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Category: Sports

Missouri loses series finale against No. 10 Vandy

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – In front of a program-record crowd of 3,146 fans, Mizzou Baseball dropped the series finale against No. 10 Vanderbilt, 6-2, Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou junior starterMichael Plassmeyer, a lefty who has dominated during SEC play, got off to another good start on Saturday. However, Vanderbilt’s bats eventually found their groove and scored in four consecutive innings, including a three-spot in the sixth, to pull away from the Tigers.

After a pair of games in which Mizzou took down Vanderbilt with strong pitching and defense, the roles reversed on Saturday. Commodore starter Mason Hickman was dialed in all afternoon, lasting 7.0 innings and allowing only two unearned runs. Behind him, the Commodore defense made a handful of web gems that quieted the Mizzou offense. Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Mizzou pushed across its first runs on a two-run double by senior 2B Matt Berler.

Despite the loss that spoiled the potential series sweep, Mizzou won its first series ever against the Commodores and now sits at 8-10 in SEC play this season.

TURNING POINT

In his first start at Taylor Stadium since a five-hit complete game shutout, southpaw Michael Plassmeyer got off to a strong start on Saturday afternoon. Plassmeyer retired nine straight to start the ballgame and had three punch outs through three frame. However, Vanderbilt batters steadily found holes with base knocks as the Commodores tallied single runs in the fourth and fifth before breaking the game open with a two-run triple by 2B Ethan Paul. A sac fly a batter later gave Vanderbilt a 5-0 lead.

QUOTING MIZZOU

Head Coach Steve Bieser

“I’d say the biggest takeaway for us is that we came into a weekend series knowing that we needed to win the series, and we were able to do that. We played really clean baseball in the first two games and had some timely hitting. Today, it’s tough to beat a team like Vanderbilt three times. It’s a challenge. I knew that they were going to come out hungyry and I think they were just a little bit hungrier than we were.”

TOP TIGERS

  • Senior 2B Matt Berler roped a pair of doubles, one which scored a pair in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Tigers within four. The two-baggers were Berler’s first since March 3 against UMBC and were Mizzou’s first extra-base hits of the weekend.
  • Junior reliever Giovanni Lopez entered in the top of the eighth with the Commodores threatening. With a 6-2 lead, Vanderbilt had runners on second and third with one out when Lopez took the bump. The junior picked up a key strikeout and induced a 5-3 groundout to end the inning.

NOTES

  • With a crowd of 3,146, Mizzou set a new program regular season attendance record
  • After the loss, Mizzou is now 3-17 all-time against Vanderbilt
  • 8-6 vs. ranked opponents
  • The Tigers fall to 8-6 on Saturdays this season
  • Mizzou’s loss at Taylor Stadium was just its fourth of the season. The Tigers are now 18-4 at home
  • While they were unable to execute the series sweep, Mizzou stands at 16-11 in three game series this season
  • Mizzou is now 7-5 this April. The Tigers were 6-13 last April
  • Mizzou falls to 2-8 in games when opponents score first
  • The Tigers are now 6-8 in day games this season

UP NEXT

Mizzou will close its five-game homestand Tuesday against in-state foe Missouri State.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Molina hits go-ahead homer, Cardinals hold off Reds 4-3

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Hicks didn’t get jammed up.

The rookie St. Louis reliever got Scooter Gennett to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded, and the Cardinals held off the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Saturday.

“I just tried to stay calm and just throw every pitch to the best of my ability and just try to give my team the best chance to win,” Hicks said. “I just go out there with full confidence and do what you know how to do, what you’ve been doing your whole life.”

Star catcher Yadier Molina hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in their past eight games, including six against the Reds. The Reds dropped their fourth straight, and second under interim manager Jim Riggleman, and fell to 3-17 this season.

St. Louis has won 10 in a row from the Reds dating to last season, matching its longest streak against them since 1949, when the Cardinals won 11 straight.

Hicks (1-0) recorded the final seven outs for his first career victory.

“Amazing,” Molina said of the hard-throwing Hicks. “This kid has the talent to pitch late in the game. Obviously when you throw 102 (miles per hour), you don’t have to be afraid of anything. He’s a great kid and great job for him tonight.”

Jared Hughes (0-2) gave up Molina’s sixth homer, a solo drive. The one-out shot gave Molina his 800th career RBI.

“I totally missed my spot right there,” Hughes said. “I left it up and in the middle. It was not the pitch I wanted. He doesn’t miss mistakes. He did a good job of hitting the heck out of it.”

Cincinnati scored three times in the seventh to tie it. The Reds strung together four singles and a walk in the seventh, with Gennett’s two-run hit making it 3-all. Hicks used one pitch to get Cliff Pennington to fly out, ending the inning with runners at the corners.

Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez pitched six scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven. He was pulled after 91 pitches and exited with an 18-inning scoreless streak, leaving with a 1.42 ERA.

Home runs by Paul DeJong and Dexter Fowler helped the Cardinals build a 3-0 lead through six.

Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, striking four and walking two.

“I honestly wasn’t very sharp today,” Bailey said. “I did some things that I wasn’t very happy with today. We tried to hold them the best we could. Defensively we did a good job and the offense started coming through there at the end. It was just kind of one of those days where you had to fight back and forth.

“That’s something that shouldn’t be necessarily commented on. It should just be a regular thing that you do every day. Maybe it’s a step in the right direction. But, the overall picture is we still need to do more,” he said.

DeJong hit his sixth home run in the second. Fowler’s third homer opened the sixth for the Cardinals.

BRINGING THE LEATHER

Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong sprinted into right field and had to make a full extension of his glove arm to pull in a flare from Reds OF Adam Duvall in the sixth. Wong then tossed the ball to 1B Jose Martinez to double off Gennett, who had already rounded second base.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: RHP David Hernandez began his rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Louisville on Friday. He pitched 1/3 of an inning, giving up three hits, four earned runs and striking out one while throwing 19 pitches. He is recovering from right shoulder inflammation.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham was held out of the starting lineup because of flu-like symptoms and also to provide another day off to rest a sore groin. Manager Mike Matheny said Pham was available off the bench, but he did not get into the game.

UP NEXT

Reds: RHP Luis Castillo (1-2, 6.75) starts the final game of a three-game set in St. Louis against Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (2-0, 4.26). Castillo earned the victory in his first appearance this season, but lasted just five innings in his last two starts in which he took the loss both times. Mikolas will go for his first victory at Busch Stadium since joining the Cardinals in the offseason. He got a no-decision in his only home start this year, a 5-4 loss to Milwaukee.

— Associated Press —

Griffons drop series opener at No. 18 Central Oklahoma 5-2

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EDMOND, Okla. – Three early runs were the difference as No. 18 Central Oklahoma (30-14, 22-8) took game one of a three-game series from Missouri Western (22-19, 14-13) on Friday.

UCO scored two in the first and added another in the second on the way to a 5-2 victory. Both first inning runs were unearned. An error led to the first run and a wild pitch allowed the second. The Griffs scored their first run on a wild pitch in the fourth before Maurice Bruce made it 3-2 with a solo home run in the sixth. UCO added one in the seventh and another in the eight for insurance to stop the Griffs’ win streak at four games.

NOTABLES

  • Kellan Richards broke the MWSU single season appearances record with his NCAA-leading 28th of the season. The junior broke Eric Snider’s record set in 1985. Richards struck out the only batter he faced Friday.
  • Bruce’s home run was his second this season and first since March 18 at Southwest Baptist
  • Casey Danley extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a 1-for-4 day at the plate
  • Brooks Day went 2-for-4 and scored one of the Griffons’ runs. Day has hit safely in nine straight games and 11 of his last 12
  • Griffon batters struck out 14 times in the game

UP NEXT
Game two of the series comes Saturday at 3 p.m. in Edmond, Oklahoma.

— MWSU Athletics —

Royals snap 9-game skid, beat Tigers 3-2 to salvage split

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DETROIT (AP) — The promise of youth, and the price of inexperience.

It’s all part of the equation this year for the rebuilding Detroit Tigers.

Hours after JaCoby Jones homered in the 10th inning to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory over Kansas City, rookie first baseman Niko Goodrum dropped a grounder and made a wild throw as Detroit squandered a chance at a doubleheader sweep. The Royals scored twice in the ninth to win the second game 3-2 on Friday night, snapping a nine-game losing streak.

“I guarantee that the guys out there in the clubhouse are rallying around him, and that’s the way we’re going to do it around here — take the good with the bad,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It happens. That’s part of the game, too. You make a mistake and it ends up costing you.”

The Tigers led 2-1 in the ninth of the nightcap before pinch hitter Abraham Almonte hit a tying bloop single with one out. With runners at first and second, Jon Jay hit a grounder to Goodrum, who didn’t handle it cleanly. Goodrum then compounded his problems by flipping the ball over the head of pitcher Shane Greene (1-1), who was covering the bag. The tiebreaking run scored on that error .

“It all kind of evens out,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We haven’t been getting our fair share of the bloopers and the stuff like that. It was good that it finally came around our way a little bit and helped us win a game.”

Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his third save, ending Detroit’s four-game winning streak.

Jakob Junis (3-1) allowed two runs and four hits in eight innings for the Royals.

With one out in the 10th inning of the first game, the 25-year-old Jones hit a fastball from Brad Keller (0-1) deep to left and immediately put up his right index finger in celebration.

“I was worried as the ball got toward the wall, because I was going to look stupid if it didn’t go out,” he said. “That’s the best feeling in baseball.”

Joe Jimenez (2-0) pitched a scoreless 10th in the opener.

Royals starter Jason Hammel allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in nine innings in the afternoon game, matching the longest outing of his career. Tigers starter Michael Fulmer pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out four.

Alcides Escobar led off the ninth with a flyball to deep left, but Jones made a leaping catch at the wall.

Mike Moustakas homered in the first game for Kansas City, and Whit Merrifield went deep in the nightcap.

STRONG STARTS

The Royals only needed to use four pitchers in the doubleheader since Junis and Hammel pitched so deep into their games.

“That’s pretty awesome for two starters to go nine and eight innings in a doubleheader,” Junis said. “Definitely saves the bullpen for tomorrow and hopefully we get another win.”

IMPRESSIVE DAY

In addition to his game-winning homer, Jones also hit an RBI double in the first game. In the nightcap, he tripled and scored in the third inning and added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

DEBUT

Tigers outfielder Mike Gerber was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to be the 26th man in the doubleheader. He made his big league debut as a pinch runner in the ninth inning of the nightcap.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Gordon was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday night. Gordon has been out since April 10 with a left hip tear. … C Salvador Perez (knee) caught seven innings on Thursday for Double-A Memphis.

UP NEXT

Detroit sends RHP Mike Fiers (1-1) to the mound to face Kansas City LHP Danny Duffy (0-2) on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Bearcats complete three-game sweep at Missouri Southern

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– The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team picked up a pair of wins over Missouri Southern on Friday in Joplin, Mo.
– The Bearcats improve to 25-18 overall, 20-9 in conference, while the Lions fall to 23-20 overall and 11-18 in conference play.

Game One Key Statistics (Northwest 4, Missouri Southern 1)
– Northwest scored one in the first and three in the second inning. The Lions got one run in the third inning.
– The Bearcats had four runs on eight hits with one error. Missouri Southern had one run on four hits with one error.
– Aaron Barratt finished 2-for-4.
– Hudson Bilodeau went 1-for-3 with one run scored, one RBI, a walk and a homerun.
– Mondesi Gutierrez was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
– Luke Hassman finished 1-for-4.
– Kevin Handzlik was 1-for-4 with one run scored.
– Matt Schingel went 1-for-4.
– Derek Hussey was 1-for-3 with a stolen base, a run scored and a walk.
– Brad Roberts threw eight innings allowed only three hits and one earned run while striking out eight Lions.

Game One Key Innings
– To start the game, Bilodeau hit a homerun over the right field fence to give the Bearcats the lead at one.

– Handzlik started the second inning by reaching safely on an error and advanced to third on a single to left center by Barratt. After an out, Handzlik came in to score on a wild pitch and Barratt moved to third. Hussey drew a one out walk and stole second and Bilodeau drew a walk to load the bases. Gutierrez singled to left center to score Barratt and Hussey to put the Bearcats ahead 4-0.

