College – Page 222 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Missouri Western softball games with Northwest postponed

Posted on March 13, 2017

ST. JOSEPH – Tuesday’s scheduled Missouri Western softball doubleheader versus Northwest Missouri has been postponed until April 4 due to cold temperatures.

The doubleheader on April 4 will begin at 3 p.m. It’s the second time in less than a week, weather has intervened in Missouri Western’s schedule. The Griffons’ home opener was moved up a day and what was supposed to be the team’s second MIAA and home doubleheader of the season versus Lincoln, was also postponed.

MWSU is 18-4 on the season and 2-0 in the MIAA.

This most recent schedule change will reduce Missouri Western’s schedule this week from eight games to six as the team now just prepares to host the Hy-Vee Classic this weekend. Nineteen other teams from the MIAA and NSIC will converge on St. Joseph for the three-day event. Look for more details to come on this weekend’s classic.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats cruise past Augustana, advance to fourth straight NCAA Sweet 16

Posted on March 12, 2017

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – The matchup in the Central Region semifinals was as tantalizing as a round of 32 game can get for the NCAA Division II Tournament.

No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State was taking on defending champion Augustana in a rematch of last year’s Central Region championship game. Augustana won that game by two points in its hometown of Sioux Falls, S.D.

Northwest Missouri got its revenge with a 74-53 victory Sunday evening at Bearcat Arena. It has been a friendly regional rivalry between two teams that have faced each other the last three seasons in the postseason tournament.

“This has been an awesome rivalry,” said Augustana senior Adam Beyer, who scored 12 points. “I have had a great time. They have been outstanding games every time we played. They are a really good team. It will be nice to see the rivalry continue because I know they are going to be good and we are going to be good.”

In the last two years, they have faced each other four times with each team winning twice.

“It is a great rivalry,” said Northwest senior Zach Schneider, who finished with 15 points. “That is what you get in Division II with regions. “We have played them in region three straight years and obviously, we have had some great battles with them. Tonight, we played really well.”

The victory puts the Bearcats in the Central Region championship game for the fourth straight season. The previous three years Northwest lost.

Now Northwest, 31-1, will be looking to break that streak when it takes on Southwest Minnesota State, 28-5, 7 p.m. CT Tuesday at Bearcat Arena.

“We are just looking at it as another home game,” Schneider said. “We will get a good scout on Southwest and get a good practice in tomorrow.”

Northwest coach Ben McCollum reiterated the point of treating Tuesday’s game like a midseason contest.

“We got class tomorrow?” McCollum asked as he looked at a couple of Northwest players. “We have class so we will go to class tomorrow and then have a home game on Tuesday. Obviously, it is not just another game. I think a relaxed mentality helped us quite a bit tonight. If we can stay relaxed and calm, I think we will be okay.”

The Bearcats started the second half against Augustana with a 13-point lead and quickly expanded it to 45-27 on a three-pointer by Schneider followed by two free throws from junior Chris-Ebou Ndow.

Augustana junior Jordan Spencer, who made the game-winning free throws in last year’s Central Region championship game, hit a three-pointer and then a two-point field goal to make it 45-32.

The Vikings, though, never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Every time they made a little run, somebody for Northwest stepped up with a basket. With 12:50 left, it was freshman Ryan Welty who knocked down a three-pointer to give Northwest a 52-35 lead.

Northwest’s lead grew to 58-37 on a basket by senior D’Vante Mosby. Augustana made one more push, closing to 62-39 with just over 4 minutes left. But a NBA-range three-pointer by Justin Pitts with 3:58 left made it 65-39, and all but dashed any hopes of the Vikings repeating as national champions.

Crisp passing, particularly in the first half, led to a balanced scoring attack. Pitts led Northwest Missouri with 16 points, Schneider scored 15, Ndow had 12 and senior Anthony Woods finished with 11.

“We played a team tonight that if they play like that, they can win a national championship,” Augustana coach Tom Billeter said. “They were really ready to play. I thought we competed.

“We only lost two games by double figures this year and they were both to them.”

Northwest showed how in sync it was on the final play in the first half. With the clock running down to 5 seconds, Pitts drove, passed it to forward Brett Dougherty who then kicked it back outside to Welty. Welty nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to push Northwest’s lead to 40-27.

“It was great,” Ndow said of the ball movement in the first half. “The first game we had some problems offensively to get in the flow. This game we came out with the mindset to get the ball moving and get everybody involved and we did a good job of it.”

Augustana started the game with a three-pointer from Spencer. It would be the only lead of the half for the Vikings.

Northwest scored the next six points for a 6-3 lead. The Vikings tied the game 6-6 on a three-pointer by senior Mike Busack. It was the only tie in the first half.

The Bearcats went on a 16-2 run for a 22-8 lead. Most of the points came on baskets in the paint that were set up from multiple passes.

Busack kept the Vikings close, especially when he hit a long three-pointer that closed the gap to 29-22. Northwest scored the next four points and maintained a double-digit lead for all but one possession to close out the half.

Northwest shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and had 10 assists on its 17 field goals. The Bearcats also held Augustana to 39 percent shooting from the field.

“It is always fun to play Augustana,” McCollum said. “We have built somewhat of a rivalry with them. They are extremely well coached. They have a lot of good players, a lot of winners out there. They competed.

“I thought defensively, our kids were really locked in for the whole game.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffons’ eight-game winning streak snapped in series finale at Pittsburg

Posted on March 12, 2017

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Missouri Western baseball team lost at Pittsburg State Sunday 10-7 in the finale of their three-game series with the Gorillas. MWSU still won two-of-three in the series as the loss did snpa their eight-game winning streak. The Griffons are 11-8 and 8-1 in the MIAA.
NOTABLES
– MWSU cut the lead down to two in the eighth inning, but PSU answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning

– The Griffons hit three home runs in the game, two in the eighth inning and one in the ninth inning

– Missouri Western’s six errors led to seven unearned runs

– The middle of the order produced seven hits and nine RBIs for the Gorillas

– Two through five in the lineup for MWSU combined for eight hits and three RBIS
TOP PERFORMERS
– Nick Gawley went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scores, one RBI and three stolen bases

– Dusty Stroup was 3-for-5 with a triple and a home run

– Logan Marston and Alex Heuring combined for three hits, two home runs and two RBIs

– Dallas Reed went 4-for-5 with four RBIs for the Gorillas
UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Joplin, Missouri to take on Missouri Southern State on Friday, March 17.

— MWSU Athletics —

KU earns No. 1 seed as they make NCAA-record 28th straight tournament appearance

Posted on March 12, 2017March 12, 2017

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Kansas is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship bracket revealed during today’s Selection Sunday Show on CBS.

The Jayhawks (28-4, 16-2 Big 12) now hold an NCAA-record of 28-straight appearances in the NCAA tourney after finishing the regular season with its 13th-straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title and a 5-0 record against top-10 teams.

KU will face the winner of a First Four matchup between North Carolina Central (25-8) and UC Davis (22-12) on Friday at the Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Should Kansas advance to the second round, the Jayhawks will face No. 8 seed Miami (21-11) or No. 9 seed Michigan State (19-14) on Sunday.

The winner of the Midwest Region’s First and Second Rounds in Tulsa will advance to play at Sprint Center in Kansas City, March 23 and 25, where the Jayhawks have already played four times this season.

The Final Four will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on April 1 and 3.

Kansas has been a No. 1 seed seven times under head coach Bill Self. The Jayhawks average a 1.9 seed in 14 seasons with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2017 Finalist on the sidelines.

KU is the overall No. 2 seed behind Villanova, in a complete list of all 68 seeds that the NCAA Selection Committee released after the bracket had been announced.

The Jayhawks are making their 46th NCAA Tournament all-time appearance. KU is 100-44 in NCAA postseason games, including 31 Sweet Sixteen appearances and 14 trips to the Final Four.

Kansas is one of six Big 12 Conference teams to earn an NCAA bid, joined by Baylor, West Virginia, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Kansas has a 10-1 record against the seven NCAA Tournament teams it has faced this season.

— KU Athletics —

K-State earns NCAA bid, faces Wake Forest in First Four Tuesday

Posted on March 12, 2017March 12, 2017

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State was rewarded for a successful season on Sunday, as the Wildcats earned their 29th overall bid to the NCAA Tournament, including the third in five seasons under Bruce Weber.

