The Pittsburg State Gorillas stayed hot Sunday as they completed the four-game sweep of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats taking games three and four 7-5 and 5-4.

Northwest fell to 14-28 on the season and 13-19 in MIAA play while the Gorillas improved to 18-23 overall and 14-18 in league play.

Game one saw the Gorillas jumping out to an early 2-0 lead plating runs in the first and second innings.

The Bearcats got on the board in the fourth thanks to a Landinn Eckhardt sacrifice bunt that plated Eric McGlauflin who had reached via walk to start the inning.

Pittsburg State answered back in the bottom of the fourth and then upped their lead to 5-1 in the fifth.

Northwest would rally in the sixth plating three runs off of hits from Charlie Krueger and JJ Baccari but the Gorillas’ bats would continue to stay hot in the home half of the sixth as they would tack on two runs of their own.

The Bearcats added a run in the seventh off of a Steven Garber single, his third hit of the afternoon, but that would be as close as Northwest would get.

Sean Brady recorded the loss on the mound for Northwest.

Game two once again saw the Gorillas strike first as they jumped to the early 2-0 lead in the first.

Northwest cut the Pittsburg State lead in half in the fourth thanks to a Gorilla error before tying the game at 2-2 in the eighth.

The Gorillas would retake the lead in the home half of the eighth off of three hits and one error.

The Bearcats would rally in the ninth as Baccari and Bedard would each record hits helping to put two runs on the board for Northwest but that was as close as the Bearcats would get as they would fall 5-4.

On the mound, Chris Green suffered the tough-luck no-decision scattering just four hits and striking out six.  Josh Parrish suffered the loss, allowing three unearned runs in eighth.

Jon Pomatto and McGlauflin recorded two hits each in the loss to lead the Bearcats offensively.

Up Next: The Bearcats continue MIAA action next weekend when they host Washburn.  First pitch of Saturday’s doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Playing for the second time in three days the Northwest Missouri State women’s tennis team fell 5-3 on Sunday to top seeded Southwest Baptist in the MIAA Women’s Tennis Championship at the Plaza Tennis Center.

Northwest fell to 12-12 on the year as SBU improved to 22-2 on the season after completing a sweep of the regular season and tournament titles. The loss likely brings an end to the season for Northwest as they will await their postseason fate.

After winning their last three doubles matches the No. 2 duo of Erika Leston and Leslee Feldhaus earned an 8-2 win as the only point for Northwest in doubles play.

In singles action Northwest picked up its only wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles with Kim Ho and Emily Hoffman. Ho breezed to an easy 6-0, 6-0 win as Hoffman won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.

That would be the only wins Northwest picked up as SBU ran past the Bearcats at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 singles to claim the MIAA Tournament Title.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State men’s tennis team advanced to the MIAA Men’s Tennis Finals with a 5-0 win over Truman State on Saturday as the Bearcats will look for their third consecutive championship at the Plaza Tennis Center.

The 26th-ranked Bearcats improved to 18-4 on the year as they shutout Truman for the second time this season. Northwest will take on Southwest Baptist in Sunday’s MIAA Championship match for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

SBU and Northwest are each 2-2 against each other in the four MIAA Championships since 2007. Northwest also took the regular season meeting between their purple Bearcat foes in rather easy fashion winning 5-1

On Saturday Northwest jumped out to an early 3-0 lead taking No. 3 and No. 2 doubles with ease. At No. 3 doubles Calvin Patterson and Luis Altimires breezed to an 8-0 win while Rafael Bugiga and Guilherme Narducci took an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles.

In singles the Bearcats took wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles to claim the 5-0 win.

Mario Jakovljevic bested Jake Ohlhausen 6-0, 6-3 to give Northwest a 4-0 lead before Guilherme Narducci claimed a 6-2, 6-1 win.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

It was not the ideal ending to a game, but the Northwest Missouri State softball team picked up a last inning 6-5 win to split with Truman State keeping its MIAA tournament hopes alive after falling 2-0 in game one Friday.

Northwest improved to 17-29 on the season with the split and 7-13 in league play while Truman fell to 22-27 overall and 6-14. The Bearcats now sit in the eighth and final spot for the MIAA tournament as they will wrap up their regular season against non-conference foe Sioux Falls on Saturday.

It was a tale of two different games as the night cap quickly saw more offense from both teams in the first inning. Truman scored two runs in the top half, while Northwest answered with a pair of its own in the bottom half of the inning.

TSU jumped back in front with a run in the second and a run in the fifth before Northwest would tie the game again in the bottom of the fifth.

In the fifth inning the Bearcats pulled even on Kayli Schurman’s 14th home run of the season, putting her just one shy of the single season record. Schurman finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the win as her base hit to lead off the seventh proved as the winning run.

Northwest grabbed a short lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Hailee Hendricks RBI double, but the Bulldogs would pull back even in the top of the seventh.

However after Schurman blasted a single of the center field wall a pinch runner for Schurman, Kailee Sherer, scored on a Truman error giving Northwest the win.

Morgan Brunmeier picked up the win working 2.2 innings of relief and only allowing one run on three hits.

Game one saw a pitcher’s duel as both pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, eight from each hurler. In the end though it was Truman’s Kelsea Dorsey coming out on top to earn the shutout victory.

Jenna Creger faced tough luck as she scattered six hits and only walked one in the loss.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the fifth inning as Elizabeth Leath homered to lead off the inning. That would be all the run support TSU needed as they added a second run in the fifth inning.

Northwest stranded six base runners in the loss including the bases loaded in the second inning.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

The Northwest Missouri State women’s tennis team got off to a quick start Friday evening picking up a 5-0 win over Truman State in the first round of the 2012 MIAA Championships from the Plaza Tennis Center.

The Bearcats fell to Southwest Baptist earlier in the day, 5-4, to finish a postponed match from last week before opening the tournament against the Bulldogs. Northwest, who improved to 11-11 on the year, will take on No. 2-seed Washburn at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinals while Southwest Baptist and Emporia State play in the other semifinal.

The Bearcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead sweeping doubles action just as they did in their regular season match at the beginning of the month.

From there Northwest needed just two wins in singles play to claim the 5-0 win.

At No. 1 singles Camila Quesada took a 6-1, 6-1 win while Kim Ho closed out the match with a win at No. 3 singles. Ho finished off Maggi Schutte, 6-2, 6-1 giving the Bearcats the shutout and advancing into the MIAA Semifinals.

— NWMSU Sports Information —