 ST. JOSEPH – Griffon tennis (10-11) fell to No. 6 Northeastern State (14-4) 9-0 in the final regular season match of the season.
Sofia Aguilera played her final match at home for the Griffons against the Riverhawks. Aguilera fell in her matches at no. 4 singles and no. 2 doubles. She finished the regular season with 10 wins in singles action and nine doubles win. For her career, Aguilera had 27 singles wins and 26 doubles win. Both rank second in the past decade in program history. Missouri Western qualified for the MIAA Tennis Championships for the third time in four seasons. MWSU clinched a spot in the conference tournament when Lindenwood knocked off Fort Hays on Saturday, April 7. The Griffons defeated the Tigers 6-3 in St. Joseph on March 25 and owned any tiebreakers against FHSU. RESULTS Doubles UP NEXT — MWSU Athletics — |
Category: Sports
Griffons open Northeastern State series with 5-3 win
|
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Griffon baseball (18-14) beat Northeastern State (17-15) 5-3 in the first game of a three-game series Saturday.
Casey Danley put Missouri Western on the board in the third inning with a two run home run to left center. An inning later, MWSU added three insurance runs. Michael Miller doubled to right center to score Nolan Meyer and Levi Schreiner. The next at-bat, Maurice Bruce singled to drive in Miller to extend the lead to 5-0. After NSU cut the lead to 5-3 in the fifth inning, Jacob Miller retired the next five batters he faced. Preston Bailey was credited with his third save of the season after he held the Riverhawks hitless in the final 2 1/3 innings. NOTABLES
UP NEXT — MWSU Athletics — |
Duda’s home run gives Royals 1-0 win at Cleveland
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer felt the rules beat him before the Royals did.
Bauer allowed Lucas Duda’s homer on his first pitch in the seventh inning for the game’s only run and Ian Kennedy pitched six shutout innings, leading Kansas City to a 1-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday in frigid, football-like weather conditions.
Duda’s shot off Bauer (0-1) was one of only three hits by Kansas City and a rare highlight as the two teams survived nine innings with the temperature hovering around freezing.
But afterward, Bauer complained that he didn’t have enough time to warm up following the sixth inning. In an attempt to speed up play this season, Major League Baseball has cut the time between innings from 2 minutes, 25 seconds to 2:05.
“First pitch of the inning, coming out, I tried to get loose, but with the new [commissioner] Rob Manfred time [nonsense], we have only a certain amount of time between innings, it’s hard to get loose sometimes, especially in conditions like that. It’s not safe, but, whatever.”
Bauer said at one point plate umpire Will Little told him to speed up and he refused.
“I was like, ‘Look, I’ll take the fine if I need to, but I’m not going to put myself at risk and I’m not going to put the team at risk of me having exactly what happened happen,'” Bauer said. “Throw a pitch that you’re not ready to compete on because you’re still trying to get loose and it gets hit over the fence, and we lose because of it — not because of it, but it was a contributing factor.”
Bauer said the elements — temperatures were in the low 30s — made everything difficult.
“Since I don’t cheat like a lot of guys and put stuff on my hand, just grab the ball and throw it, my pitches were somewhat inconsistent,” said Bauer, who allowed only three hits in eight innings. “It’s like a cue ball. It slips out of your hand. But, it is what it is. It’s worse for the hitters. I was looking forward to it. I thought I pitched pretty well overall.”
So did Kennedy (1-0), who allowed four hits, walked none and struck out eight. The right-hander was only in trouble once but worked out of the sixth-inning jam. Blaine Boyer and Justin Grimm pitched an inning apiece before closer Kelvin Herrera worked a perfect ninth for his second save.
The temperature for the first pitch was 34, one degree above the coldest start to a game in the 25-year history of Progressive Field. Players on both teams bundled up, with several wearing hoods under their caps to try to stay warm.
“The ball feels like it’s an ice cube when it gets thrown to you,” Kennedy said. “For me it was probably my body, trying to keep it warm. You start to get a little cold at the end of the game. Your flexibility starts to die down a little bit. That was the main thing, heat packs, anything to stay warm.”
The Indians came in with an AL-low .157 batting average and stayed as chilly at the plate as the unseasonably cold April. Cleveland hasn’t scored in 17 innings.
Limited to one hit through six innings by Bauer, the Royals got the one run they needed on Duda’s second homer, a rocket into the seats in right field.