K-State (20-13, 8-10 Big 12) was selected as a No. 11 seed in the South Regional and will travel to Dayton, Ohio, to play in the First Four to play fellow No. 11 seed Wake Forest (19-13, 9-9 ACC) on Tuesday, March 14 at the University of Dayton Arena. The winner will advance to play No. 6 seed Cincinnati (29-4, 16-2 AAC) on Friday, March 17 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

The Wildcats will be joined at the venue by fellow No. 11 seeds Providence and USC and No. 16 seeds Mount St. Mary’s and New Orleans of the East Regional and No. 16 seeds North Carolina Central and UC Davis of the East Regional. The top seeds in the South Regional are No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 2 seed Kentucky, No. 3 seed UCLA, No. 4 seed Butler and No. 5 seed Minnesota.

K-State and Wake Forest will tip off at 8:10 p.m. CT or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game of the evening session between No. 16 seeds Mount Saint Mary’s and New Orleans on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast nationally on TruTV with Brian Anderson, Clark Kellogg and Lewis Johnson.

Tickets may be requested by current Ahearn Fund members, men’s basketball season ticket holders, faculty/staff, students and alumni. Ahearn Fund members and season ticket holders received an email and can now order online. Faculty/staff, students and alumni should call the K-State Ticket Office at (800) 221.CATS on Monday between 8:30 a.m. and noon. Tickets are priced at $65 for the First Four match-up.

Fans can also pre-order tickets for the 1st and 2nd rounds in Sacramento. Tickets are priced at $100, and the deadline to request is 5:30 p.m. Monday. Orders placed for Friday will automatically be rolled over to Sunday should K-State advance. All seats will be assigned in order of K-State Athletics priority points following the noon and 5:30 p.m. deadlines. Any first and second round tickets remaining on Tuesday, March 14 will be made open to the public at 8:30 a.m., while tickets for the game in Dayton will be made available to public beginning at 1:00 p.m. Monday. All tickets are will call only.

Kansas State is making its 36th postseason appearance, which includes 29 in the NCAA Tournament and seven in the Postseason NIT. The Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in 11 seasons, including their first since a second-round appearance in 2014. The program has now advanced to the postseason nine times in the last 11 seasons (seven trips to NCAA Tournament and two to the NIT). The 29 overall bids ties for 23rd nationally (along with Utah and BYU), including fourth among Big 12 schools.

In its last appearance, the ninth-seeded Wildcats fell to No. 8 seed Kentucky, 56-49, in the NCAA Midwest Regional second round at the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis. The team shot just 35.8 percent (19-of-53), including 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range, as then freshman Marcus Foster led three players in double figures with 15 points. Two current players – seniors Wesley Iwundu and D.J. Johnson – played in the game with Iwundu scoring 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 31 minutes while Johnson played just 4 minutes before breaking his foot in the first half. K-State has a 6-6 NCAA Tournament mark in its last six appearances.

The program has posted a 33-32 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play, including 10-4 in the first round. The school will be making its second appearance in the South Regional with its other trip coming in 1993 and is 0-1 all-time in the region. K-State will be making its third appearance as a No. 11 seed and the first since the 2008 NCAA Tournament, in which, the Wildcats defeated No. 6 USC, 80-67 before falling to No. 3 seed Wisconsin in Omaha, Nebraska. Overall, the school is 1-2 as a No. 11 seed.

In K-State’s 29 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Wildcats have advanced to the Sweet 16 a total of 16 times. The program has also reached the Elite Eight 11 times, made four Final Four appearances and played in one National Championship game (1951).

Weber becomes fifth different coach to lead K-State to at least three NCAA Tournament appearances and joins Jack Hartman (1978-82), Lon Kruger (1986-90) and Frank Martin (2007-12) as the only coaches to accomplish it three times in a five-year period. Overall, Weber advances to his 11th NCAA Tournament, which includes six at Illinois and two at Southern Illinois. He is 41st head coach in NCAA history to take three different schools to the tournament, including the 21st active coach. He has an 11-10 record in the NCAA Tournament with three trips to the Sweet 16 and the 2005 Final Four.

The Wildcats earned their third 20-win season under head coach Bruce Weber and finished sixth in the Big 12. Overall, the team has four of five starters averaging in double figures led by by Third Team All-Big 12 selection Wesley Iwundu (12.5 ppg., 6.4 rpg.) and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention pick D.J. Johnson (11.2 ppg., 5.8 rpg.).

