The Missouri Western baseball team moved up one spot to No. 5 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll despite losing two of three games over the weekend to Central Missouri.

The Griffons still lead the MIAA with a 25-4 league record and they’re 32-7 overall.

Central Missouri stayed at No. 8 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and they’re the only other MIAA in the Top 30.

Mount Olive remains No. 1 in the nation, followed by Delta State, South Carolina Aiken, Colorado Mesa and Missouri Western.

The Griffons close out the regular season this week as they host Washburn in a doubleheader Wednesday beginning at 2:00 p.m. and they travel to Missouri Southern for a three-game series Saturday and Sunday.

The doubleheader with Washburn will air live on ESPN 1550 AM and 1550espn.com.

The final day of the MIAA Golf Championships Tuesday at Paradise Golf Course in Smithville, Mo., has been washed out because of the wintery mix in the area. The results from the first round yesterday will now become the final rankings as the Griffons finish fifth at the tournament. The Griffons will now wait for their NCAA postseason fate as postseason regional berths are scheduled to be announced later this week. The Griffons came into the MIAA Tournament ranked 11th in the latest Central Regional rankings.

The Missouri Western women’s golf team finished in 5th place at the MIAA Championships which was played at the Posse Golf Course at Paradise Pointe Country Club. The Griffons are two strokes back of Truman State (329) and seven strokes back of Northwest Missouri State (324). The winner of the event is Central Oklahoma with a 301 which is nine strokes better than Northeastern State (310).

Individually, Natalie Bird had a finished firing a 78 putting her in a tie for 7th. She is three strokes back of second and seven strokes behind leader Aly Seng (71) of Central Oklahoma.

Callie Wilson and Casi Webb are in a tie for 19th with 83’s while Anna Kloeppel and Amber Chivington fired 87 and 91 respectively.

The final day of the MIAA Golf Championships Tuesday at Paradise Golf Course in Smithville, Mo., has been washed out because of the wintery mix in the area. The results from the first two rounds Monday will now become the final results as the Griffons finish seventh at the tournament.

The Missouri Western men’s golf team fired total of 608 (305-303) at the MIAA Championships which is being played in at Outlaw Golf Course at Paradise Pointe Country Club. The Griffons bettered their scored by two strokes in round two separating themselves from 8th place Missouri Southern who shot a 612 (308-304). The 608 puts the Griffons in sole possession of 7th place just four strokes back of Northeastern State, 604 (300-304). Central Oklahoma holds a 18 stroke advantage after 36 holes. The Bronchos shot 568 and placed three atop the leader board.

Sitting 18 strokes behind Central Oklahoma is Central Missouri who shot 586 on the day to finish ten over par. Lindenwood, though not eligible for the team championship is currently in third at 591. Washburn is in fourth place just two strokes behind the Lions entering the final day.

Individually, the Griffons are led Weston Apple. He finished in a tie for 9th place with a two round total of 147 (76-71). Kenny Stone  tied for 20th with a 150 (76-74) while Tyler Gast, James O’Brien and Evan McCarthy fired 155 (76-79), 156 (77-79) and 157 (77-80) respectively.

Central Oklahoma’s Dillon Rust won the event shooting a seven under par 137 on a day that saw deteriorating conditions. He was followed by teammates Trevor Stafford and Logan Waresback who finished today’s 36 with a 142 which is two under par. Robby Hughey of Central Missouri used a second round 70 to climb the leader board and finish in fourth place at one under par.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western Director of Athletics Kurt McGuffin announced Monday that Cory Frederick has resigned as Griffon Volleyball Coach effective immediately.

Frederick resigns after four seasons at the helm.  He became the sixth head coach in program history in 2009 and led the Griffons to a 37-72 overall record and a 25-51 record in MIAA play.  The Griffons had improved their win total in every season under Frederick going 16-16 a season ago which was the most wins in a season since 2006.  He inherited a program that had won just four games in 2008.

“We’d like to thank Coach Frederick for his time and energy he gave to our volleyball program,” McGuffin said.  “Cory has been a great role model for our student-athletes and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Frederick came to MWSU after five seasons at Park University as the Head Men’s Volleyball Coach.  During that time, he led the Pirates to four straight NAIA National Tournament Appearances including winning the National Championship in 2008.

Prior to his time at Park, Frederick served as Assistant Coach at MWSU under then Head Coach Cindy Brauck.

He coached nine All-MIAA Selections in his tenure at MWSU including MIAA Freshman of the Year and three time All-MIAA selection Stephanie Hattey and freshman outside hitter Jessie Thorup.

