MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University head football coach Rich Wright has announced the hiring of Mike Cunningham to the coaching staff for the 2017 season. Cunningham will serve as the Bearcats’ offensive line coach after spending the past two seasons at Winona State University as the Warrior’s run game coordinator and offensive line coach.

“I am very excited to join coach Wright and his staff at Northwest,” said Cunningham. “I am looking forward to helping build on the success that Northwest has achieved over the years.”

While on staff, Winona State went 5-6 during the 2015 season and improved to 8-3 last year. In his first season in 2015, the Warriors allowed just 19 sacks, half of the 38 allowed the year prior to his arrival. In 2016, Winona State ran for 21 rushing touchdowns, surpassing the 13 scores in both 2015 and 2014. The team averaged 160.8 rushing yards per game, an improvement of nearly 37 yards per contest and gained 28 more first downs on the ground.

Prior to his time at Winona State, Cunningham worked with Nebraska football as an offensive staff assistant. He helped with game planning and scouting reports for the Huskers in 2014. In 2013 he served as the offensive line coach at the University of North Dakota. From 2006-12 he was the offensive line coach and running game coordinator at Minnesota State. He was also Concordia-St. Paul’s offensive line coach during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Cunningham graduated from New Mexico State University in 2001 where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Family Sciences. He is married to his wife, Andrea, and the couple has three children, Trevin, Alyssa and Alex.

— Northwest Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University senior Anthony Caenepeel has been named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week in a release from the league office on Tuesday. Caenepeel becomes the third Northwest pitcher to earn MIAA weekly honors, joining Brad Roberts (March 7) and Joseph Hietpas (Feb. 7).

Against Pittsburg State on Friday, Caenepeel recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts in a nine-inning shutout victory. He walked just two batters and gave up five hits for his fifth victory of the season. During the game, he set the Northwest career strikeout record with 225.

— Northwest Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University softball junior Taylor Blackford has been named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week. Blackford led Northwest to a pair of shutout victories this weekend over Southwest Baptist and Central Missouri.

Blackford threw 6.0 innings on Friday in an 8-0 victory. She struck out five while allowing just four hits. On Saturday against Central Missouri, Northwest got an 11-0 run-rule victory in which Blackford struck out one while allowing just two hits in 5.0 innings.

— Northwest Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University had two individuals selected to the 2017 MIAA Hall of Fame class, in an announcement by the league office. Former football defensive end Aaron Becker and former head men’s basketball coach Steve Tappmeyer will both be inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame on Monday, June 5, at the KC Public Library in Kansas City, Mo.

“The impact that coach Tappmeyer has made on his former players goes well beyond basketball,” said Northwest head basketball coach Ben McCollum. “His care and the love he has for his players is unmatched. The wins he accumulated were a result of how hard his kids would compete for him because of the love he showed them/us. In both my personal and professional life, I use the lessons coach taught me through basketball daily. There is no one more deserving of becoming a part of the MIAA Hall of Fame.”

Tappmeyer was named head coach at Northwest in the fall of 1988. He is the all-time leader in wins with 408 victories. He led the Bearcats to seven MIAA championships including three regular season titles and four conference tournament titles. Northwest qualified for the NCAA Tournament 10 times under Tappmeyer with two appearances in the Elite Eight, first in 2002 and then again in 2004.

“Other than my parents, there was nobody more influential in my lifetime than coach Tappmeyer,” men’s associate head coach Austin Meyer said. “Coach instilled discipline in everyone around him, cared greatly about his players and always wanted what was best for the collective unit. I believe we have a great culture and many of the core values we preach today were values we learned from coach Tappmeyer.”

During his career, the Bearcats had a stretch of 11 straight seasons with 19 or more wins and his teams surpassed 22 wins in 9 of his final 12 campaigns on the bench. He was a four time MIAA Coach of the year and the 2001 South Central Region Coach of the Year. His team had a record of 143 wins and only 25 losses at Bearcat Arena during his final 12 seasons. In addition, he also possesses the highest winning percentage of any head tennis coach at Northwest, with a career record of 1-0.

Becker came to Northwest in 1996 from Millard South in Omaha, Neb. He twice helped lead Northwest to NCAA national championships, in 1998 and 1999. He was twice named All-America, three times he earned First Team All-MIAA accolades and was a part of four MIAA Championships during his tenure. He finished his career at Northwest ranked third in tackles for loss with 41.0. Becker made a name for himself in high school as an Omaha World-Herald and Associated Press first-team All-State selection as well as a USA Today honorable mention All-America. He was the second of three Becker brothers to make their way onto the field during the rise of Bearcat football. The Becker family helped capture five MIAA Championships and two National Championships during their time at Northwest.
“Aaron was a key component of our defense on our first national championship team in 1998,” said former Northwest head coach and current Director of Athletics Mel Tjeerdsma. “He is one of the best defensive lineman to ever play for for the Bearcats.”