Wake Forest enters Tuesday’s game with a 19-13 overall record, which includes a 10th-place finish in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference with a 9-9 mark. The Demon Deacons are led by sophomore forward John Collins, First Team All-ACC performer and the league’s Most Improved Player, who is averaging a team-best 18.9 points on 62 percent shooting to go with 9.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Two others average in double figures, including sophomore guards Bryant Crawford (16.1 ppg., 5.4 apg.) and Keyshawn Woods (12.8 ppg., 3.5 apg.), while four others average between 6.6 and 9.0 points per game.

Wake Forest is led by Kansas legend and former assistant coach Danny Manning, who led the Jayhawks to a 71-58 victory over the Wildcats in the Midwest Regional Final en route to the national championship in 1988. He has an 81-81 overall record in 5 years as head coach, including a 43-52 mark in this third season at Winston-Salem. He was the head coach at Tulsa from 2012-14, leading the Golden Hurricane to the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14. He spent nine seasons at Kansas from 2003-12, including the last five seasons as an assistant coach.

This will be the first-ever meeting between K-State and Wake Forest on the hardwood.

The winner of Tuesday’s First Four matchup will face No. 6 seed Cincinnati (29-5, 16-2 AAC) on Friday. The Bearcats, which finished second in the American Athletic Conference with a 16-2 mark, has a balanced attack with six players averaging 8 or more points, including four in double figures. Sophomore guard Jacob Evans III leads the way with 13.7 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting, including a team-high 66 3-pointers, while second team All-AAC selection junior forward Kyle Washington averages 13.1 points on 51.3 percent shooting to go with 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Junior forward Gary Clark averages a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game to go with 10.7 points per game, while senior guard Troy Caupain dishes out 4.6 assists per contest.

Cincinnati is coached by 1997 alum Mick Cronin, who has a 305-158 overall record in his 14th season as a head coach, including a 236-134 mark in his 11th season at the helm of the Bearcats.

A meeting with Cincinnati would be the eighth in school history, including the fourth in the NCAA Tournament.

K-State was one of six Big 12 teams to earn berths in NCAA Tournament, joining No. 1 seed Kansas (Midwest), No. 3 seed Baylor (East), No. 4 seed West Virginia (West), No. 5 seed Iowa State (Midwest) and No. 10 seed Oklahoma State (Midwest) in the field.

In addition, all three Division I programs in the state of Kansas (Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State) all advanced to the NCAA Tournament for fourth time in six seasons.

— K-State Athletics —

Mizzou baseball rallies in ninth to match best start in school history

Posted on March 12, 2017March 12, 2017

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball extended its win streak to 15 after sweeping Appalachian State thanks to a walk-off single by junior INF Robbie Glendinning (Scarborough, Australia) in the series finale. His game-winning single is his second walk-off hit of the week after tabbing a walk-off single through the right side in extras against Western Carolina Wednesday. Fifteen wins marks the longest win streak for Mizzou since 1981 and is tied for the longest streak in the nation this season.

Mizzou is now 15-1 on the season, matching the best start in program history (tied with the 1985 team). Mizzou freshman LHP T.J. Sikkema (DeWitt, Iowa) earned the win, his fourth of the season, after throwing 2.0 shutout innings with four strikeouts and no hits. He backed a tremendous start from junior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) who went a career-high 7.0 innings with four strikeouts and just three hits. Despite his brilliance, he was in line for the loss before Mizzou’s ninth-inning heroics as Mizzou’s offense squandered several opportunities to break the game open.

Sophomore 1B Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) led off the ninth inning with a solo homer on a 3-2 pitch the opposite way into left field, tying the game at 2-2. It was his second huge hit to lead off a late-inning rally this week as he started Mizzou’s Wednesday night walk-off over Western Carolina with a leadoff double in the 10th.

From there, Mizzou loaded the bases and Glendinning battled, falling behind 0-2 and hit a soft chopper through the left side for the game-winning hit. It was his second walk-off hit this week and Mizzou has three walk-off wins in the last seven days and four on the season.

Toelken got into some trouble in the third inning, allowing two men to reach on a single and a walk. But he got a groundout to third base to escape the jam, stranding a pair in scoring position. Mizzou took the momentum of escaping that jam into the bottom of the third as Nelson Mompierre (Miami, Fla.) hit his first Division I homer to lead off the inning, giving Mizzou a 1-0 lead.

After the offense gave him a lead, Toelken found his rhythm in the fourth, sitting down the Mountaineers in order while picking up his fourth strikeout of the outing. He cruised through the fifth as well and sat down nine in a row until a one-out single in the sixth inning.

