KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University’s James Holler and Anthony Caenepeel were each named the MIAA/AstroTurf Baseball Athletes of the Week in a release from the conference office on Tuesday. The junior duo helped lead the Bearcats to a 4-0 record last week, including a sweep of Pittsburg State over the weekend.

Holler hit .643 for the week in four contests, going 9-of-14 from the plate. He had 12 RBI, four runs scored and four doubles. On Friday, he hit a first-inning grand slam as part of a six-RBI performance. In addition, Holler had a 1.143 slugging percentage, a .688 on base percentage, drew one walk and was also hit by a pitch.

Caenepeel collected a pair of wins in two starts last week. He struck out a career-high 13 batters in a 6-1 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on March 29. For the week, Caenepeel went 15.0 innings, allowing four runs. He walked just three batters and struck out 16.

— Northwest Athletics —

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State Universty men’s basketball student-athletes Zach Schneider and Justin Pitts have been selected to play for the USA D-2 Men’s Basketball Team’s 2016 Brazil Tour. The tour will begin in Orlando, Fla., on May 10th. The tour runs from May 10-19, and will feature stops in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. The tour is sponsored by USA Sports Tours and Events. The men’s team will be coached by Doug Karleskint from the University of Central Missouri.

“This is an outstanding group of basketball players that come from 11 different states and 12 different colleges and universities,” said Ron Smith, Director of USA Sport Tours and Events. “We feel that we have some of the best of the best representing NCAA Division II basketball and their universities. These players have been high achievers both on the court and in the classroom. They represent everything good that the NCAA Division II institutions have to offer.”

Schneider is Northwest’s career leader in three pointers made with 262. He was a third team All-MIAA performer in 2015-16. The Prairie Village, Kan., native averaged 9.8 points per game and 35.5 minutes per contest. He started all 32 games he appeared in as a junior. Justin Pitts was the 2015-16 MIAA Player of the Year. He earned DII Bulletin Third Team All-America honors and D2 CCA honorable mention All-America accolades. Pitts averaged 21.7 points, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 36.4 minutes per game as a sophomore.

The team will head to Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 11 following orientation and practices in Orlando, Fla. On May 14th, the teams will hold a “Skills Clinic for the Youth of Jundiai.” The final two men’s games will take place in Rio de Janeiro. The team will tepart Brazil on May 18th and return to the USA on May 19th.

— Northwest Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis freshman Sergi Fontcuberta has been named the MIAA’s co-Athlete of the Week in a release from the conference on Monday. Fontcuberta helped lead the No. 16 ranked Bearcats to a 4-0 week, including three MIAA victories.

Fontcuberta won all four of his singles matches at the No. 3 position. He also went a perfect 4-0 at No. 1 doubles with teammate Alvaro Riveros. On March 28, they beat the nation’s No. 16 ranked doubles team from Washburn, 8-6.

The Northwest men’s team heads to Bolivar, Mo., on Thursday, April 7, to take on Ouachita Baptist at 11 a.m.

— Northwest Athletics —

The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Pittsburg State on Sunday with a 13-3 victory at Bearcat Field.

The game was called in the bottom of the seventh when the Bearcats plated their 13th run, giving them a 10-run lead.

Northwest improved to 17-13 overall and 11-8 in MIAA action. The Gorillas fall to 6-23 on the year and 1-19 in conference play.

The Bearcats plated runs in each of the last four innings including a seven-run fifth.

Kolby Greenslade was 3-for-5 ont he day with four runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

Anthony Caenepeel pitched the full 7.0 innings, allowing just three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three. It was his fourth win of the year.

Eight different Bearcats got hits, seven different players scored a run and seven recorded at least an RBI.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest scored 13 runs on 14 hits with an error. The Bearcats got on in the second, two in the fourth, seven in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.
– Pitt State scored all three of its runs in the second inning. The Gorillas finished with seven hits and four errors.
– Jake Lewis was 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs scored, two walks and a double.
– Ozzie Adams went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. He was also hit by a pitch.
– Kevin Handzlik was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI, a run scored and a sacrifice fly.
– Nick Gotta went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
– Garrett Fort went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored.
– Derek Meyer was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
– Austin Wulff had and RBI double, going 1-for-4 on the day.
– Nick Howard, who entered the game in the sixth, got an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

Key Northwest Innings
– Caenepeel started the game by recording a perfect first inning, needing only seven pitches to retire the Gorillas in order.

– Lewis turned a leadoff walk into Northwest’s first run of the game. With two down and Meyer at the plate, Northwest attempted a double steal with Handzlik on first and Lewis on third. Handzlik was caught in a rundown between first and second and strung it out long enough for Lewis to score from third before he was tagged out at first.

– Greenslade led off the fourth with a single. He stole second and went to third when the throw ended up in center field. Adams singled to short left center to score Greenslade from third. Adams went to second on a passed ball and went to third on a wild pitch. After an out, Handzlik hit a ball to deep right and with Adams tagging, Northwest tied the game, 3-3.

– Northwest pulled away in the fifth, scoring seven runs on seven hits. Meyer led off by reaching second on an error. After a flyout, five Bearcats recorded hits as Gotta, Greenslade, Adams, Lewis and Handzlik all connected on base hits to make it 8-3 Northwest. Fort drew a walk and after another out, it came back around to Meyer who started the inning. Meyer hit an RBI single that scored Handzlik to make it 9-3. Wulff continued the rally as he hit a fly ball to left that got caught in the wind and dropped fair for a double, scoring Fort to give Northwest a 10-3 lead.

– Greenslade led off the sixth with a well placed infield single to deep short. Adams got hit by a pitch and Lewis drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Howard hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center to score Greenslade. Adams tagged up from second and in a heads up play, scored on a throwing error by the center fielder to make it 12-3 Bearcats.

– With one out in the seventh, Gotta hit an infield single to third and Greenslade reached on an error by the center fielder. After a wild pitch moved runners up to second and third, Adams hit into a fielder’s choice with Gotta being tagged out at home. Lewis came up next and hit the game-winning RBI to short left to score Greenslade.

Up Next
– The Bearcats will head to Kearney, Neb., on Tuesday, April 7, for a 6 p.m. contest to conclude the three-game mid-week series with the Lopers. The series is tied, 1-1.

— Northwest Athletics —