Duda jumped on Bauer’s 90 mph fastball and drove it over the wall for Kansas City’s first run since the Royals scored two in the first inning Friday. Duda has both of Kansas City’s homers this season.
CHISENHALL HURT
Indians right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall is likely headed to the disabled list with a right calf injury. He got hurt while making a running catch in the first and was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the second.
Chisenhall missed nearly two months last season with a strained right calf.
Manager Terry Francona indicated Tyler Naquin will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus. He was optioned to the minors Friday when Michael Brantley was activated.
K FOR KENNEDY
Kennedy has struck at least one batter in each of his 271 career appearances. He’s tied with Boston’s David Price for the longest such streak among active pitchers.
STRIKE UP THE BAND
Indians DH Yonder Alonso got an early birthday present as his family and a few teammates arranged for a mariachi band to play in the clubhouse before the game. Alonso, who turns 31 on Sunday, even busted out some dance moves while being serenaded.
“They didn’t make me dance, but I just can’t help it,” Alonso said. “I’m from Miami. I’m a Cuban guy. So, it’s just kind of in the blood.”
UP NEXT
Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger is 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four career starts against the Royals, who will go with right-hander Jason Hammel in the series finale. Hammel went 3-2 in five starts against the Indians last season.
— Associated Press —
Bearcats drop final game with No. 12 Central Missouri
The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team fell to the University of Central Missouri, 7-5, on Saturday at Bearcat Field in Maryville, Mo.
The Bearcats fall to 19-15 on the year and 14-6 in conference play, while the Mules improved to 26-9 overall and 17-7 in conference.
Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest scored one run in the third, three in the fifth and one in the eighth inning. The Mules scored two runs in the first, one in the second, two in the third, one in the fifth and one in the ninth.
– The Bearcats had five runs on nine hits with three errors. Central Missouri had seven runs on 11 hits with one error.
– Hudson Bilodeau went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double.
– Mondesi Gutierrez was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
– Aaron Barratt finished 2-for-4 with one run scored, one RBI and hit his fifth homerun on the year.
– Landon Figg was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a sacrifice fly.
– Matt Schingel went 1-for-4 with one run scored.
Key Northwest Innings
– After an out, Bilodeau hit a double to right center and came around to score on a single through the right side by Figg to put the Bearcats on the board.
– Schingel started the bottom of the fifth inning with a single through the right side and moved to second after Hussey was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Rycraft and Bilodeau walked to load the bases for the Cats. Gutierrez singled through the right side to score Shingel and Hussey, and moved Bilodeau to third. Figg hit a deep sacrifice fly to left field to score Bilodeau and conclude the scoring for the Bearcats.
– In the eighth inning, Barratt led off with his fifth homerun of the season over the left field fence to put the Bearcats within one.
Up Next
– The Bearcats will travel to St. Joseph, Mo. to take on Missouri Western, Wednesday, April 11 at 7 p.m.
— Northwest Athletics —
No. 18 Missouri baseball loses series finale to Alabama
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 18 Mizzou Baseball dropped the second game in Saturday’s doubleheader against Alabama, 5-1, Saturday evening at Taylor Stadium. Sophomore OF Kameron Misner scored the lone run for the Tigers on an RBI single by senior C Brett Bond in the third inning. Missouri lost the opener game of their doubleheader with the Crimson Tide 1-0.
Starting pitcher, redshirt junior RHP Bryce Montes De Oca, took the loss, just his second of the season. Montes De Oca gave up three runs (only two earned) in 3.0 innings, allowing two hits and two walks.
TURNING POINT
A pair of walks for the Crimson Tide to lead off the third inning set up Alabama junior OF Joe Breaux to knock in a run with a bases-loaded single. The inning continued with a series of a base hit and a Mizzou throwing error that put Alabama up 3-0 early in the game.
The Tigers attempted to chip away at the lead in the bottom half of the inning, with a base hit, stolen base and run scored by sophomore OF Kameron Misner, but that was all for Mizzou on a cold day at Taylor Stadium.
TOP TIGERS
– Senior RHP Andy Toelken threw five innings for the Tigers, keeping the Crimson Tide scoreless despite allowing five hits. Toelken struck out five Alabama batters, allowing only one walk.
– Senior C Brett Bond tallies one RBI in the game, bringing him within 33 RBI of career top 10 in program history. He records his 10th multi-hit game of the season.
NOTES
- Despite the loss, Mizzou still leads the all-time series with Alabama, 7-6.
- Mizzou is now 8-3 on Saturdays this season.