Toelken then issued a one-out single in the sixth and a two-out homer to 2B Matt Vernon to give Appalachian State a 2-1 lead.

Mizzou put two men on in the bottom of the sixth, but Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame. The Tigers then put two men on with one out in the seventh inning, but an attempted double steal with two outs went for not as Appalachian State led 2-1 after seven.

In true Deja’ Vu form, Mizzou again put two men on with one out in the eighth and couldn’t cash in. DH Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) struck out swinging and Harris just missed a 3-1 fastball, flying out to deep left to strand a pair. Sikkema was lights out in the eighth and ninth innings, picking up four more strikeouts, giving Mizzou a chance in the ninth inning.

Sharp led off the ninth with his second homer of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Ian Nelson (Lake St. Louis, Mo.) notched his first hit of the day with a single through the right side to put the go-ahead run on base. A sacrifice bunt by Mompierre advanced Nelson to second while an intentional walk and an infield single by Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) loaded the bags for Glendinning to plate the game-winning run.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Bearcats survive in OT against Upper Iowa in NCAA Tournament opener

Posted on March 11, 2017

By David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Four months in a college basketball season makes a big difference. Northwest Missouri State learned that lesson Saturday evening and fortunately it didn’t come with a heartbreaking loss.

Northwest, the No. 1 seed and host school in the Central Region, regrouped from a disastrous conclusion at the end of regulation and beat Upper Iowa 79-74 in overtime in front of 2,195 fans at Bearcat Arena.

“What a performance by Upper Iowa,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “They are the eighth seed in the tournament and they gave us all that we could handle. They played unbelievable.

“We got caught in the moment a little bit. We missed shots we normally make and missed free throws we normally make. The thing that we did do was we didn’t let all the bad plays affect your competitiveness.”

In the season opener for both teams, Northwest beat Upper Iowa 87-53 on Nov. 11.

“I don’t remember that game,” Upper Iowa coach Brooks McKowen said with a laugh. “It wasn’t our best showing.

“But I am proud of what our guys did tonight. We battled. We did everything we could to win that game. I thought both teams deserved to win it.”

The Peacocks came oh so close to making Northwest’s magical season disappear. But the Bearcats had a few tricks up their sleeves in the 5-minute overtime to continue their March Madness run.

Northwest, 30-1, advances to the regional semifinal game for the fourth straight season, and will play 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The way the end of regulation concluded and overtime started, the situation looked bleak for Northwest in front of one of the largest crowds ever at Bearcat Arena.

All the momentum was riding with the Peacocks, who hit a miracle three-pointer by Carson Parker to send the game in overtime. Parker then made two free throws at the start of overtime to give Upper Iowa a 65-63 lead.

Fortunately for Northwest, it has MIAA Player of the Year, junior Justin Pitts, on its side. Pitts tied the game with a floater and then made a three-point play to give Northwest a 68-65 lead. Pitts added another bucket with 2:20 left, increasing Northwest’s lead to 71-65. Upper Iowa never got closer than three points the rest of the game.

“I was trying to be aggressive and play my game,” said Pitts, who finished with a game-high 33 points. “After they scored on those two free throws, it was Chris-Ebou Ndow who came up to me and said, ‘take over. This is your game. Go out and play.’ It feels great to have your teammates have that confidence in you.”

There is a reason why teammates have confidence in Pitts’ scoring ability. He became the all-time leading scorer at Northwest Saturday evening.

“I didn’t know that,” Pitts said. “It is a big accomplishment for me as an individual, but right now I am not thinking about that. I am just getting ready for the next game.”

Missed free throws by Northwest in the final 7 minutes led to overtime. At one point, the Bearcats missed four straight free throws and that allowed Upper Iowa to turn a 56-49 deficit into a 58-56 lead with 3:30 left.

“They just made plays,” Northwest senior D’Vante Mosby said. “A lot of them were gutsy plays. A lot of them were on our mistakes as well. They did a really good job capitalizing on them.”

Northwest scored the next five points and held a 61-58 lead with 1:43 left. Leading 63-60 with 8 second left, Northwest had a chance to put the game away at the free throw line. The Bearcats only needed one. They missed both.

Those misses opened the door for Parker to make an amazing three-pointer. He dribbled around a defender twice and then fired a three-pointer at the top of the key that swished through the nets as the buzzer sounded.