Game Two Key Statistics (Northwest 7, Missouri Southern 6)
– The Bearcats scored four in the second, two in the fourth and one in the eighth inning. MSSU scored five runs in the first and one in the sixth inning.
– Northwest had seven runs on 11 hits and no errors. The Lions scored six run on 11 hits with no errors.
– Hassman finished the game going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a double and a run scored.
– Logan Rycraft went 3-for-4 with one RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
– Barratt was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, and RBI, a double and one stolen base.
– Bilodeau went 1-for-4 with one walk.
– Handzlik was 1-for-4 with one run scored, a double and one walk.
– Hussey went 1-for-4 with with two RBIs and a run scored.
Game Two Key Innings
– Hassman started the second inning with a single through the left side and advanced to third on a double down the right field line by Handzlik. Barratt followed it up with a double of his own to score Hassman and put Handzlik on third. After an out, Hussey singled up the middle to score Handzlik and Barratt. Rycraft kept the inning going with a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Hussey came in to score on a balk to conclude the scoring from the Bearcats.

– After an out, Rycraft and Bilodeau got the inning going with singles to put two runners on. Gutierrez reached on a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners. Figg walked to load the bases adn Hassman doubled down the right field line to score Rycraft and Gutierrez to give the Bearcats a 6-4 lead.

– Barratt started the inning with a single to left field and stole second after an out. With two outs, Rycraft singled up the middle to score Barratt and give the Bearcats the lead.

Up Next
– Northwest will take on Missouri Western Wednesday, April 25, 2 p.m. in St. Joseph, Mo.

— Northwest Athletics —

Western softball loses final regular season games at Emporia State

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EMPORIA, Kan. – Griffon Softball (24-27, 15-11) dropped the final two regular season games of the season at Emporia State (24-28, 14-12) on Friday night.

Missouri Western was held to three hits in a 2-0 game one loss and fell 9-1 in five innings in game two. The losses left Missouri Western in sixth place in the MIAA. Saturday’s results will determine the team’s seed in next week’s MIAA Championships. Northeastern State’s doubleheader against Missouri Southern and Lindenwood’s against Central Missouri will determine where the Griffs land.

Shelbie Atwell’s second inning home run in game two was the Griffons’ lone run of the doubleheader and the only hit for MWSU in game two. Atwell was the only Griff with more than one hit. Rebekah Mueller and Shelby Uhl also had hits in game one. Uhl drew a pair of walks. Riley Wilson walked three times.

UP NEXT
The MIAA Championships begin April 26 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium complex in Oklahoma City. The bracket is expected to be released April 22.

— MWSU Athletics —

Vierling’s RBI single lifts Mizzou to series win over No. 10 Vanderbilt

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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou freshman 2B Mark Vierling delivered a crucial two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel Mizzou Baseball a dramatic 3-1 victory over No. 10 Vanderbilt on Friday night at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou’s clutch pitching and timely defense again helped the Tigers to take down the Commodores. Mizzou will aim to complete the series sweep tomorrowafternoon at 2pm.

In his second ever SEC start, Mizzou southpaw Tyler LaPlante hurled a gem. The junior tossed 6.0 innings of three-hit ball while allowing only one run. LaPlante struck out five while issuing only two free passes. He was relieved by Bryce Montes de Oca who escaped jams in both the seventh and eighth innings with his heater that was touching the upper 90s. After Vierling gave Mizzou the lead, junior closer Nile Ball held off the Commodores in the ninth and sealed the 3-1 win while earning his fifth save of the season.

TURNING POINT

With the score knotted at 1-1 in the top of the eighth, Montes de Oca faced a jam with Commodores on first and third. The redshirt junior flamethrower executed back-to-back strikeouts to escape the Vanderbilt threat and that kept the game tied 1-1.

In the bottom half of the frame, Mizzou SS Chris Cornelius led off of the inning with a walk and was moved to second on a Paul Gomez sacrifice bunt. After Trey Harris intentionally walked, Tony Ortiz also drew a free pass. A batter later, pinch-hitter Mark Vierling, who was hitless in his last 21 at bats, delivered a two-run single through the left side in the biggest at-bat of the ballgame. The clutch knock gave Mizzou a 3-1 advantage.

QUOTING MIZZOU

Head Coach Steve Bieser

“He picked the right time to get a hit. It was just a good matchup for Mark. Mark has been scuffling a bit in April, but he is a fastball hitter and they were bringing their guy in who has a plus fastball, so we knew we were going to get a fastball. Just sent up there and told him to be ready to hit. He had a great at-bat, really pleased with him and proud of him. He was battling because it has been very frustrating this month for him.”

TOP TIGERS

  • Junior LHP Tyler LaPlante made a solid outing in his second career conference start. He faced 24 batters through 6.0 complete innings, allowing only one run off three hits. LaPlante finished with five strikeouts for the third time this season.
  • Redshirt junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca came on in relief in the seventh inning, striking out four of the nine batters he faced. He allowed only two hits in his 2.0-inning appearance.
  • Freshman 2B Mark Vierling snapped a 0-21 slump at the plate with a go-ahead two run single in the eighth inning.
  • Junior LHP Nile Ball entered with a two run in the ninth inning and earned his fifth save of the season.

NOTES

  • Tonight’s attendance of 2,312 marks a season high.
  • With the victory, Mizzou is now 3-16 against Vanderbilt all-time.
  • Mizzou moves to 8-6 against ranked opponents this season with the victory over No. 10 Vanderbilt.
  • The Tigers remain perfect, 11-0, when allowing only one run.
  • Despite being out-hit 6-4 by Vanderbilt, Mizzou secures the victory. For the second night in a row, the Tigers have won while only totaling four hits. The Tigers move to 6-11 when being out-hit by their opponent.
  • With tonight’s win, the Tigers improve their record to 17-3 at home, and 20-5 at night.
  • Mizzou improves to 6-4 in Friday appearances.
  • The one error tonight was the team’s first since April 14th at Florida.
  • With late game heroics, Mizzou improves to 3-1 when tied after the 7th inning.

UP NEXT

Mizzou and Vanderbilt play game three of the series Saturday at 2 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

Cardinals beat Reds 4-2, spoil Riggleman’s debut as manager

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha kept up his strong pitching against Cincinnati, Yadier Molina hit two-run double in the first inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals won 4-2 Friday night to spoil Jim Riggleman’s debut as Reds interim manager.

Riggleman replaced Bryan Price, who was fired Thursday after Cincinnati lost 15 of its first 18 games.

Wacha (3-1) gave up one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, his longest outing of the year, to improve to 10-1 in his career against the Reds.

Jose Martinez had three hits and an RBI, raising his batting average to .358 this season. He has eight RBI over his last seven games. Tommy Pham scored twice.

Bud Norris picked up his fifth save in five chances despite allowing a two-out RBI single to Alex Blandino, helping the Cardinals won for the sixth time in seven games.

Brandon Finnegan (0-2) lost for the second time in two starts against the Cardinals this year. Finnegan came off the disabled list (left biceps strain) April 14th. He allowed five hits and four runs while walking four over three innings.

The Reds have lost 11 of their last 12.

Pham, who scored on Molina’s bases-loaded double in the first, walked in the second and scored on Martinez’s double to make it 4-0.

Tommy Pham scored for the second time in two innings. Following a walk, he scored on a two-out double by Jose Martinez to pad the Cardinals early lead to 4-0.

The Reds’ only damage against Wacha came in the third as Billy Hamilton scored on Jose Peraza’s sacrifice fly. It was Cincinnati’s first run since the eighth inning against Milwaukee on Monday, ending a 21-inning scoreless streak. Last season the Reds season-high scoreless streak was 20 innings.

FOURTH TIME’S A CHARM

The Reds appointment of Riggleman as interim manager marks the fourth time in his career that he has held this position. He previously was named interim manager in San Diego, Seattle and Washington. He was promoted to manager everywhere but Seattle. Riggleman also managed the Chicago Cubs (1995-1998) and managed in the Cardinals’ minor league system (1982-’88).

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: OF Scott Schebler was activated from the 10-day disabled list and LHP Cody Reed (0-0, four appearances) was optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Schebler was on the DL with a right ulnar nerve contusion.

Cardinals: RHP Sam Tuivailala threw a bullpen session Friday and St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Tuivailala will begin an official rehabilitation assignment the middle of next week. Tuivailala was placed on the DL with a left knee strain.

