The Missouri Western women’s golf team jumped one spot to finish 2nd in the annual Green and Gold Classic. The Griffons fired a two round total of 684 (350-334) finishing three strokes better than Northwest Missouri State. The winner of the event was Central Oklahoma firing a 629 (313-316).

The Griffons were led by senior Casi Webb as she fired a 168 (86-82) finishing in 8th place. Freshman Anna Kloeppel fired a 171 (87-84) which was good enough to tie for 10th. Callie Wilson fired a 172 (86-86) while Natalie Bird finished with a 173 (91-82). Amber Chivington fired a 189 (96-93) while Darcy Smith and Shelby Stone finished with 178 (91-87) and 188 (94-94) respectively.

The winner of the event was Aly Seng of Central Oklahoma firing a 151 (75-76).

The Griffons wrap up their regular season at the MIAA Championships on Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23 in Smithville, Mo. The event will be held at Paradise Pointe and the women will play the Posse Golf Course.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s tennis team fell in their final home match of the season by a score of 6-3 against the Rockhurst Hawks. The Griffons drop to 6-16 overall and will play their final match of the season on Wednesday in Baldwin City, Kan. against Baker University at 2:00 pm.

The Griffons got two victories at No. 2 and No. 5 singles due to opponents retiring. No. 6 singles player Alyssa Dougan won 6-4, 6-4 over Abby Kayser.

No. 1 singles player Meara Smith won the first set 6-4 before falling 6-3, 6-3 against Karsyn Betts.

The Hawks improve to 12-6 overall.

Singles competition

1. Betts, Karsyn (RU) def. Smith,Meara (MWSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. Chiao,Denise (MWSU) def. Vrugteveen, Kim (RU) 3-6, retired
3. Schelble, Alex (RU) def. Dysart,Kayla (MWSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. de Groot, Kim (RU) def. Boldridge,Ceara (MWSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Beger,Lindsay (MWSU) def. Schatz, Christine (RU) 2-3, retired
6. Dougan,Alyssa (MWSU) def. Kayser, Abby (RU) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Betts, Karsyn/Schatz, Christine (RU) def. Smith,Meara/Chiao,Denise (MWSU) 8-2
2. de Groot, Kim/Vrugteveen, Kim (RU) def. Dysart,Kayla/Dougan,Alyssa (MWSU) 8-1
3. Schelble, Alex/Kayser, Abby (RU) def. Boldridge,Ceara/Beger,Lindsay (MWSU) 8-3

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s golf team fired a day one total of 305 putting them in 4th place in the 12 team field at the Missouri Southern Invitational. The Griffons trail Central Missouri (301) by four strokes and Northeastern State (299 by seven. The leader of the event is Central Oklahoma with a 293.

The Griffons were led by Wes Apple and Kenny Stone as they fired a 75 putting them in a tie for 12th. Tyler Gast fired a 77 while Evan McCarthy and James O’Brien fired 78’s.

The leaders of the event are Dillon Rust of Central Oklahoma and Kris Koelzer of Nebraska-Kearney firing 70’s.

The final round of the tournament will be played tomorrow morning.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The #11 Griffons finished the sweep against Lindenwood Sunday afternoon in a nine-inning conference game by defeating the Lions 5-4.

A Nate Ramler single to left field in the final inning scored Michael Schulze, who singled to the same area to get on base. With the win, the Griffons are 30-5 overall and 24-2 in MIAA play and the Lions fall to 16-22 and 14-16 in MIAA action. Logan Hollinsworth picked up the win improving to 5-0 on the year.

The Griffons fell behind Lindenwood for the third-straight game, trailing 2-0 after two innings and 3-1 after five. But Ramler belted a homer to left center which scored Kyle Simpson and himself tying the game at three runs apiece.

In the seventh inning, Lions’ Mike Failoni, who went 3-for-3, doubled down the left-field line scoring teammate Zach Kurzejeski to take the lead yet again. But the Griffons came right back in the bottom of the seventh.

Bubba Dotson’s single scored Shawn Egge, who got on base by a walk. The score reamined 4-4 until Ramler’s bat in the bottom of the ninth inning which avoided extra innings.

Missouri Western tallied 11 hits on the day, including multiple hits by Grant Fink, Schulze, Dotson and Ramler.

The Griffons return to action Monday afternoon as they take on No. 4 ranked St. Cloud State in a non-conference matchup.

The Huskies are 22-3 overall after spliting a doubleheader with Truman State on Sunday afternoon in Kirksville, Mo.

Game time is set for 1:00 pm from the MWSU Baseball Field and it can be heard on ESPN 1550 AM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western softball team picked up two important MIAA victories against Lindenwood University Sunday afternoon. The Griffons improved to 29-11 and 13-5 in the conference while the Lions are currently 18-22 and 9-11.

In the first game, Western fell behind 1-0 after the first inning, and failed to score after a lead-off double in the third and lead-off triple in the fourth.

But behind 1-0 in the fifth, Taylor Anding singled to left field to provide the first hit of the inning. And after two outs, which included a sac bunt from Kat Steponovich to move Anding into scoring position, Bre Fleschner reached by an error and Anding advance home to tie the game at one.

After Courtney Opich, who went 2-for-3 in the first game, belted a homer, the Griffons came back with two runs in the sixth to take the win.

Kendall Sorensen tripled down the right-field line to score Maegan Roemmich, who reached on a fielder’s choice after Michelle Stevenson singled to right field but was thrown out on the next play.

Another error by the Lions scored Sorensen for the 3-2 lead, and junior Jackie Bishop, who is not 16-4 on the year, struck out the side to complete the win.

Game 2
Griffons 2, Lions 1

Missouri Western secured the second win after two strong pitching performances from freshman Janie Smith and Bishop. After Smith pitched a shutout through five innings, Opich scored off a double by Deidre Merli to tie the game at one.

Bishop came in to finish the game, and in the bottom of the seventh, Fleschner double to left center. Two plays later, catcher Keri Lorbert doubled down right center for the game-winning RBI.

On the day, Sorensen finished 3-for-6 with an RBI and third baseman Sarah Elliott went 3-for-7.

Next up for the Griffons is a Wednesday doubleheader against Lincoln. The first pitch is set for 5 p.m. and the games can be heard on 680 KFEQ AM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

After being ranked 11th in the first NCAA Women’s Golf Central Regional Ranking, every event down the stretch to improve their stock into the top nine of the ranking becomes that much more important for the Missouri Western women’s golf team.

The Griffons had their first chance to do that today as they hosted the opening round of the ten team Green & Gold Shootout at St. Joseph Country Club.

Missouri Western fired a team score of 350 which is currently in third place and six shots behind second place Nebraska-Kearney.  Central Oklahoma leads the event with a 313.

Callie Wilson & Casi Webb led the way firing 86 respectively.  Anna Kloeppel shot 87 & Natalie Bird rounded out the counting scores for MWSU with a 91.

Central Oklahoma’s Aly Sleng leads the 57 player field with a three over par 75.

The final round of the tournament will be played at Maryville’s Mozingo Lake Golf Club Monday morning with a shotgun start set for 10 AM.

All teams in the field are trying to improve their stock to be selected for the NCAA Super Regional which will be played at the Country Club May 5 – 7.

— MWSU Sports Information —