A search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team sits in 5th place after day one of the MIAA Championships when are being played at the Posse Golf Course at Paradise Pointe Country Club.

The Griffons are two strokes back of Truman State (329) and seven strokes back of Northwest Missouri State (324). The leader of the event is Central Oklahoma with a 301 which is nine strokes better than Northeastern State (310).

Individually, Natalie Bird had a nice round firing a 78 putting her in a tie for 7th. She is three strokes back of second and seven strokes behind leader Aly Seng (71) of Central Oklahoma.

Callie Wilson and Casi Webb are in a tie for 19th with 83’s while Anna Kloeppel and Amber Chivington fired 87 and 91 respectively.

The women will begin round two Tuesday with a shotgun start scheduled for 9 a.m. from Paradise Pointe Golf Complex.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team fired a day one total of 608 (305-303) at the MIAA Championships which is being played in at Outlaw Golf Course at Paradise Pointe Country Club.

The Griffons bettered their scored by two strokes in round two separating themselves from 8th place Missouri Southern who shot a 612 (308-304). The 608 puts the Griffons in sole possession of 7th place just four strokes back of Northeastern State, 604 (300-304). Central Oklahoma holds a 18 stroke advantage after 36 holes. The Bronchos shot 568 and placed three atop the leader board.

Sitting 18 strokes behind Central Oklahoma is Central Missouri who shot 586 on the day to finish ten over par. Lindenwood, though not eligible for the team championship is currently in third at 591. Washburn is in fourth place just two strokes behind the Lions entering the final day.

Individually, Missouri Western is led by Weston Apple. He sits in a tie for 9th place with a two round total of 147 (76-71). Kenny Stone is in a tie for 20th with a 150 (76-74) while Tyler Gast, James O’Brien and Evan McCarthy fired 155 (76-79), 156 (77-79) and 157 (77-80) respectively.

Central Oklahoma’s Dillon Rust led the way shooting a seven under par 137 on a day that saw deteriorating conditions. He was followed by teammates Trevor Stafford and Logan Waresback who finished today’s 36 with a 142 which is two under par. Robby Hughey of Central Missouri used a second round 70 to climb the leader board and finish in fourth place at one under par.

The championship will conclude tomorrow beginning with a 9 a.m. shot gun start at the Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville, Mo. Complete men’s day two pairings can be found at www.themiaa.com.

— MWSU Sports Information —

No. 8 Central Missouri put together a two-run ninth inning to sneak a win past No. 6 Missouri Western Sunday afternoon at Griffon Spring Sports Complex.

Missouri Western fell behind 4-1 after three innings, but the Griffons dominated the middle of the game with a two-run fourth inning and two-run eighth inning, taking a 5-4 lead.

Spencer Shockley singled to left center and Grant Fink followed with a double in the bottom of the fourth. Jimmy Smelcer hit a single to score Shockley, and on the next bat Jake Schrader doubled to draw within one.

After three scoreless inning, Bubba Dotson tripled to score Michael Schulze and tie the game at four. Kyle Simpson singled up the middle for the go-ahead run, but the Mules got out of the inning down by just one run.

Behind 5-4, UCM had two outs before Mules designated hitter Barrett Noirfalise singled to left field. On the next bat second baseman Jon Cotter doubled to right field to score Noirfalise.

Samuel Domingue, the Mules No. 1 batter singled to shortstop and after the bases were loaded, Logan Hollingsworth, who picked up his first loss of the season, walked Kyle Grieshaber, who had the only home run in the game — a two-run blast in the third inning — to take the 6-5 lead.

Still, the Griffons had a chance to pick up the victory in the bottom of the ninth. Fink singled and Smelcer walked to bring to runners on with no outs. But after Payton Scarbrough fouled a bunt attempt to first baseman John Oropeza, Shawn Egge grounded out to the pitcher to move the runners to second and third base. But Mules pitcher Zach Davis struck out Michael Schulze to end the game.

Central improves to 31-9 and 25-8 in the conference, while Missouri Western still leads the MIAA with a 32-7 record overall and 26-4 in the conference. The Mules also won game two on Saturday, giving the Griffons their first back-to-back losses since opening weekend, when the Griffons dropped two straight to Arkansas Tech.

Several Griffons had multiple hits on the day. Shockley, Simpson and Fink all went 2-for-4. Smelcer was 2-for-3. The Griffons had 11 hits and the Mules finished with nine.

Next up for the Griffons is a doubleheader set for Wednesday night against Washburn. Times are scheduled for 4 and 6 p.m. It will be the final home games of the regular season.

— MWSU Sports Information —