We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Category: Sports

Royals-Rays game postponed Tuesday

Posted on

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Tampa Bay Rays’ game against the Kansas City Royals was washed out Tuesday night, and the teams will make it up at part of a doubleheader Wednesday with the first game starting at 12:15 p.m.

The second game will begin 45 minutes after the first game.

The Rays planned to send Blake Snell to the mound Tuesday in his second start since hurting his toe in a freak accident at home, while the Royals planned to counter with Jakob Junis.

Tampa Bay intended to use an opener against the Royals’ Danny Duffy in their game Wednesday.

The Rays (19-9) rolled to an 8-5 win in the opener Monday night, building upon the best record in baseball. The rainout means Kansas City (9-20) will avoid matching its worst March-April loss total of 21, set just last season.

— Associated Press —

McCarthy, Ong named Missouri Western Student-Athletes of the Year

Posted on

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western men’s golfer Patrick McCarthy was named Male Student-Athlete of the Year and Griffon women’s golfer Shi Qing Ong was named Female Student-Athlete of the Year at the 20th Annual Golden Griffon Awards presented by News-Press NOW.

In its second decade, the awards show was hosted at the historic Missouri Theater in St. Joseph. The pair of Griffon golfers claimed top honors among 13 total nominees for male and female student-athlete of the year.

2018-19 GOLDEN GRIFFON AWARD WINNERS
Male Student-Athlete of the Year: Patrick McCarthy
Female Student-Athlete of the Year: Shi Qing Ong
Dr. James J. McMillen Award (highest GPA of graduating senior): Shi Qing Ong
Tom Smith Career Achievement Awards: Madeline Cowell, Brandin Dandridge, Cassidy Menke, Shi Qing Ong, Shellby Taylor
SAAC Coach of the Year: Jen Bagley Trotter
SAAC Newcomer of the Year: Tyrell Carroll
SAAC Volunteer of the Year: Mackenzie O’Neill
SAAC Ring The Bell Award: Soccer’s Win Over No. 1 Central Missouri
SAAC Griffon Games Team of The Year: Soccer
Dr. Robert A. Vartabedian Griff Up Award: Markel Fluker

STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Baseball: Anthony Castaneda
Men’s Basketball: Lavon Hightower
Women’s Basketball: Katrina Roenfeldt
Cheer Squad: Katie Hansen
Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Hunter Scaggs
Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field: Savannah Simmons
Football: Brandin Dandridge
Men’s Golf: Patrick McCarthy
Women’s Golf: Shi Qing Ong
Soccer: Cassidy Menke
Softball: Morgan Frost
Tennis: Karolina Ström
Volleyball: Audrey Keim

— MWSU Athletics —

Kansas City loses series opener to Tampa Bay 8-5

Posted on

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tommy Pham, Yandy Diaz and Ji-Man Choi each drove in a pair of runs, sending the hot-hitting Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Michael Perez and Kevin Kiermaier also drove in runs for the Rays (19-9), who have won five of six to build upon the best record in baseball. They also moved to 10-2 on the road.

Yonny Chirinos went 5 2/3 innings in relief of effective opener Ryne Stanek, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk. Chirinos improved to 4-0 after going 0-3 last season.

The Rays did most of their damage against Brad Keller (2-3), who struggled in his return from a five-game suspension for his role in a fracas with the Chicago White Sox. The big right-hander allowed five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings.

The Rays jumped on Keller in the first when Choi drew a two-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a balk. When he scored on Diaz’s base hit, Tampa Bay had outscored its opponents 29-4 in the first inning this season.

The Rays added three more in the second after Kiermaier was hit by a pitch, beginning a parade of batters to the plate. Perez delivered an RBI double and Pham provided the big blow with a two-run triple, staking the Rays’ pitching staff — with the best ERA in baseball — to a 4-0 lead.

They nearly gave it right back in the third.

The Royals took advantage of an error by Rays shortstop Daniel Robertson and a walk to Whit Merrifield when Adalberto Mondesi tripled to right. He scored on Alex Gordon’s sacrifice fly.

Jorge Soler homered in the seventh for Kansas City, but the Rays added a run in the eighth and Choi’s two-run double off Wily Peralta in the ninth to put the game away.

FRIENDS IN LOWE PLACES

Rays DH Nate Lowe doubled in the eighth for his first big league hit. The slugger roared through three minor league levels last season and was hitting .300 at Triple-A Durham.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: INF Matt Duffy took some at-bats in extended spring training as he rehabs from a sore back and ailing hamstring. He hopes to return in the next couple of weeks. “He felt good,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Progress is being made.”

