ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western head women’s basketball coach Candi Whitaker announced the addition of Emily Wacker to the team’s staff as assistant coach.

“I wanted our assistant coach to be someone who has demonstrated a tremendous work ethic and is passionate about basketball,” Whitaker said. “I wanted it to be a person that would love, serve and care for our student-athletes and lastly I wanted someone who had ties to the area. Emily Wacker is that person. Emily has impeccable character, love for the game, and is an excellent relationship builder. Her proven work ethic, drive to be successful and connection to the surrounding area will prove her to be an excellent recruiter. I look forward to our fans knowing Emily.”

A native of Salina, Kansas, Emily (Wood) Wacker was the director of basketball operations for the Omaha women’s basketball team last season. After walking on at Nebraska, she earned a full-ride scholarship by her sophomore season and went on to become a four-year letter winner and earned the team’s Husker Award two straight seasons.

“I am thrilled to join the Missouri Western Women’s Basketball program as an assistant coach,” Wacker said. “There is a great energy around Griffon Athletics and I’m excited to build on the rich tradition of this program as we compete in the one of the best Division II conferences in the country. I am truly grateful to Coach Whitaker and the administration for giving me this opportunity.”

At Nebraska, Wacker was a recipient of Nebraska’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award two times and earned a prestigious Dr. Barbara Hibner Trailblazer Scholarship. She was a team captain for a team that posted the nation’s largest increase in wins from one season to the next and made the NCAA Tournament.

Wacker received her B.S. in Business Administration from Nebraska in 2017 and her Master’s in Business Administration from Nebraska in 2018.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western softball team will make its 11th NCAA Division II Regional Championship appearance later this week when Missouri Western travels to Winona, Minnesota for the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships.

The No. 6 seed Griffons will face No. 3 seed Augustana (S.D.) on Thursday at Winona State University. After not making it to the NCAA postseason last year, Missouri Western will return for the seventh time in the past nine years. The Griffons are in the Central Region 2 bracket with three teams MWSU faced in the regular season. Missouri Western lost 10-2 to Augustana on March 22, but defeated the No. 2 seed and sub-regional host Winona State, 1-0, the next day. The Griffons defeated No. 7 seed St. Cloud State 9-8 on Feb. 2 in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Final game times and a complete schedule will be announced later Monday afternoon, but for now the Griffons are scheduled to face Augustana at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The winner will advance to play the winner of the Winona State, St. Cloud State game on Friday at 1 p.m. with the loser facing elimination against either Winona State or St. Cloud State on Friday at 6 p.m.

Missouri Western finished second in the MIAA regular season standings and as runner-up in the MIAA Championships to No. 1 Central Oklahoma. No. 16 Augustana enters the regional 51-9 after claiming the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference postseason championship.

— MWSU Athletics —

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – On a muggy, soaked course at Muskogee Golf Club, the Missouri Western women’s golf team finished tied for 10th after one round at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships.

Heavy rain the day before delayed the start and brought about humid conditions on a wet course and the threat of severe weather has shortented the duration of the tournament. Rounds two and three will both be played Tuesday in hopes of completing all three rounds before inclement weather hits the area. The Griffons turned in a total score of 320 to tie with Southern Nazarene. As a team, MWSU was 10 strokes behind fourth place Lindenwood with the top four teams after three rounds advancing to the national championships.

Shi Qing Ong was tied for sixth after turning in a 4-over, 75. Anna Bech finished with an 8-over to tie for 27th after one round. Chong Yong shot an 81 with Jenna Kosmatka turning in an 85 and Katie Irvin carding an 87.

All five Griffons were set to tee off at 8:30 Tuesday morning.

— MWSU Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – A six-run fifth inning by No. 1 Central Oklahoma (45-5) blew a tight MIAA Championship game wide open and led to a 10-2 loss in six innings for the Missouri Western softball team (37-16).

A 2-2 ballgame through four innings, UCO regained the lead in the fifth on a two-run home run by Jobi Heath and proceeded to score four more with two out to take an 8-2 lead after 4 . Missouri Western took a 1-0 lead on Sydni Hawkins’ second home run of her freshman season in the second. UCO tied it in the third and took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Cassidy Kelsheimer beat out a slow roller to first for a single in the bottom of the fourth and the play at first allowed Morgan Frost to score from second to tie the game at two.

Lexi Kinnaird (11-4) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits over 4 2/3. Kaili Hinds went the final inning-plus, allowing three runs on five hits. It was Kinnaird’s first loss since Feb. 24 against Sioux Falls. The Griffons totaled just four hits, with only two after the second on MIAA Pitcher of the Year Bailey McKittrick. Kelsheimer had two of the Griffons’ hits, Hawkins and Frost had the others.