— Northwest Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – For the second time this season, a home doubleheader for the Missouri Western softball team against Northwest Missouri State has been postponed due to weather.

The games that were most recently scheduled to be played April 4 will now be moved to a later date. Once that date has been finalized, an announcement will be made. The rivalry doubleheader was originally scheduled for March 14, but was moved to April 4 due to weather concerns.

It’s the third home doubleheader, the team has had to re-schedule this season. Now, the Griffons will next play April 7 at Missouri Southern.

— MWSU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior Justin Pitts has been named the 2017 Bevo Francis Award winner, given to the nation’s top small-college basketball player.

Pitts put together one of the most historic seasons in Northwest history as a junior. He was the MIAA Player of the Year, the Basketball Time’s Player of the Year, the DII Bulletin Player of the Year and the NABC Player of the Year. He was named the Most Outstanding Player during the MIAA Tournament, the NCAA Central Regional Tournament and the NCAA Elite Eight. He was honored as a first team All-America performer by Basketball Times, the DII Bulletin, the D2CCA and the NABC. He broke five Northwest single-season records including points (754), field goals made (275), field goals attempted (553), assists (183) and games played (36). He also set the Northwest career scoring record at 1,929.

The Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Bevo Francis played at Rio Grande College (now the University of Rio Grande) in Ohio in 1952-53 and 1953-54. When he arrived on campus, the school had 38 male students enrolled in the school and was on the verge of bankruptcy, planning to close its doors at the end of the 1952-53 school year. In the season before Bevo arrived at Rio Grande, the Redmen (now the Red Storm) had gone 4-19.

During his two seasons at Rio Grande, Bevo became the most popular basketball player in the world, and ultimately helped to save the school from bankruptcy. During his first year, the Redmen went 39-0, and Bevo scored 1,954 points and averaged 50.1 points per game. Against Ashland College (KY), Francis scored 116 points, which included 55 points in the final 10 minutes of the game.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team beat Pittsburg State, 11-4, on Sunday at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kan., to complete a weekend sweep.

– The Bearcats move to 20-10 overall and 9-8 in MIAA play with the victory. Pittsburg State falls to 12-22 overall and 6-14 in league action.

– Jay Hrdlicka had a career day, going 4-for-4 with six runs batted in. He hit three home runs in the contest, scored three times and drew a walk.

– Brad Roberts got his fourth win of the season, going 6.0 innings. He allowed three earned runs, no walks and struck out five.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats scored four in the first, one in the second, one in the fourth, one in the fifth, one in the seventh and three in the ninth. Pittsburg State scored all four runs in the first.

– Northwest had 11 runs on 12 hits with two errors. The Gorillas scored four runs on eight hits with one error.

– Ozzie Adams was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. He drove in a run, walked and was also hit by a pitch.

– Garrett Fort went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.

– Landon Figg was 2-for-5, scoring twice.

– Luke Hassman was 1-for-5.

– James Holler drove in two runs, both on sacrifice flies.

– Kolby Greenslade went 1-for-4 with a run scored.

– Logan Rycraft drew a walk and scored a run.

– Austin Battaglia threw 2.0 innings of hitless relief. He walked just one while striking out two.

– Nikko Pablo finished off the ninth inning, facing just three batters without allowing a hit. He struck out one.

Key Northwest Innings
– Fort led off the game with a double to right. After Adams was hit by a pitch, Figg singled to center to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Fort to score the game’s first run. After an out, Holler hit a sacrifice fly to center, driving in Adams. Hrdlicka then hit his first of three long balls over the right field fence, giving Northwest an early 4-0 lead.

– In the second, Greenslade doubled to lead off and went to third on a sacrifice by Rycraft. Fort grounded out the short but Greenslade was able to score from third to give the Bearcats the lead back, 5-4.

– Rycraft drew a one-out walk in the fourth and went to second on a wild pitch. Adams hit a two-out RBI single to right, scoring Rycraft to make it 6-4.

– Hrdlicka hit his second home run of the day in the fifth with two down. His solo shot cleared the right field fence to make it 7-4.

– Figg started the seventh with a double and went to third on a groundout. Holler hit his second sacrifice fly of the game to center, driving in Figg to give Northwest an 8-4 lead.

– Adams started the ninth with a single to center. After a strikeout, Hassman hit a single to put two runners on. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third. Another strikeout brought up Hrdlicka who launched his third home run of the game over the right field fence to give the Bearcats an 11-4 advantage.

Up Next
– Northwest has changed Tuesday’s game with Nebraska-Kearney due to weather concerns. The game will now be played on Tuesday, April, 4, in Kearney, Neb., starting at 4 p.m.

— Northwest Athletics —