Royals: OF Billy Hamilton got another day off after leaving Saturday night’s game against the Angels with a sore hamstring. “That’s one of his main strengths,” manager Ned Yost said of Hamilton’s speed. “I’m going to wait until he’s really good, then I’m going to give him one more day.”

UP NEXT

AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA) makes his second start after returning from a toe injury on Tuesday night against the Royals. Snell was on a 65-pitch limit and got knocked around his last time out. Jakob Junis (2-2, 5.57) will be on the mound for Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

Griffons selected to compete in NCAA DII Women’s Golf Central Regional

Posted on

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA announced on Monday afternoon that the Missouri Western women’s golf team was selected to compete in the NCAA Div. II Women’s Golf Championships. Missouri Western will be one of the 12 teams competing in the Central Regional in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Regional competition will take place across four separate sites with 12 teams and six student-athletes from non-qualifying teams at each site. The top four teams and individuals not with a team from each regional site will advance to the championships in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Griffons were tabbed eighth in the NCAA’s selections for the Central Regional. This year’s regional will mark the fourth-straight season that the Griffons will have qualified as a team. Missouri Western enters the Central Regional with seven top-five finishes in its 10 tournaments this season, including four in the top-three. The Griffons’ best finish came in their first appearance of the spring when the team took first place at the Warrior Invitational in Las Vegas.

Missouri Western will likely use a lineup featuring Shi Qing Ong, Chong Yong, Anna Bech, Jenna Kosmatka, and Katie Irvin. Ong, Yong, Kosmatka, and Irvin will all bring regional experience for the Griffons, as each competed in last year’s regional in St. Charles, Missouri. Ong, a graduating senior, will have now competed in the regional championship in each of her four seasons at Missouri Western.

The Central Regional Championship in Muskogee, Oklahoma will take place May 6-8.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest women’s basketball adds seventh recruit to 2019-2020 class

Posted on

Northwest Missouri State University head women’s basketball coach Austin Meyer has inked a seventh signee for the 2019-2020 recruiting class.

Ellie Horn is a 6’3″ center from Newton, Iowa. Horn began her collegiate career at Des Moines Area Community College where she averaged 12.0 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field in conference play. She led the ICCAC in blocks (58). Horn earned second-team all-region honors as a sophomore in 2018-19 at DMACC.

She helped guide DMACC to 36 wins in two seasons for head coach Steve Krafcisin.

Horn earned first-team NJCAA all-academic first-team honors as a sophomore. She also earned academic all-region status.

She is the daughter of James and Neisha Horn.

2019-20 Bearcat Women’s Basketball Signees
Kayla Chapman          5’9″       G         Treynor, Iowa (Treynor HS)
Emma Atwood            5’10”     G         Leon, Iowa (Central Decatur HS)
Jayna Green               6’1″       G/F     Omaha, Nebraska (Millard North HS)
Savannah Guenther   5’11”      G        Grayslake, Illinois (Grayslake North HS)
Ellie Horn                    6’3″       C         Newton, Iowa (Newton HS/DMACC)
Chaise Pfanstiel         5’7″       G         Omaha, Nebraska (Millard West HS)
Paityn Rau                 6’2″        F         Waukee, Iowa (Waukee HS)

— Northwest Athletics —

MWSU baseball games canceled Tuesday

Posted on

ST. JOSEPH – Due to heavy rain forecasted over the next couple days, the Missouri Western baseball team has canceled its non-conference doubleheader with Illinois-Springfield that was scheduled for Tuesday.

The games were recently added to make up for home games lost earlier in the season, but have now been canceled. The cancelation leaves Missouri Western’s series this weekend against Central Missouri as the only remaining games in the regular season. The Griffons host UCM, May 3-5. Senior Day will come on Saturday, May 5.

J.D. PARTRIDGE FUNDRAISER – MAY 4
A one-time $5 admission fee will be charged on the Saturday, May 4 game against Central Missouri. All proceeds will benefit the J.D. Partridge Memorial Fund. A passionate supporter of Griffon Baseball, Partridge died unexpectedly earlier this year.

— MWSU Athletics —

Cardinals score six in 5th inning to beat Nationals 6-3

Posted on

WASHINGTON (AP) — Harrison Bader homered to spark a six-run fifth inning as the surging St. Louis Cardinals rallied past Patrick Corbin and the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.

Marcell Ozuna put the Cardinals ahead 4-3 with a two-run single. Jose Martinez had an RBI double and Yadier Molina added a run-scoring single off Corbin, who took a 3-0 lead into the fifth.

Michael Wacha (2-0) went five innings after being activated from the 10-day injured list earlier in the day. The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits while striking out five.

Jordan Hicks pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his ninth save.

St. Louis has won three straight and eight of nine, while Washington fell to 1-9 in series openers this year.

After yielding only one hit through the first four innings, Corbin (2-1) let the Cardinals bat around in the fifth. He gave up six runs — five with two outs — in his first loss since joining the Nationals as a $140 million free agent from Arizona.

Following Bader’s solo homer, Corbin got Wacha to ground out but then allowed the next six batters to reach. Matt Carpenter walked and later scored on a wild pitch to Ozuna.

Molina’s single extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tying a career high.

Washington took a 3-0 lead in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Corbin and a two-run single by Adam Eaton.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Luke Gregerson (right shoulder impingement) was set to arrive in Washington. The 34-year-old reliever began the season on a rehab assignment with Double-A Springfield, where he had allowed two runs in 11 innings.

Nationals: 3B Anthony Rendon (bruised left elbow) was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game and the seventh time in eight after being hit by a pitch April 20 in Miami. “At this point, he’s almost day to day,” manager Dave Martinez said. … RHP Trevor Rosenthal (viral infection), placed on the 10-day injured list Friday, left for extended spring training in Florida without a timetable for his return.

ROSTER MOVE

Washington recalled infielder Adrian Sanchez from Double-A Harrisburg. Sanchez was with the Nationals in early April but did not appear in a game. In the corresponding move, the team optioned RHP Erick Fedde — who pitched four scoreless innings on Sunday — to Double-A.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (2-2, 3.96 ERA) is 8-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 15 career games against Washington.

Nationals: RHP Anibal Sanchez (0-3, 6.00) is still looking for his first win with Washington in his sixth start of the season.

— Associated Press —

Update: Washburn player killed, Giants draftee wounded in Kan. shooting

Posted on

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities continue the investigation of a fatal shooting that took the life of a Washburn University football player and injured a teammate.

Dwane Simmons photo Washburn Athletics
Corey Ballentine photo Washburn Athletics

Just before 1a.m. Sunday, police responded to 1400 SW 13th Street in Topeka in reference to a disturbance with gunshots in the area, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel. Upon arrival, officers discovered a victim identified as 23-year-old Dwane Simmons. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Another victim from the same incident identified as 23-year-old Corey Ballentine arrived at an area hospital by private vehicle with a non- life-threatening gunshot wound.
Simmons was a junior mass media major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, according to his Washburn University bio.

A preliminary investigation has determined that this incident occurred during a social gathering outside of a residence, according to a media release.

There were dozens present at the social gathering and police are currently working to gather evidence and statements from witnesses. Police need those who were present to let them know what they saw.

They encourage anyone who saw suspicious activity to report it to police or Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at (785) 234-0007.

In a media relase from Washburn, head football coach Crag Schurig said,” Heartbreaking news about Dwane Simmons. He was one of the most energetic and well-liked players I have ever coached at Washburn. Dwane’s infectious smile and love for football and his teammates was truly inspirational. Our prayers of healing go out to his family, his parents Navarro and Yasmine Simmons and Chaquilla Williams.”

On Saturday, the New York Giants selected Ballentine in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.

The New York Giants issued a statement Sunday afternoon, “We are aware of the tragic situation and continue to gather information. We have spoken to Corey, and he is recovering in the hospital. Our thoughts are with Dwane Simmons’ family, friends and teammates and the rest of the Washburn community.”

Police have not reported an arrest in the case.

—————

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting that took the life of a Washburn University football player and injured a teammate.

Dwane Simmons photo Washburn Athletics
Corey Ballentine photo Washburn Athletics

Just before 1a.m. Sunday, police responded to 1400 SW 13th Street in Topeka in reference to a disturbance with gunshots in the area, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel. Upon arrival, officers discovered a victim identified as 23-year-old Dwane Simmons. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Another victim from the same incident identified as 23-year-old Corey Ballentine arrived at an area hospital by private vehicle with a non- life-threatening gunshot wound.
Simmons was a junior mass media major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, according to his Washburn University bio.

In a media relase from Washburn, head football coach Crag Schurig said,” Heartbreaking news about Dwane Simmons. He was one of the most energetic and well-liked players I have ever coached at Washburn. Dwane’s infectious smile and love for football and his teammates was truly inspirational. Our prayers of healing go out to his family, his parents Navarro and Yasmine Simmons and Chaquilla Williams.”

On Saturday, the New York Giants selected Ballentine in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.

The New York Giants issued a statement Sunday afternoon, “We are aware of the tragic situation and continue to gather information. We have spoken to Corey, and he is recovering in the hospital. Our thoughts are with Dwane Simmons’ family, friends and teammates and the rest of the Washburn community.”

Police have not reported an arrest in the case.

Griffons get blanked in finale against Southwest Baptist 3-0

Posted on

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team (19-20, 16-14) was limited to four hits in a 3-0 series finale loss to Southwest Baptist (18-27, 10-20).

SBU starter Kyle Smith needed just 92 pitches to throw a complete game shutout and give his team a 2-1 win in the three-game series. The Bearcats scored one unearned run in the first off Thomas Ruwe with an RBI groundout after a passed ball put two runners in scoring position. SBU added two more off Ruwe in the third on an RBI-single by Jackson Soule that capped a 12-pitch at bat.

Meanwhile, Smith stymied the Griffon offense, needing just 72 pitches to get through the first eight innings. Josh Robinson led off the ninth with a single and got to second on a Casey Danley ground out. Andrew Curry walked to put the winning run at the plate with two down. Dusty Stroup grounded into a force out at third to end the game.

Ruwe went 3 2/3, giving up three runs – two earned – on four hits. He struck out five and walked three. Anthony Castaneda came in out of the bullpen and struck out eight without a walk and scattering two hits over 5 1/3.

The Griffons dropped out of a sixth-place tie in the MIAA standings with Lindenwood to one game back in seventh place. Missouri Western is scheduled to host Illinois-Springfield in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday at three before hosting MIAA-leading Central Missouri for the final three games of the regular season, May 3-5.

— MWSU Athletics —

Bearcats lose to Lindenwood Sunday 8-3

Posted on

MARYVILLE, Missouri – The Lindenwood Lions earned a series victory over the Northwest Missouri State University baseball team as the Lions posted an 8-3 win at the Bearcat Baseball Field on Sunday.

Lindenwood’s Blake Beckmann and Tyler Cassmeyer limited Northwest to three runs. Bearcat senior Jay Hrdlicka managed two of Northwest’s six hits.

In the top of the first inning, Lindenwood didn’t waste any time and put three runs on the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the second, the Bearcat offense successfully drove in a run, initiated by sophomore infielder Peter Carlson’s lead-off double to right center. Carlson advanced to third on a ground out by senior catcher Alixon Herrera and eventually brought in by senior catcher Jay Hrdlicka, decreasing the Lion lead to 3-1.

After a quiet third and fourth innings by both squads, Lindenwood led off the top of the fifth inning by tacking on three more runs and increasing its lead to 6-1 over Northwest.

The Northwest offense plated a single run in the fifth. Senior outfielder Derek Hussey led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and giving the Bearcats some life on the base path. Hussey advanced to second on a ground out by senior infielder Logan Rycraft and was driven in on a two-out double slapped down the left field line by junior first baseman Connor Quick.

Following the famous seventh inning stretch, Northwest notched another run in the bottom of the inning to claw back at the Lindenwood lead, 6-3. With one out, Hussey smacked a well-hit ball to the shortstop, beating out the throw to first base and notching a single. Rycraft stepped into the box next and was hit by a pitch, giving the Bearcats runners on first and second. During Rudolph’s at bat, Rycraft and Hussey advance to second and third on a wild pitch with Rudolph eventually walking to load the bases. In the next at bat, Quick lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Hussey. Northwest stranded two baserunners in the inning.

Lindenwood added single runs in the eighth and ninth to give it an 8-3 lead over Northwest, ultimately being the final score of the ball game.

On the mound, junior Joe Funkhouser got the start for the Bearcats, dealing four and 1/3 innings. Funkhouser allowed six runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking out five.

Northwest falls to 20-25, 15-15 MIAA, while Lindenwood improves to 25-21, 17-13 MIAA.

The Bearcats will be back in action for their last regular season series May 3-5 as they prepare to take on Emporia State in Emporia, Kansas.

NOTES: Northwest honored nine seniors prior to the game … the Bearcat senior class has contributed 105 victories over the past four seasons.

— Northwest Athletics —

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File