MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum has announced the signing of Chris King to a National Letter of Intent. King, a 6-0 point guard from Hoover High School in Des Moines, Iowa, was a two-year all-state performer for the Huskies.
“Chris has a great feel for the game,” said McCollum. “He shoots the ball extremely well and does a great job making plays off the dribble. He can score from the perimeter, has a mid-range game and finishes well around the basket. He is also very unselfish and does a lot of things to help his team win. Chris is a great kid off the floor as well and we are extremely excited he chose to be a Bearcat.”
During his career, King scored over 1,000 points and led Hoover to a pair of CIML conference titles. As a senior King earned first-team All-State honors and led the Huskies to a 12-0 record in CIML play. King was named first team All-CIML twice and was also named the All-CIML Elite team captain. An all-district performer, King was named to the all-state tournament team and earned a spot in the Iowa All-Star game.
HOOVER, Ala. – Mizzou baseball had three players honored by the Southeastern Conference on Monday (May 18) as the league announced its All-Conference selections for 2015. Highlighting the honorees was junior reliever Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.), who earned Second-Team All-SEC. Freshmen Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) and Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Mo.) each earned a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team as well. The All-SEC honorees were chosen by the league’s 14 coaches.
Williams is Mizzou’s first All-SEC honoree since Keaton Steele took home first team honors in 2013 as a utility player. The Tiger closer finished the regular season with 12 saves, tied for the most ever in a single season at Mizzou (Ryan Stegall had 12 in 2000 as well). Williams was named to the Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List and has a win or save in all nine of Mizzou’s one-run wins this season. His 15 career saves are the fourth-most in program history as well. He finished the season with a 4-3 record and 12 saves with a 1.89 ERA in 23 appearances. He tossed 33.1 innings, striking out 35 and walking just eight. He allowed just five extra-base hits all season.
Harris and Houck are the first Tiger freshmen to take home All-SEC Freshman Team honors since current junior Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) did so in 2013. Harris earns a spot as one of three outfielders while Houck made the team as one of two starting pitchers. Harris hit .249 with 24 runs and 20 RBI, 16 of which came in SEC games. He tallied a walk-off hit over South Carolina earlier this season and hit his first career homer; a three-run, go-ahead homer at Georgia, just an hour from where he grew up. He earned the Tigers’ starting right field job in his first year with the program.
Houck has put together one of the best freshman seasons in Mizzou baseball history. His eight wins are the most by a Tiger freshman since Kyle Gibson (a former first-round draft pick) in 2007 and his 92.2 innings are the most ever by a Tiger freshman under Tim Jamieson. He also leads all freshman nationally in innings pitched. He compiled a 3.40 ERA on the season, striking out 83 batters over 92.2 innings while walking just 11 in 14 starts as a freshman. He was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List earlier this season.
Williams, Houck and Harris will open the SEC Tournament on Tuesday at approximately 12:30 p.m. against No. 10 seed South Carolina at Hoover Met.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – When Justin Smith decided that his body wouldn’t let him perform up to his own lofty standards, he knew it was time to stop playing.
Smith announced Monday that he is retiring after 14 seasons as one of the top defensive linemen in the NFL, dealing yet another blow to the San Francisco 49ers in a rough offseason.
“They all want you to keep playing, and I want to keep playing as well, but when you get on the bald tires, you’re on the bald tires,” Smith said.
One of the most durable players at one of the most physically demanding positions, Smith had been hampered the past two seasons by a bum left shoulder that he first hurt in training camp in 2013.
That shoulder absorbed the brunt of the punishment as a right defensive end going up against 300-pound linemen all game and Smith did not feel up to playing another season.
“It doesn’t respond like I want it to respond anymore,” he said. “If you don’t have the tools, you can’t do the job. It’s time to go.”
While Smith could still be an effective player, he could no longer be the dominant one he had been for so long in his career and that’s what led to his decision.
“People are going to compare him to everybody else,” coach Jim Tomsula said. “Justin Smith doesn’t compare himself to anybody else. He compares himself to himself. That’s the bar he sets. … I’ve always known with Justin that if he didn’t feel like health-wise he can play at the level he plays at, he’s not going to do it.”
Smith had just two sacks in the final 14 games last season as his practice time, snap count and effectiveness dwindled toward the end of the season.
Smith is the third defensive star to retire from the 49ers this offseason, joining linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland. Coach Jim Harbaugh is also gone, along with running back Frank Gore, guard Mike Iupati, receiver Michael Crabtree, linebacker Dan Skuta and cornerbacks Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox.
Smith played 14 seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the first round by Cincinnati in 2001. After seven successful seasons with the Bengals, he signed as a free agent in San Francisco and had his best success in seven years with the 49ers.
Smith was the anchor of San Francisco’s 3-4 defense that made three straight trips to the NFC title game from 2011-13 and one Super Bowl appearance. He tied up blockers and broke down protection to help the team’s stellar linebacker corps of Willis, Navorro Bowman and Aldon Smith succeed.
While Smith never recorded double-digit sacks in a season in his career, he was so well-regarded that he was selected as an All Pro first-team defensive tackle and second-team defensive end in 2011. He was the first player ever to make the AP’s first and second team at different positions.
“Justin is the consummate professional whose impact on this organization can never be measured by statistics alone,” 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said. “His durability, competitiveness, work ethic, strength and rare stamina helped set him apart over his 14-year career. Cowboy will go down as one of the best to ever wear a 49ers uniform and his candidness, work ethic and pure passion for the game will be missed.”
Smith also was picked as a second-team All Pro defensive end and defensive tackle in 2012 and made five Pro Bowls in his seven seasons in San Francisco.
During his career, Smith started 217 of 221 games played, including a streak of 185 consecutive starts from his rookie season through December 2012. He finished his career with 1,370 tackles, 87 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, three interceptions and 30 passes defensed.
Smith posted at least 5.0 sacks in 12 of his 14 seasons played and is one of 13 players to register 5 or more sacks in at least 12 seasons since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
“Whether it was chasing down a wide receiver and forcing a fumble to seal a win, or driving a tackle back into the quarterback’s chest, he gave everything he had every play,” 49ers CEO Jed York said. “Justin has earned the respect of the entire NFL community and he will always be remembered as one of the 49ers all-time greats.”
The University of Nebraska football team will open its 2017 season against Arkansas State at Memorial Stadium. The Nebraska Athletics Department announced the latest addition to the Huskers’ future non-conference schedule on Monday.
The Red Wolves will visit Lincoln on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017, kicking off the 2017 campaign. The game will mark the third all-time meeting between the schools, with Arkansas State also playing at Memorial Stadium in 2009 and 2012. Nebraska defeated the Red Wolves 38-9 in 2009, and won 42-13 in the 2012 matchup.
Arkansas State has played in a bowl game five times since making the move to the FBS ranks. The Red Wolves have played in the postseason each of the past four years and have won three Sun Belt Conference titles in the past four seasons. In addition to its 2017 trip to Lincoln, Arkansas State has upcoming non-conference games against USC, Missouri, Auburn and Miami among others.
The addition of Arkansas State completes Nebraska’s 2017 schedule. The Huskers’ non-conference schedule also includes a Sept. 9 game at Oregon and a matchup with Northern Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 16, 2017. The Huskers will also play nine Big Ten Conference games in 2017, including home contests against Rutgers, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Northwestern and Iowa.
The agreement with Arkansas State completes Nebraska’s schedules through the 2019 season. The Huskers will play four non-conference games and eight Big Ten games in 2015, before the conference shifts to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins of Minnesota is the only unanimous selection for the NBA’s All-Rookie first team.
Wiggins received all 130 votes Monday from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters in the U.S. and Canada. He averaged 16.9 points, tops in the class, and his 36.2 minutes per game ranked fourth in the NBA.
The rest of the first team was Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic, Philadelphia’s Nerlens Noel, Orlando’s Eldrid Payton and Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson.
The second team included Boston’s Marcus Smart, Minnesota’s Zach LaVine, Brooklyn’s Bojan Bogdanovic, Denver’s Jusuf Nurkic and New York’s Langston Galloway.
The panel chose five players for the first team and five for the second, regardless of position. Two points were awarded for first-team votes and one for a second.
Missouri Softball vs. Kansas – May 17, 2015 Photo by Mike Krebs
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Sophomore C Kirsten Mack drove in career high five runs on a grand slam and a double to lead the 10th-seeded Mizzou softball team past Kansas and into an NCAA Super Regional with a 7-6 1win Sunday at University Field. Mizzou (42-14) advanced to play either No. 7-seed UCLA or San Diego State next weekend for a spot in the Women’s College World Series.
The Jayhawks ended their campaign with a 40-15 record.
Tiger sophomore P Cheyenne was credited with the win, improving to 3-1 on the year. She scattered four hits and allowed four runs, all unearned, in 4.2 innings of work. Freshman P Paige Lowary came on for the final 1.1 innings to earn her fourth save of the season.
Kansas struck early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded and two outs, C Jessie Roane lofted a single just over the glove of Tiger 2B Sami Fagan and into center to plate the first run. A single through the right side brought home the Jayhawks’ second run of the inning for the quick 2-0 advantage.
