia State scored on in the third, one in the fifth and five in the eighth. The Hornets had seven runs on 11 hits with one error.

– Kolby Greenslade went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

– Garrett Fort went 1-for-2 with a run scored and a walk. He was also hit by a pitch.

– Kevin Handzlik was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

– Aaron Barratt drew two walks in the game.

– Joseph Hietpas started and went 7.0 innings. He allowed just three runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.

– Bryce Shea worked the final 1.1 innings of the contest. He allowed just one unearned run on three hits. He didn’t walk a batter and had three strikeouts.

Game One Key Northwest Inning

– Fort was hit by a pitch to start the sixth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Adams. After a groundout moved him to third, Handzlik hit a single up the middle for an RBI, driving in Fort to cut the Hornets’ lead in half, 2-1.

Game Two Key Northwest Statistics (Emporia State 7, Northwest 2)

– Northwest scored two runs on five hits with five errors. The Bearcats got single runs in the second and fifth innings.

– The Hornets scored three in the first, one in the second, two in the fourth and one in the sixth. ESU had seven runs on nine hits with one error.

– Garrett Fort was 1-for-3 with an RBI double.

– Kolby Greenslade was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

– Ozzie Adams was 1-for-3 with a walk.

– Jake Lewis and Aaron Barratt each went 1-for-4.

– Nick Gotta had a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

– Kevin handzlik was hit by a pitch in the second and came around to score Northwest’s first run.

– Brad Roberts started and went 5.0 innings. He allowed four earned runs with six strikeouts. He walked three batters on the day,

– Jimmy McElwain pitched 2.1 innings of hitless relief. He faced nine batters without allowing a baserunner.

– Carson Smith got the final five outs for Northwest. he went 1.2 innings and did not allow a hit. He struck out two batters.

Game Two Key Northwest Innings
– With one out in the second, Handzlik was hit by a pitch and Lewis followed it up with a single past the shortstop. After a flyout to center that allowed Handzlik to tag and advance to third, Fort came up with a double down the right field line to score Handzlik and move Lewis to third.

– Roberts worked a perfect fifth inning. He struck out the first two batters then got a groundout to close out the frame.

– Greenslade doubled down the left field line with one down in the fifth and went to third on a wild pitch in the next at bat. Gotta came through with a sacrifice fly to center to score Greenslade to make it 6-2 ESU.

Up Next
– Northwest has added a home game on Tuesday, May 3, at 3 p.m. against Quincy University at Bearcat Field. Northwest will conclude the 2016 regular season with a three-game series at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan., starting on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —