ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team needed a boost and they got it, winning the final game of a four-game series with Nebraska-Kearney 6-2. MWSU took the series from the MIAA’s second-place team, three games to one, and improves to 23-17 overall and 16-12 in the MIAA.

Two three run innings gave MWSU the runs they needed to support another solid pitching performance. The Griffons jumped ahead in the bottom of the fourth with two singles. Cosimo Cannella tied the game at one with an RBI-single up the middle and Zach Taylor put the Griffs ahead with a two-RBI single to right. In the seventh, Ryan Degner put MWSU up 6-1 with a three-run home run to left field for his second three-run shot in two days.

Degner was 1-4 on the day with a run and three driven in. Taylor went 2-4 with two driven in and a run scored. Griffon pitching once again held the Loper offense well below their 9.5 run per game average. Weston Caindec picked up his third win of the year, pitching the first five innings and giving up one run on five hits. Josh Lansangan, David Anderson and Richard Peoples finished the game in relief with Peoples picking up his fourth save of the season, striking out a batter with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Missouri Western travels to Southwest Baptist to begin a four-game series Friday in Bolivar.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team bounced back on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of the second place team in the MIAA, Nebraska-Kearney. MWSU completed the sweep with a walk-off win in game two. The Griffons are now 22-17 and 15-12 in the MIAA going into the final game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME 1: MWSU 6, Nebraska-Kearney 2

The bottom third of the Griffon order did the bulk of the damage and Banks Born gave the MWSU bullpen seven more innings of rest as the Griffons evened the series at one game each.

The Griffons used five straight, two-out hits to score five in the bottom of the second. The five run rally was capped by Ryan Degner’s three-run home run. Cody Childs got the rally started with a single, then Dylon Koch, Michael Yeager and Trevor LaHonta followed with singles that put MWSU up 2-0 with two on and two outs. That’s when Degner blasted his three-run shot down the left field line.

Born went all seven, improving to 4-1 on the year. He allowed seven hits and held Nebraska-Kearney to two runs. Koch went 3-3 and LaHonta was 2-3. Degner finished with three RBIs on his one hit.

GAME 2: MWSU 5, Nebraska-Kearney 4 (8 Innings)

Ryan Degner’s single with two out in the bottom of the eighth ended the game and finished the doubleheader sweep.

With runners on first and third Degner roped a 1-0 pitch into right field, scoring Michael Yeager and winning the game. After the first two Griffons of the inning were retired, Yeager singled to center. Trevor LaHonta followed with a single to right that moved Yeager to third before Degner’s single ended it.

MWSU had a 4-1 lead going into the sixth but Nebraska-Kearney tied it with three in the inning and chased starter A.J. Martinez from the game. Kyle Kelly pitched one inning in relief and Richard Peoples pitched the final inning and a third, picking up the win in his first action since straining his oblique in March.

Yeager finished 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Cosimo Cannella was 2-4 with one RBI and a run scored. Martinez went the first five and two-thirds innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, while striking out seven.

— Northwest Sports Information —

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The 24th-ranked Missouri Western softball team picked up two more road wins Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of MIAA-leading Pittsburg State.

GAME 1: #24 MWSU 1, Pittsburg State 0

Janie Smith’s three-hit shutout and Tiffany Gillaspy’s 13th home run of the year were all Griffon Softball needed to take game one, 1-0.

Gillaspy’s solo home run cleared the right field wall and gave Smith all the cushion she needed to knock off the league leaders. The junior moved to 15-7 on the season allowing just three hits in seven innings of work. She struck out six and walked one. Smith was aided by her defense that did not commit an error. The Griffons’ five hits were spread between Morgan Rathmann, Gillaspy, Katie Klosterman, Shelbie Atwell and Rebekah Mueller.

GAME 2: #24 MWSU 7, Pittsburg State 5

Missouri Western won a home run battle in game two to get out of Pittsburg with a sweep. The Griffons hit three long balls and so did Pittsburg State. It was two runs that weren’t scored on home runs that made the difference in the game.

Shelbie Atwell drew a bases loaded, two out walk in the first to put MWSU up 1-0 and Paige Shifflett drove in one with a single in the second. Other than that, the team’s runs came via solo home runs from Brooke Shcaben and Katie Klosterman and a a three-run shot by Gillaspy.

Janie Smith picked up her second win of the day, pitching the final five innings in relief of Shyanne Saladino. Smith only allowed three hits and struck out three, while not surrendering a run.

The Griffons sit at 32-14 overall and 16-6 in the MIAA after going 4-0 in four road games this weekend. They are off for a week before hosting Washburn and Emporia State to end the regular season on April 24 and 25.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team split a pair of conference matches on Saturday, beating Lincoln 9-0 and falling to #19 Southwest Baptist, 4-5. Prior to the match against Southwest Baptist, MWSU honored seniors Ceara Boldridge and Kayla Dysart.

Lincoln Match

Missouri Western earned a 9-0 victory over the Lincoln Tigers on Saturday morning. The Griffons won six matches against opponents as Lincoln traveled with four players.

In doubles matches, Kayla Dysart and Sofia Aguilera beat their opponent 8-1 in the No. 1 spot. Denise Chiao and Lindsay Beger dominated in the No. 2 position with an 8-1 win as well.

The Griffons also won all four matches in singles as Sarah Giraldo claimed a 7-5, 6-4 (10-3) win against Maeva Lasfargue. Both Chiao and Aguilera tallied 6-0, 6-0 victories to help the Griffons seal the win.

Singles competition
1. Giraldo,Sarah (MWSU) def. Lasfargue,Maeva (LU) 7-5, 6-4, 10-3
2. Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) def. Gober,Abigail (LU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Smith,Meara (MWSU) def. Roling,Ashley (LU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
4. Chiao,Denise (MWSU) def. Geldner,Yvonne (LU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Dysart,Kayla (MWSU) def. No player (LU), by default
6. Boldridge,Ceara (MWSU) def. No player (LU), by default

Doubles competition
1. Aguilera,Sofia/Dysart,Kayla (MWSU) def. Roling,Ashley/Gober,Abigail (LU) 8-1
2. Beger,Lindsay/Chiao,Denise (MWSU) def. Lasfargue,Maeva/Geldner,Yvonne (LU) 8-1
3. Smith,Meara/Boldridge,Ceara (MWSU) def. No player/No player (LU), by default

Southwest Baptist Match

The Griffons gave #19 Southwest Baptist everything they wanted on Saturday afternoon in a closely contested match ending with a 5-4 loss.

MWSU fell in two doubles matches as Giraldo and El Ghazi lost 8-5 in the No. 1 spot. The Griffons lost in the No. 2 doubles match as well 9-8 (7-4).

The Griffons fell behind in singles matches, losing in the No. 1 and No. 2 positon but rallied back in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Kayla Dysart won her No. 3 singles match 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 and Yasmine El Ghazi beat Beatrix Federer 7-5, 6-3.

The final match of the night came down to senior; Ceara Boldridge and Zorana Jovanovic in the No. 5 spot. Boldridge earned a 6-0 victory in set one but Jovanovic battled back to claim 6-1, 6-4 wins in set two and three.

Singles competition
1. Varga,Fanni (SBU) def. Giraldo,Sarah (MWSU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Zehnder,Maria Josie (SBU) def. Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Dysart,Kayla (MWSU) def. Tuemmers,Lani (SBU) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1
4. El Ghazi,Yasmine (MWSU) def. Federer,Beatrix (SBU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Jovanovic,Zorana (SBU) def. Boldridge,Ceara (MWSU) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. Smith,Meara (MWSU) def. No player (SBU), by default

Doubles competition
1. Tuemmers,Lani/Zehnder,Maria Josie (SBU) def. Giraldo,Sarah/El Ghazi,Yasmine (MWSU) 8-5
2. Jovanovic,Zorana/Varga,Fanni (SBU) def. Dysart,Kayla/Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) 9-8 (7-4)
3. No player/No player (MWSU) def. No player/No player (SBU), by default

The Griffons will head to Tahlequah, Oklahoma on Saturday for a match against Southern Nazerene and Northeastern State starting at 10:00 am.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH – An eight-run second inning by Nebraska-Kearney vaulted the Lopers to an 11-4 win over the Missouri Western baseball team Saturday evening at the Griffon Spring Sports Complex.

Without the big eighth from Nebraska-Kearney, Grant Woods held the Lopers to three runs, one in the seventh and two in the top of the ninth. Woods threw more than 150 pitches, going all nine innings and allowing the 11 runs on 13 hits, nine of the runs were earned.

UNK hit five home runs off Woods, including four in the second inning. The team may have had one more were it not for an outstanding catch in left field by Orencio Fisher, leaping up and reaching his glove over the top of the fence.

Missouri Western had four runs on six hits. No Griffon player had more than one. David Glaude was 1-3 with two RBIs. Trevor LaHonta and Ryan Degner had the other RBIs.

The loss dropped MWSU to 20-17 on the season and 13-12 in the MIAA. Nebraska-Kearney improved to 23-12 and 18-7. The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and the games will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ and here on StJosephPost.com.

— MWSU Sports Information —

JOPLIN, Mo. – The Missouri Western Softball picked up its 30th win of the season and got back to its winning ways in a sweep of Missouri Southern on Friday.

GAME 1: #24 MWSU 5, Missouri Southern 4

The Griffons snuck one across in the top of the seventh to take game one by a run. Missouri Southern jumped out to a three-run lead after scoring a trio in the first inning. MWSU took a 4-3 lead after two in the fourth and two in the fifth but allowed the Lions to tied it up in the bottom of the fifth.

With one out in the inning, Tiffany Gillaspy picked up her first hit of the game, doubling to left center in the seventh. Katie Klosterman followed with a single that put Gillaspy on third. A wild pitch with Paige Shifflett batting brought Gillaspy home for what proved to be the winning run.

Klosterman finished 2-3 with two runs scored. Kailey Green went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Rebekah Mueller went 3-3 at the plate, driving in one run. Janie Smith picked up the win, going all seven innings. She allowed 10 hits and four runs with four strikeouts.

GAME 2: #24 MWSU 1, Missouri Southern 0

After scoring the winning run in game one, Tiffany Gillaspy drove in the only run the Griffons needed in game two.

Gillaspy broke a scoreless tie with one down in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly that brought Brooke Schaben home. Schaben doubled two batters earlier and advanced to third on Morgan Rathmann’s single. MWSU totaled just seven hits in the game off Ashley Lutz and Kailey Green had three of them. Green went 3-3 at the plate in game two. Schaben was 2-3.

Shyanne Saladino improved her record to 16-6, allowing just three hits in seven scoreless innings. The wins moved MWSU to 30-14 on the year and 14-6 in the MIAA. The Griffons travel across the border for a doubleheader Saturday against MIAA-leading Pittsburg State.

— MWSU Sports Information —