- Mizzou falls to 16-3 in night games this season.
- Mizzou falls to 4-2 in doubleheaders this season.
- Mizzou falls to 12-7 in three-game series this season.
- With the loss, Mizzou is now 15-3 at Taylor Stadium this season.
- Mizzou falls to 6-6 in conference play this season.
UP NEXT
Mizzou will be back in action Tuesday, traveling to in-state foe Missouri State.
— Mizzou Athletics —
Martinez, Cardinals top Arizona in coldest St. Louis start
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chilly weather at Busch Stadium, hot bat for Jose Martinez.
In the coldest home start in Cardinals’ history, Martinez homered and drove in four runs as St. Louis ended the Arizona Diamondbacks’ four-game winning streak with a 5-3 victory on Saturday.
It was 37 degrees at gametime with a wind chill of 29. The previous recorded low in St. Louis was 38 degrees for the first pitch on April 16, 1961, against Cincinnati.
“When you start thinking about the weather and stuff, you got to go through it,” Martinez said. “You’ve got a game to play. You’ve got to go out there and work and you’ve got to do everything for your team to win.”
Martinez had a three-run homer and also singled in a run. His .357 average and eight RBI are team highs.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “For me, I’m just going to go out there and try to help the team win. Whether it’s a play at first, running the bases or getting a big hit, whatever I’m capable to do I’m going to try and do it for the team.”
Michael Wacha (1-1) outpitched Zack Greinke (0-1) despite matching a career high with five walks in the chilly weather. Four of Wacha’s passes came in the first two innings.
Wacha called it a grind.
“It’s a little different than a hot weather game just with the hands getting a little cold,” Wacha said. “Just really don’t have that good of a feel on the baseball when I gets a little slick out there, but it wasn’t anything too crazy.”
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said there is no universal tip on beating the cold.
“Everybody has their own routine,” Matheny said. “Everybody has their own routine in the heat to not have the ball so wet from sweat and the same on cold days. You’re using the wisdom of the guys who have been around.”
Both starters went five innings. Dominic Leone and Matt Bowman each pitched a perfect inning of relief for the Cardinals and Jordan Hicks gave up an unearned run in the eighth. Bud Norris struck out the side to earn his first save of the season.
Martinez’s three-run homer capped a four-run third as the Cardinals took a 5-2 lead. Matt Carpenter drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly.
“I thought it was going to hit the concourse and it barely got over the wall,” Matheny said of the homer. “This cold weather I think you kind of anticipate the ball’s not going to carry quite as much, but he had to get all of it for the ball to get out of that part of the park today.”
Marcell Ozuna had three hits and Yadier Molina singled twice for St. Louis. Carpenter singled in the first and has reached safely in all eight of the Cardinals’ games this season.
A.J. Pollock’s single in the first gave Arizona an early lead. He doubled and scored on Chris Owings’ single in the third for a 2-1 lead.
“They grinded all game long pretty good,” Greinke said. “We did, too. It seemed like it was just the one really big play.”
Greinke retired eight straight after surrendering the home run.
“There was a number of base runners on and they capitalized on one swing so you have to give Martinez a little bit of credit,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “From Zack, I thought he battled through those early innings and he had some real easy innings kind of towards the back end of his outing, so I focus on that more than anything.”
MILESTONE WATCH
Lovullo has 99 wins in his first 170 games and is trying to become the fastest active manager to 100 wins, which would eclipse Ron Gardenhire, who needed 173 games in 2002-2003 with Minnesota. Gardenhire now manages Detroit.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Claimed RHP Troy Scribner off of waivers from Anaheim and designated OF Jeremy Hazelbaker for assignment.
Cardinals: RHP Luke Gregerson (left hamstring strain) was assigned to Class A Palm Beach for a rehab assignment and is scheduled to pitch Saturday night.
UP NEXT
Arizona RHP Taijuan Walker (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will face RHP Luke Weaver (1-0, 1.80 ERA) in the finale of a three-game set. A snow/rain mix is in the forecast.
— Associated Press —
Missouri Western tennis loses to No.7 Central Oklahoma
ST. JOSEPH – Griffon tennis (10-10) fell to No. 7 Central Oklahoma (15-2) 8-1 at Genesis Health Club Saturday.
Karolina Strom put Missouri Western on the board with a straight set victory 6-1, 6-3 in No. 1 singles and knocked off the 23rd-rated player in Division II. It is her fifth win in the last six matches. Strom’s win is also her 13th of the season, the most by a Griffon in more than a decade.