The Tigers erased their early deficit immediately with three runs of their own in the top of the second. A HBP from freshman DP Amanda Sanchez and a walk from senior SS Corrin Genovese put runs on first and second with one out. Sophomore C Kirsten Mack roped a double to right center, her first hit of the Regional, to score Sanchez from second base. Genovese then scored on a bloop single to shallow left from senior 3B Angela Randazzo and Mack scampered home on a wild pitch for a 3-2 Mizzou lead.
Mack’s two-out grand slam in the top of the third stretched Missouri’s advantage to 7-2. A single from Sanchez sandwiched between walks to Fagan and Genovese set the stage for Mack. The sophomore got a hold of a 1-1 pitch and sent a laser through a stiff wind and over the left field bleachers for her team-leading 15th dinger of the year.
A four-run sixth for the Jayhawks cut the Tigers’ lead to just 7-6 with one inning remaining. Three Mizzou errors, a HBP and a walk scored the runs and got Kansas right back in the game.
Lowary worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the Missouri win and send the Tigers to Super Regionals.
Jayhawk P Alicia Pille dropped to 25-8 on the season with the loss.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Senior 1B Kelsea Roth hit a two-run double in the fifth to send the No. 12/13 Mizzou Softball to the NCAA Columbia Regional championship game after a 5-3 win over Kansas in the third game of the regional on Saturday. The Tigers (41-14), a perfect 2-0 in the Regional, play again Sunday, May 17, at Noon against a team to be determined.
Sophomore P Tori Finucane was credited with the win to up her 2015 record to an outstanding 21-8.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore RF Emily Crane got the Tigers rolling with a single to the third base side, her fifth hit in the regional. Junior 2B Sami Fagan walked, setting the stage for freshman DP Amanda Sanchez. The newcomer ripped a single up the middle to score Crane from second and knot the score at 3-3.
Sanchez has now tied Mizzou’s freshman RBI record with her total of 55 matching Micaela Minner’s mark from her 2005 season.
Following Sanchez, Roth laced a double down the third base line, scoring both Fagan and pinch runner Kayla Kingsley for a 5-3 Tiger advantage.
The game was closed shut by the glove of senior SS Corrin Genovese in the top of the seventh, who ranged to her right for a grounder deep in the hole. Genovese snared it with her mitt and relayed the ball to Fagan at second base to finish off the win.
The Jayhawks plated two runs in the top of the first to take a quick 2-0 advantage on the Tigers. After SS Chaley Brickey led off the game with a single, 3B Chanin Naudin launched a two-run home run to left, her ninth bomb of the year.
Fagan answered right back with a two-run homer of her own in the bottom of the first to even the score at 2-2. Fagan’s tater, the junior’s 12th of the year, knocked in RF Emily Crane, who singled one batter earlier. Fagan is now one RBI shy of tying Mary Babb’s single-season program record of 63.
A solo home run from Kansas DP Danielle Chavez gave the Jayhawks a 3-2 lead in the top of the third. Mizzou escaped further damage when Kansas CF Briana Evans grounded to third with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Both Crane and Sanchez tallied two hits each in the win. Crane is now hitting .714 (5-7) in the Regional and .486 (18-37) overall in career NCAA Tournament games.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou baseball dropped its regular season finale, 8-2, to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon (May 16) at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou finishes the regular season at 29-26 and 15-15 in SEC play while Kentucky improves to 30-24 and 14-15 in SEC play. UK starter Kyle Cody was fantastic, scattering just three Tiger hits over 7.0 shutout innings, striking out eight against just two walks, earning his fourth win of the season.
Mizzou starter Peter Fairbanks (St. Louis, Mo.) surrendered four earned runs over 1.2 innings as he was charged with his fifth loss of the season. It was just the second time this season that Fairbanks has allowed more than three earned runs in a start and his shortest outing of the season.
Senior Andrew Schwaab (St. Charles, Mo.) was the highlight for Mizzou on Saturday, allowing just one hit over 4.1 shutout innings, striking out two against one walk to keep the Tigers within striking distance.
Kentucky plated a run in the first inning on a no-out double by three-hole hitter JaVon Shelby. Fairbanks was able to pitch out of a second-and-third, nobody-out situation in the first to limit the damage to just one run, eventually stranding the bases loaded with after a two-out walk. But Kentucky knocked Fairbanks out of the game in the second, scoring three runs in the frame. Schwaab then came on in relief.
Cody ran into trouble in the fifth after a stellar first four innings. He loaded the bases with one out and worked a 3-2 count to Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.). But Ivory bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. That was Mizzou’s only real threat in the game off of Cody.