UP NEXT:

Reds RHP Homer Bailey (0-3, 3.42) will face Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez (2-1, 1.75) in the second of a three-game series on Saturday. Martinez is 7-3 in his career against Cincinnati and the Cardinals have won seven of his last nine starts against the Reds, including last Sunday’s 3-2 win in Cincinnati. Bailey is still looking for his first win in five starts. He is 6-14 in his career against St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

Northwest softball gets swept by Washburn

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– The Northwest Missouri State University softball team falls in a pair of conference games against Washburn University in Topeka, Ks.
– The Bearcats fall to 25-17 overall and 16-10 in conference, while Washburn improves to 39-10 overall and 23-3 in conference play.

Game One Key Statistics (Northwest 1, Washburn 5)
– Northwest scored one run in the fifth inning. The Ichabods scored three runs in the first, one in the third and one in the sixth inning.
– The Bearcats had one run on eight hits and one error. Washburn scored five runs on nine hits and zero errors.
– Erin Keeney finished 2-for-3 and drew a walk.
– Karli Allen was also 2-for-3.
– Rebecca Maher went 1-for-3 and drew a walk.
– Kaitlyn Weis finished 1-for-4 and scored one run.
– Abigail Gilson was 1-for-3.
– Kiana Baderdeen went 1-for-3.
– Sydne Brashear knocked in the one Bearcat run.
Game One Key Innings
– After an out, Weis singled up the middle and Keeney followed it up with a single of her own to move Weis to third. Brashear hit a fly ball to center field to score Weis and put the Bearcats on the board.

Game Two Key Statistics (Northwest 2, Washburn 3)
– The Bearcats scored one run in the fourth and fifth inning. Wasburn scored one run in the third and two in the sixth inning.
– Northwest had two runs on four hits and two errors. The Ichabods had three runs on eight hits and two errors.
– Brashear finished the day going 2-for-3 with a double.
– Maher finished 1-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a double.
– Weis was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Game Two Key Innings
– Weis started the top of the fourth with a single to center field and moved to second on sacrifice bunt by Keeney. Brashear reached on a fielding error to put runners on the corners. Gilson hit a sacrifice fly to second base to score Weis from third.

– In the fifth inning, Rawie drew a walk to get teh Cats going and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Baderdeen. Maher doubled to left field to score Rawie and put the Bearcats up 2-1.

Up Next
– Northwest will wait for the final rankings to be set for Conference Tournament.

Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike to enter NBA Draft without an agent

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas sophomore Udoka Azubuike is entering his name into the 2018 NBA Draft without hiring an agent, Azubuike and KU head coach Bill Self announced Friday.

“I want to declare for this year’s (NBA) draft, but I am not going to hire an agent,” Azubuike said. “I’m going to wait and see where I stand among other bigs out there. I appreciate everyone’s support, but I’m not saying goodbye. I’m saying I want to find out. Like many other players, I’m curious.”

“I improved a lot this past season,” Azubuike continued. “All my teammates and all my coaches have helped me to grow in all areas of my life and I really appreciate what they did for me to get to this point.”

The move will allow Azubuike to receive evaluations from NBA teams and participate in the NBA Draft Combine, May 16-20, in Chicago. Azubuike will have until May 30 to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft should he choose to return to Kansas for his junior season in 2018-19.

“Udoka has been thinking about this since the end of the season and he feels it’s in his best interest to declare and test the waters which we, as a staff, totally understand and encourage him to do,” Self said. “He’s leaving the option to come back. Doke has improved a tremendous amount this year and we all look forward to seeing how his progression is until it is his time to make a decision on whether to stay in (the draft) or pull his name out.”

In 2017-18, Azubuike led NCAA Division I in field goal percentage at 77.0, which broke the Kansas and Big 12 Conference single-season records. His 77.0 field goal percentage ranks second best for a season in NCAA history. The Delta, Nigeria, 7-foot-0, 280-pound center also led Kansas with six double-doubles, in rebound average at 7.0 boards per game, in blocked shots with 60 and in dunks with 120. A 2017-18 All-Big 12 Third-Team selection, Azubuike ranked seventh in the conference in rebound average, sixth in blocked shots (1.7) and eighth in double-doubles.

In 2017-18, Azubuike posted seven 20-point games, including a career-high 26 points at in KU’s win at Nebraska on Dec. 16. He had six games of 10 or more rebounds, including a career-high 13 boards in Kansas’ victory at Texas on Dec. 29.

— KU Athletics —

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