Central Oklahoma is the second consecutive top-12 nationally ranked opponent MWSU has played.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Strom,Karolina (MWSU) def. #23 Hodges,Alli (UCO) 6-1, 6-3
2. #16 Charbonnet,Laetitia (UCO) def. Abreu Roman,Joanna (MWSU) 7-6, 6-2
3. Bhat,Kirtana (UCO) def. Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) 6-0, 6-2
4. Landin,Paola (UCO) def. Aguilera,Sofia (MWSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Van Eeckoudt,Sara (UCO) def. Yeacker,Katherine (MWSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Williams,Alix (UCO) def. Dent,Emilee (MWSU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. #28 Bhat,Kirtana/Charbonnet,
2. Hodges,Alli/Landin,Paola (UCO) def. Dent,Emilee/Salmaso,Federica (MWSU) 8-0
3. Van Eeckoudt,Sara/Williams,Alix (UCO) def. Aguilera,Sofia/Keim,Audrey (MWSU) 8-2
UP NEXT
Missouri Western hosts No. 6 Northeastern State at 11 a.m. at Genesis Health Club for Senior Day. The Griffons will honor senior Sofia Aguilera prior to the match’s first serve.
Missouri Western men’s golf sits seventh in NCAA Central Regional Rankings
ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s golf team is seventh in the latest NCAA Central Regional poll released on Friday.
The Griffons have five top-five finishes with one tournament championship on the season and has finished top three in the last two tournaments.
The top 10 teams in the Central Region poll at the end of the regular season advance to the NCAA Regional in Findlay, Ohio on May 7-9.
MWSU is in action on Monday at the Central Region Preview at Missouri Bluffs Golf Course in St. Charles, Missouri.
— MWSU Athletics —
Royals drop first game at Cleveland 3-2
CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Brantley singled home two runs in his first at-bat this season and Carlos Carrasco worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win in their chilly home opener over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Brantley missed Cleveland’s first six games while on the disabled list recovering from offseason ankle surgery. But just hours after being activated, the two-time All-Star delivered in the first inning against Danny Duffy (0-2), who managed to hang around until the sixth.
Following devastating finishes in the past two postseasons, the Indians are hoping this is the year they end their 70-year World Series title drought, baseball’s longest.
Brantley is a major part of their plans, but he needs to stay healthy after being limited to 101 games the past two seasons due to injuries.
Carrasco (2-0) gave up two runs in the first inning, but settled in. The right-hander retired 13 straight before running into trouble in the sixth, when the Royals loaded the bases on two singles and a one-out intentional walk.
But Carrasco struck out Lucas Duda looking at a 3-2 pitch and retired Cheslor Cuthbert on a liner to left.
Nick Goody worked the seventh, Andrew Miller put on two runners then struck out the side in the eighth, and Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his second save.
The Indians, who didn’t hit while blowing a 2-0 lead to New York in the AL Division Series last October, came in batting a league-low .161. They only got four hits, but that was enough thanks to Carrasco and their top-flight bullpen.
The Royals dropped to 3-16 in Cleveland since May 8, 2016.
Down 2-0 in the first, the Indians benefited from Duffy’s early wildness to score three times.
The left-hander, possibly bothered by the bitter, blustery weather conditions, walked Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis before Jose Ramirez dribbled an RBI single through the middle.
After Duffy’s third walk of the inning, this one to slugger Edwin Encarnacion, Brantley dropped a two-run single into right, a satisfying moment for the 30-year-old who has spent the past two seasons battling back from shoulder and ankle injuries.
The Royals scored twice in the first on an RBI groundout by Mike Moustakas and Duda’s broken-bat RBI single, which came after he inadvertently flung another bat into the netting behind home plate.
WELCOME BACK
Rajai Davis received a huge ovation from Cleveland’s fans during pregame introductions. Davis, who hit a game-tying homer in the eighth inning of Game 7 in the 2016 World Series, re-signed with the club this winter.
Davis doubled in three at-bats.
CHILLING OUT
The Royals have played a league-low five games, thanks to weather postponements against the White Sox and Tigers. But manager Ned Yost isn’t fretting about their erratic workload. “You can’t do anything to change it, so it’s as difficult as you want to make it,” he said. “You just try to go with the flow the best you can.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Duda (right hamstring tightness) returned to the lineup after missing one game. Yost said he will serve as the designated hitter all weekend.
Indians: Brantley’s workload will be closely monitored before he plays regularly. Manager Terry Francona said the Indians will use a “common sense” approach with Brantley, who has been limited to 101 games over the past two seasons.
UP NEXT
Kansas City RHP Ian Kennedy (0-0, 1.50 ERA) takes on Cleveland RHP Trevor Bauer (0-0, 3.60 ERA) in the second game of the series Saturday. Kennedy is winless in his last five starts against the Indians. Bauer pitched five innings in his first start.
— Associated Press —
No. 18 Missouri baseball drops opener to Alabama 2-1
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 18 Mizzou Baseball dropped its series opener against Alabama, 2-1, Friday afternoon (April 6) at Taylor Stadium. Junior LF Zach Hanna had the lone RBI for the Tigers after a single to right field drove in sophomore CF Kameron Misner.
Mizzou sophomore LHP T.J. Sikkema took the loss, his second of the season, after allowing six hits over 6.0 innings. Alabama pushed both its runs across in the second inning after stringing together three consecutive singles.
TURNING POINT
A double in the second inning by Alabama’s Hunter Alexander started the game-winning two-run second inning for the Crimson Tide. Sam Praytor, Jett Manning and Kyle Kaufman added back-to-back-to-back two-out singles with Praytor and Kaufman each recording RBIs to put up the crooked number that eventually turned out to be the winning runs.
The Tigers answered in the fourth as Misner started the inning with a single and junior 1B Brian Sharp followed with another single. Hanna drove home Misner but that was all the Tigers could get. Mizzou threated with hits in each inning and 13 hits overall but Alabama answered, turning three double play in the game.
QUOTING MIZZOU
Head Coach Steve Bieser:
“When we put 13 hits together and just can’t score more than one run, that is frustrating. I think it was some of the approached we had when we had runners in scoring position were frustrating. It was a disappointing loss. A lot of times in the game, you don’t always win the game, but you do lose the game. That’s what we did today – find ways to lose.”
TOP TIGERS
- Junior 1B Brian Sharp recorded his seventh multi-hit game this season, first since March 17 at LSU, with three hits on the day. Sharp now has four three-hit games this season which is second most on the team.
- Junior LF Zach Hanna now has four hits in his last four games. Previously Hanna had four hits in his last 10 games for the Tigers.
- Freshman DH Cade Bormet recorded his first career multi-hit game going 2-3 on the day with two singles.
- Sophomore SS Chris Cornelius notched his fifth multi-hit game of the season with three singles. This was his first three hit game since February 21 at Miami.
NOTES
- Despite the loss, Mizzou still leads the all-time series with Alabama, 6-5
- Mizzou is now 5-3 on Fridays this season
- Mizzou falls to 11-6 in three-game series this season.
- The loss was just the second that the Tigers have suffered at Taylor Stadium this season. Mizzou is now 14-2 at home.
- Mizzou falls to 5-5 in conference play this season.
- After recording 12 hits, Mizzou has now tallied 12 or more hits in seven games this season. Friday’s loss was the Tigers first when having at least 12 hits.
- Mizzou suffered their first loss in a one-run game, falling to 3-1 in such contests this season.
- After the 2-1 defeat, Mizzou is now 15-1 when holding opponents under three runs.
- Sophomore CF Kameron Misner collected his 40th hit of the season with a single in the fourth inning. Misner had 60 last year. With a single in the eighth, Misner tallied his ninth multi-hit game of the season, tying Brett Bond for the team lead.
- Junior 1B Brian Sharp posted his fourth multi-hit game, totaling three singles. It was his first multi-hit game since March 17th at LSU.
- Junior LF Zach Hanna knocked in the Tigers’ lone run on an RBI single in the fifth inning. It was Hanna’s third hit this week and he now has four hits in the last four games. Before that, Hanna only had four knocks over his last ten ballgames.
- Freshman DH Cade Bormet had a pair of singles and recorded his first career multi-hit game
- Sophomore SS Chris Cornelius recorded three singles giving him his first three-hit game since February 21 at Miami.
- Sophomore SP T.J. Sikkema worked 6.0 innings and allowed two runs while striking out six. Sikkema has now lasted at least 6.0 innings in each of his three starts this season and has allowed three runs per start while averaging nearly six strikeouts.
- After sitting down a pair on strikes, junior RP Jordan Gubelman now has 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work during conference play this season.
UP NEXT
Mizzou and Alabama play game two of the series Saturday at 1 p.m.
— Mizzou Athletics —