Missouri Western finished as the runner-up in both the regular season standings and the postseason tournament to Central Oklahoma. Both were the best finishes for the team since besting UCO to sweep the MIAA Championships in 2016.

The Griffons will await to find where and who they will likely play in next week’s NCAA Division II Central Regional. The NCAA selection show will be streamed live on NCAA.com, Monday at 9 a.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – With Sunday’s results from around the MIAA, Missouri Western (20-22, 17-16 MIAA) needed to defeat regular season conference champion Central Missouri (34-13, 24-9 MIAA) in the final game of the season to secure a spot in the MIAA Championships. Despite dropping the first two games of the weekend, the Griffons came out on top in the most important game of the series, beating the Mules 11-8 on Sunday afternoon.

The Griffons flipped the switch offensively, pouring in the most runs they have had in their last 11 games. The deciding runs in Sunday’s game came in the seventh and eighth innings, when Missouri Western scored eight of its 11 runs.

NOTABLES

• Central Missouri took the first lead of the game for the third time in the series with three runs in the top of the first inning.
• Dusty Stroup put the Griffons on the board in his first plate appearance with a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
• With bases loaded and two outs in the fourth, Conrad McMahon’s infield single scored Fahd Shakeel and Will Jibas to bring the Griffons within one at 4-3.
• The Mules extended their lead to 5-3 in the seventh inning with an RBI double down the left-field line.
• Shakeel’s two-RBI single to right field cut the deficit to just 5-4 in the seventh inning.
• After a UCM wild pitch scored another Griffon run, Wyatt Meyer drove in two runs with a single down the left-field line.
• A three-run homer in the eighth swung the lead back to the Mules at 8-7.
• Brooks Day answered with a three-run blast of his own, putting Missouri Western up 11-8 in the bottom of the eighth.
• Stroup, Day, and Shakeel all finished with two or more hits in four plate appearances.
• After starting yesterday’s game, Jacob Purl pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.
• The Griffons’ 11 runs scored against Central Missouri on Sunday are the most the Mules have allowed in their last 14 games.

UP NEXT

• Griffon Baseball won’t have to wait long for another crack at Central Missouri. Just four days after the two finished a three-game series in St. Joseph, Missouri Western will face off with the regular season MIAA Champions in the first round of the MIAA Baseball Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.

  The Griffons’ comeback win over the Mules on Sunday clinched the eighth and final seed for Missouri Western. They’ll open postseason play against Central Missouri on Thursday at 4 p.m. All games of the MIAA Championships will be played at Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg. All eight teams play one game in the double-elimination tournament on Thursday. The Griffons will either play No. 4 seed Pittsburg State or No. 5 seed Emporia State on Friday at either 12:30 or 7:30 p.m.

  The complete bracket and other information can be found on the MIAA Baseball Championship Central page.

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Missouri Western Track and Field has officially wrapped up the MIAA Championships after Championship Sunday as the Griffons tallied double-digit top-10 finishes in the final day of the meet. In the program’s second season, the women’s team took 11^th, finishing ahead of Nebraska-Kearney and Central Oklahoma, while the men finished 12^th.

Hanna Williams earned a third-place finish in the women’s 400 meter run with a 54.80 in Sunday’s final. Williams improved significantly from her 55.41 on Saturday, which seeded her seventh for the final. She becomes the second student-athlete in the program’s short two-year history to medal at the MIAA Outdoor Championships.

Megan Gillen ran a career-best time of 2:12.93 to take fourth place in the women’s 800 meter. After breaking her own program record on Sunday, Gillen has seen steady improvements in just her second season at Missouri Western. Her time on Sunday was nearly eight seconds faster than her 12^th-place finish in the MIAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman.

With several program records falling over the weekend, one of the most impressive was the performance of the women’s 400 meter relay team. Williams, Morgan Doyle, Lynzi Miller, and Symonne Holland shattered the record by more than 13 seconds to take fifth place. Andrew Wright (3000 meter steeplechase), Riley Gorham (men’s 1500 meter run), Kelsey Cox (3000 meter steeplechase), and the men’s 400 meter relay team were among the other new records set on Sunday.