Junior Zach Strecker relieved Cody in the eighth inning, and promptly got the first two outs before an infield hit by Brett Peel (St. Charles, Mo.). Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) then singled up the middle to put runners on the corners with two down. Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) then poked a single through the right side to put Mizzou on the board, his team-leading 16th two-out RBI.
Lefty Logan Salow was then brought out of the bullpen to face Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) who lined a full-count single back up the middle to cut the lead top 4-2. UK made another pitching change, bringing in Bo Wilson to face Shane Benes (Town & Country, Mo.) and he got the freshman to strike out, stranding the tying runs on base.
UK got the two runs Mizzou scored in the eighth back in the ninth on a two-run homer by Evan White off of Tiger reliever Austin Tribby (Springfield, Mo.). Shelby then hit another two-run homer in the ninth to make the score 8-2. John Miles (Columbia, Mo.) stopped the bleeding, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth, but Mizzou couldn’t scratch anything across.
Mizzou will open the SEC Tournament next Tuesday in Hoover, Ala. It is Mizzou’s first SEC Tournament appearance since 2013.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 12/13 Mizzou softball team used a five-run fifth inning to carry the team to a 7-0 win over Indiana State Friday in the second game of the NCAA Softball Columbia Regional. The Tigers (40-14) advanced to the winner’s bracket and will face Kansas on Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. CT. The Sycamores (26-30) will take on Louisville in the loser’s bracket at 12:30 p.m.
RF Emily Crane recorded three of Mizzou’s 10 hits in the contest, upping her career NCAA Tournament average to .471 (16-34) in 11 Tournament games. CF Taylor Gadbois and 1B Kelsea Roth also added multi-hit performances with two singles apiece.
In the circle, P Tori Finucane allowed just two hits, struck out four batters and walked just one over 5.0 innings to earn her 20th win of the 2015 campaign. Over her last 11.0 innings, she has allowed only three hits and no runs in outings against Mississippi State and Indiana State.
The Tigers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Hits from CF Taylor Gadbois and RF Emily Crane and a walk from 2B Sami Fagan loaded the bases with no outs. DP Amanda Sanchez hit into a double play but drove Gadbois home to earn the RBI.
A five-run fifth inning, highlighted by a three-run pinch hit home run from Jordan Zolman, opened a 6-0 Missouri advantage. Crane led off the inning with her third hit of the game and eventually advanced to third after a fielder’s choice from Sanchez and a walk from C Kirsten Mack. SS Corrin Genovese gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead when she drove in Crane and reached on a fielder’s choice. A single from 1B Kelsea Roth, her second hit of the contest, plated Sanchez for a 3-0 score. Zolman then broke the game open with her second career homer, driving in Genovese and Roth for the 6-0 Missouri lead.
Mizzou added its final run of the game in the sixth when Sanchez recorded her second RBI of the game with a single up the middle to score Gadbois from third.
The Tigers’ Cheyenne Baxter relieved Finucane in the circle in the sixth, not allowing a hit in two innings of relief.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou baseball evened its series with Kentucky on Friday night with a 6-3 win, highlighted by a sensational start from freshman righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.), who picked up his eighth win of the season. He was given the lead in the third inning as senior Jake Ivory (St. Charles, Mo.) – on his senior day – lifted a go-ahead, two-run homer over the wall in left to give Mizzou a lead it would not relinquish.
The Tigers also got a two-hit performance from Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.), who homered and tripled in the win. Mizzou goes to 29-24 on the season and 15-14 in SEC play while snapping a six-game skid. The win ensures the Tigers no less than a .500 record in SEC play.
Houck got into some trouble in the third inning, loading the bases with one out. He then induced a fielder’s choice off the bat of JaVon Shelby, plating a run for Kentucky, staking the Wildcats to a 1-0 lead after 2.5 innings. But Mizzou answered in its half of the third on Ivory’s Senior Day blast, a two-run shot off of UK starter Dustin Beggs over the wall in left. It was his fourth homer of the season.
Mizzou added to the lead on a two-out single by Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.) in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) who led off the frame with a double into the gap in left center. Kentucky got a run back in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Storm Wilson. But Mizzou answered in its half of the sixth with a Jake Ring (Ingleside, Ill.) homer. It was his fourth of the season. Ring did it again in the eighth with an RBI triple, extending his team-leading extra-base hit total to 22. That made the score 5-2 and Mizzou added another run on an RBI single by Howard, giving Mizzou a 6-2 lead heading into the ninth.
After tossing a shutout eighth inning, junior closer Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.) allowed a one-out, RBI double in the ninth, but that was all that UK could get off the Tiger closer, who picked up his school record 12th save of the season.
Mizzou will close the regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. against Kentucky.