“It was a big-time shot,” McCollum said. “My instinct was to cry, to be honest. But it really doesn’t do you a whole lot of good in that situation. So it is let’s go. We have 5 more minutes. You can’t let that break you.

“So much went wrong tonight, but what didn’t go wrong was our ability to compete. We competed.”

Parker, who finished with 20 points, also competed as he demonstrated with his clutch three-pointer.

“I got a glimpse of how much time was left,” Parker said. “I tried to get the best look I could. Obviously, we needed a three. I was fortunate enough it went in.”

In the first half, Northwest needed one hot stretch to take a 38-33 lead into halftime.

The Bearcats took a 7-4 lead early in the first half on a three-pointer by senior Zach Schneider. But it was clear Upper Iowa was going to stay close to the Bearcats.

The Peacocks tied the game at 15-15 and continued to make it tough for Northwest to get on a run.

Ahead 18-17, Northwest finally put together a spurt that created some separation. It started with a three-pointer by Pitts and a basket in the paint by senior Anthony Woods, who finished with 16 points

After Upper Iowa scored, Northwest went on a 10-2 run for a 33-21 lead. Pitts scored six points in the spurt. Seemingly in control with a 35-23 lead, the Bearcats started missing three-pointers and Upper Iowa clogged up the paint.

Solid defense by the Peacocks helped them crawl back in the game. They outscored Northwest 10-3 to close out the first half.

Upper Iowa found success offensively, going 15 for 27 from the field for 55.6 percent. Northwest wasn’t as efficient on offense, going 13 for 29 from the field for 44.8 percent.

In the end, Northwest prevailed.

“Survive and advance,” McCollum said.

— Northwest Athletics —

Tigers extend win streak to 14 games as they top Appalachian State

Posted on March 11, 2017

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou sophomore LHP Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) struck out a career-high nine batters as he pitched Mizzou Baseball to a 7-1 win over Appalachian State Saturday night (March 11) at Taylor Stadium. The win extends Mizzou’s win streak to 14 games, matching the longest streak by a Mizzou team since 1981 (both the 2007 and 2008 teams also won 14 consecutive games). The 14-game win streak is also the longest in the nation, tied with Louisville.

Plassmeyer was tremendous on Saturday, allowing just three hits over a career-high 7.0 innings. He struck out nine batters, passing his previous career-high of eight en-route to his third win of the season. He gave up just one earned run in the outing. App State’s Colin Schmid took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the year. The Mountaineers fall to 6-8 in 2017. Mizzou scored four runs in the third and three in the sixth to put the game away.

Appalachian State got something going in the top of the second inning as Plassmeyer hit a batter, walked a batter and gave up an RBI single LF Tyler Stroup. The defense turned in a pair of good plays, one on a perfectly-executed wheel play on a sacrifice bunt attempt and then a 6-4-3 double play to escape the frame.

Mizzou exploded for four runs in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of two Appalachian State errors and a pair of two-out, RBI singles – the first from Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and the next from Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.).

App State threatened in the fourth inning, putting two men on, but two more strikeouts helped Plassmeyer pitch out of the jam. Both teams were kept off the board until Mizzou plated a pair in the bottom of the sixth on sacrifice flies from Chris Cornelius (St. Louis, Mo.) and Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.), extending the lead to 6-1. Mizzou tacked on another run on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-1 after six.

RS sophomore Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) pitched the final two innings, holding App State off the scoreboard while picking up two strikeouts.

Mizzou will look for the sweep Sunday. A win Sunday would give Mizzou its best start in program history and give the 2017 team sole possession of the longest win streak since 1981. Junior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) will get the ball for Mizzou.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Missouri Western sweeps Pitt State to push winning streak to eight games

Posted on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Missouri Western baseball team swept a doubleheader at Pittsburg State Friday to extend its winning streak to eight games. The Griffons won the opener 2-1 behind a complete game from Richard Peoples and they won the second game 9-4.

Western improves to 11-7 this season and 8-0 in the MIAA, while the Gorillas fall to 7-14 and 1-7 in league play.

NOTABLES
– The Griffons had 20 hits and scored 11 runs in the doubleheader, giving up 12 hits and five runs

– Griffon batters drew 13 walks on the day while
– Griffon pitchers walked just six

– Missouri Western pitchers limited Pittsburg State to just a .194 batting average on the day

– The Griffons only had to use four pitchers all day, three in game two, with Richard Peoples earning his second complete game victory of the season in game one

– Nick Gawley stretched his hitting streak to 17 games in the first game of the day, but went without a hit in game two

– David Glaude moved into second all-time at MWSU with his 42nd career double. Glaude needs two more to become MWSU’s career leader. He’s also second all-time in home runs and RBIs. The senior’s on-base streak was snapped at 32 games, dating back to last season. Glaude’s reached safely in 65 of his last 67 games.

– Missouri Western has won its first eight MIAA games of the season, the longest such streak since winning the first 15 of 2013

TOP PERFORMERS
– Bailey Zimmer went 4-for-8 on the day with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Zimmer is now batting .389 on the season after going 9-for-18 in the Griffons’ last six games

– Andrew Curry was 3-for-7 at the plate and also drew two walks with an RBI

– Jeremy Alvarado was 4-for-10 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored

– Dusty Stroup had three hits in eight at bats and scored three runs

– Peoples moved to 4-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.92, limiting the Gorillas to five hits in nine innings

– Nate Hunter went seven innings in game two and improved to 3-1 on the season

UP NEXT
The two teams are scheduled to wrap up the series Saturday at 1 p.m., but weather could again force the game to be re-scheduled. Any change will be posted on gogriffons.com as well as official Griffon Athletics social media outlets.

— MWSU Athletics —

K-State lets late lead slip away against West Virginia in Big 12 semifinals

Posted on March 10, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — West Virginia’s Esa Ahmad made the second of two free throws with 20.2 seconds left, and an off-balance 3-pointer by Kansas State’s Kamau Stokes was off at the buzzer, allowing the No. 11 Mountaineers to escape with a 51-50 victory in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.

Tarik Phillip tied the game for the Mountaineers (26-7) with a 3-pointer with 1:41 left, and the Wildcats (20-13) came up empty at the other end. Ahmad was fouled during a mad scramble for a rebound moments later, and he clanked his first free throw before making his second.

The Wildcats brought the ball up court and called timeout with 10.2 seconds left.

After they inbounded the ball to Stokes, he headed across to the right wing, where he inexplicably picked up his dribble. Tightly guarded as time ran out, he heaved a shot that hit off the rim.

That gave the Mountaineers a spot in Saturday night’s title game against No. 23 Iowa State.

Ahmad finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Phillip had 13 points to help the Mountaineers reach the final for the second straight year. They lost to Kansas last year.

They haven’t won a conference tournament since the Big East in 2010.

Wesley Iwundu had 13 points and Stokes finished with 10 for the Wildcats, who can only hope their quarterfinal win over No. 9 Baylor will be enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.

The way the first half played out was reflected on the benches.

The Wildcats were hustling up and down the floor, skinning knees while diving for loose balls and then laughing about it afterward. And on the sideline, coach Bruce Weber was hopping up and down like a mad man, a fountain of encouragement in the din of an arena packed with Kansas State fans.

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers were openly frustrated every time a shot clanked off the iron or a whistle blew for a foul. And on their sideline, coach Bob Huggins spent the half ripping into everyone from his players to the officials, often pointing out to them the foul disparity.

The Wildcats went to the line 10 times in the first half. West Virginia never did.

The sum of all that was a first half dominated by the Kansas State defense. It held West Virginia to 6-for-32 shooting and was the biggest reason the Wildcats led 25-16 at the break.

The Wildcats kept the Mountaineers at arm’s length most of the second half, but the Press Virginia defense finally started to force a couple turnovers. And when Kansas State began to struggle to get open looks, the Mountaineers seized an opening and clawed back to tie the game.

Then their veteran poise allowed them to make the plays that mattered in the final minute.

BIG PICTURE
Kansas State split with West Virginia in the regular season and went 2-1 against Baylor, so there are some marquee wins on the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament resume. But they could have avoided a tense wait for their fate had they managed to put this one away.

West Virginia survived despite a lousy performance from star guard Jevon Carter, who went 1 for 12 from the field and 1 for 7 from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers also were dominated in the paint, even though they had a 44-35 rebounding advantage.

UP NEXT

Kansas State heads west on I-70 back to Manhattan to await its NCAA Tournament fate.

West Virginia gets ready for the Cyclones on Saturday night.

— Associated Press —