TOP FINISHERS

• Hanna Williams, 3^rd, Women’s 400m, 54.80, Provisional
• Megan Gillen, 4^th, Women’s 800m, 2:12.93
• Morgan Doyle, Hanna Williams, Lynzi Miller, Symonne Holland, 5^th, Women’s 4x400m Relay, 3:49.91
• Andrew Wright, 7^th, Men’s 3000m Steeplechase, 9:38.95
• Megan Gillen, 8^th, Women’s 5000m, 18:51.43
• Bailey Gilbert, 8^th, Women’s Triple Jump, 11.97m (39′ 3.25″)
• Kelsey Cox, 8^th, Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, 11:47.66
• Julia Odir, 9^th, Women’s Triple Jump, 11.89m (39′ 0.25″)
• Tanner Butterfield, 9^th, Men’s Javelin, 55.83m (183′ 2″)
• Riley Gorham, 11^th, Men’s 1500m, 3:59.86
• Kallin Sheppard, 13^th, Women’s Hammer Throw, 48.02m (157′ 6″)

UP NEXT

• Missouri Western will travel to the Sam Williams Qualifier in Emporia, Kansas to give student-athletes one final chance at qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.

— MWSU Athletics —

EDMOND, Okla. – The Missouri Western softball team (37-15) will play for the MIAA Championship on Sunday after coming from behind to eliminate Emporia State (27-28) 5-3 on Saturday.

Missouri Western faced elimination Saturday night after a 9-1 run-rule loss to No. 1 Central Oklahoma earlier in the day, but the Griffons battled back to force a rematch with the MIAA regular season champion Bronchos.

Emporia State scored two runs on two hits and left two on base in the first inning, but then Lexi Kinnaird slammed the door on the Hornets and opened it for her offense. Kinnaird retired 14 of the next 15 batters she faced after the first, including 10-straight at one point. Were it not for a stolen base in the second, the Hornets wouldn’t have got a runner past first on Kinnaird between the second and seventh innings. She picked up her eighth straight decision to improve to 11-3 on the season, allowing three runs on six hits, just four after the first.

The Griffon offense got Kinnaird some run support by scoring four runs with two out in the top of the fourth. Brea Blanton drove in the first with an infield single then Marissa Guenther stole home to tie the game at two. Lauren Houston drove Blanton in with a double to left and an error on a ground ball by Morgan Frost got Houston home to put MWSU up 4-2. The Griffons added another run in the sixth on a Blanton single that scored Guenther, who went 2-for-3 filling in for the injured Shelby Uhl.

Emporia State got back-to-back two-out hits off Kinnaird in the seventh, one scoring a run, but the senior ended the rally and the game with a strikeout.

GAME 1
Missouri Western was forced into the consolation bracket final after managing just three hits in a 9-1 loss to No. 1 Central Oklahoma in the winner’s bracket final. The Griffons jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, but UCO scored four in the bottom half, chasing Kaili Hinds from the mound before an out was recorded. Hinds suffered her first loss since March 8 against Central Oklahoma, snapping a streak of 12-straight winning decisions for the sophomore. The loss also snapped MWSU’s 18-game win streak which was the longest active streak in the nation.

UP NEXT
The Griffons will have to beat No. 1 Central Oklahoma twice to take home a trophy on Sunday. The championship game is scheduled for 10 a.m. If needed, the second game would be played immediately following the first.  Sunday’s games will be broadcast on ESPN St. Joseph 107.5 FM & 1550 AM.  You can also click here to listen online.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western (19-22, 16-16 MIAA) fell victim to an impressive pitching performance on Saturday night, as Central Missouri (34-12, 24-8 MIAA) took the second game of the three-game series with a 3-1 win. Despite limited success at the plate, the Griffons still managed to put the tying run on base, but were not able to come from behind for the win and clinch a spot in the MIAA Championships.

The Griffons had a very productive night on the mound as well. Jacob Purl got the start on Senior Night, allowing three runs on six hits in over four innings. Fellow senior Anthony Castaneda relieved Purl in the fifth inning and would finish the game for Missouri Western. Castaneda allowed just one hit and totaled six strikeouts in relief.

NOTABLES

• Purl helped the Griffons to a much better start than the team had on Friday, allowing just one hit through the first three innings.
• In the fifth inning, UCM’s double to the left-field warning track scored two runs to extend the lead to 3-0.
• After back-to-back walks in the bottom of the eighth, Wyatt Meyer reached on an infield fielding error to load the bases with just one out.
• With two outs and bases loaded in the eighth, Andrew Curry scored the Griffons’ first run on a wild pitch.
• The Mules would then get the final out of the eighth inning with limited damage, allowing just one run.
• Central Missouri faced the tying run at the plate twice in the ninth inning, but held on for the 3-1 road victory.
• Conrad McMahon gave Missouri Western its lone hit on Saturday, a single in the bottom of the first inning.
• In 4.2 innings on the mound, Castaneda retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced and did not walk a single batter.

UP NEXT

• The Griffons square off against the Mules in the regular season finale on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —