Sports – Page 664 – St. Joseph Post Archive

KU’s Bill Self named Big 12 Coach of the Year

Posted on March 9, 2015

For the fourth time in his 12 years at Kansas, head coach Bill Self was voted the Associated Press Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, announced by the AP Monday morning.

One day after the All-Big 12 awards were announced by the conference, the AP’s version is chosen by a panel of media representatives who cover the league on a regular basis. The panel also voted KU junior forward Perry Ellis to the All-Big 12 First Team and sophomore guard Frank Mason III to the second team, rounding out the Jayhawk representatives. Just as he was in the Big 12 coaches’ vote, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield was the AP’s Big 12 Player of the Year.

Self’s four-time AP Big 12 Coach of the Year selection marks the most in the conference, surpassing three-time honorees Rick Barnes of Texas and former KU coaching great, Roy Williams. In his latest installment, Self led the Jayhawks to their 11th-straight Big 12 regular-season title and the 58th conference championship in Kansas history – the most all-time in the NCAA.

Now in his 12th season at the helm, Self is 349-76 at Kansas. A win in his next outing would make him the fastest Kansas coach to tally 350 wins as Williams recorded his 350th at KU in 430 games. Overall, Self is 556-181 in his 22 seasons as a head coach.

Kansas Associated Press Big 12 Coaches of the Year

1997 — Roy Williams
2002 — Roy Williams
2003 — Roy Williams
2006 — Bill Self
2009 — Bill Self
2011 — Bill Self
2015 — Bill Self

— KU Sports Information —

Northwest’s Altmann named MIAA Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week

Posted on March 9, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis freshman Josef Altmann was named the MIAA Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week in a release from the conference office on Monday. Altmann won both his singles and doubles matches in a 6-3 win over Newman on Friday, March 6. Altmann, who is from San Jose, Costa Rica, won at No. 3 singles (6-1, 7-5) and teamed with Fin Glowick at No. 2 doubles (8-6). For the spring, Altmann is a perfect 4-0 in singles competition, playing at either the No. 4 and No. 3 positions. He is the second Northwest men’s player to earn the honor after Maruo Tete earned conference accolades last week.

Northwest begins a busty week starting tomorrow with a noon contest against Abilene Christian in Kansas City, followed by a home match against William Jewell on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Bearcats will play Lewis, Ouachita and Drury this weekend in Springfield, Mo.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State earns bid to NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team has been selected for participation in the 2014-15 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. The Bearcats earned the Central Region’s No. 4 seed behind top seeded and host Augustana, No. 2 seed Minnesota State University Moorhead and No. 3 seed Central Missouri. Pittsburg State was the third MIAA team to qualify, earning the No. 7 seed.

Northwest’s first round game against No. 5 seed Minnesota State is scheduled for Saturday, March 14, in Sioux Falls, S.D. The second round will be on Sunday, March 15 and the Sweet 16 round will be on Tuesday, March 17. The National Championship Elite Eight will be held in Evansville, Ind., starting on March 25th at the Ford Center. Northwest beat Minnesota State last season in the NCAA second round, 71-66, in Mankato, Minn. The winner of the Northwest and Minnesota State game will face the winner of Augustana and Arkansas Tech on Sunday.

Northwest is making its 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats advanced to the Sweet 16 last season and has made two elite eights in program history (2002 and 2004). This is the third appearance under head coach Ben McCollum, who is 2-2 overall. McCollum, who is in his sixth season, was named the MIAA co-Head Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats (23-6, 15-4) to the outright MIAA regular season title. Justin Pitts was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year and earned first team All-MIAA honors. Matt Wallace was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year.

NCAA Central Region
1. Augustana (host)
2. MSU Moorhead
3. Central Missouri
4. Northwest Missouri
5. Minnesota State
6. Northern State
7. Pittsburg State
8. Arkansas Tech

— Northwest Sports Information —

Griffons complete four-game sweep of Lincoln

Posted on March 8, 2015

The Missouri Western baseball team won its seventh straight game and completed the series sweep of Lincoln with a 12-2 victory Sunday.

The Griffons scored in every inning of the game that ended after seven innings due to the run-rule. It was the second run rule victory of the series for MWSU. In the series, Missouri Western outscored Lincoln 56-7 over 28 innings. The win moved Missouri Western to 10-5 on the year and 7-1 in the MIAA.

The Griffons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, added another in the second and three in the third. They were up 12-0 in the seventh when Lincoln scored their only two runs of the game. Banks Born picked up the win, going all seven innings and allowing five hits and just one earned run. Born struck out five and moved to 2-0 on the year. Ryan Degner had another strong offensive performance, going 4-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs. David Glaude went 2-3 with one driven in on his fifth home run of the season. Cody Childs went 3-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Michael Yeager drove in two with one hit.

Missouri Western will host Quincy in a single game on Wednesday before traveling to Pittsburg, Kansas for a four-game series with Pitt State beginning on Friday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

AP Sources: Chiefs LB Hali restructures; WR Maclin expected to sign

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015

Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali has agreed to restructure his contract, freeing up salary cap space that the club is using to pursue wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday night because the Chiefs do not comment on contract matters. Hali would have counted $12 million against the salary cap in the final year of the $57 million, five-year contract that he signed before the 2011 season.

Maclin appeared poised to reunite with Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who traded up to grab him out of Missouri in the 2009 draft. ESPN.com reported that Maclin will sign with Kansas City when the NFL’s free-agency period begins Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

Bearcat baseball splits doubleheader at UCM Sunday

Posted on March 8, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State baseball team split a doubleheader with Central Missouri Sunday afternoon in Warrensburg, Mo. Both games were seven inning affairs.

The Mules took game one, 7-4, while Northwest scored in the seventh inning to win game two, 5-4.

The Bearcats are now 6-8 and 4-3 in the conference, while UCM’s record stands at 7-7 and 3-4 in the MIAA.

In game one, Steven Garber scored two runs and drove in one more after reaching base twice, while Senior Paul Johnson drove in a pair of runs and finished 1-for-3.

Joseph Hietpas started the game for the Bearcats, going 3 2/3 innings and giving up three runs. The freshman recorded two strikeouts and three walks.

Austin Battaglia took the loss after giving up a pair of runs in 2/3 innings pitched.

In game two, Garrett Fort went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, including the game-winner in the seventh, while Steven Garber finished 1-for-3 with a double, one run scored and the game-winning RBI.

Brad Roberts started on the mound for Northwest, completing five innings and giving up four runs on just three hits. The freshman tallied two strikeouts and walked four.

Carson Smith came in to pitch the final two innings, earning his first win of the season after allowing just one base runner.

The Bearcats will go for the series victory Monday when they face off with the Mules starting at 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Western softball gets swept at No. 20 Central Oklahoma

Posted on March 8, 2015

The Missouri Western softball team finished a two-day, four-game trip to Oklahoma by dropping a pair at No. 20 Central Oklahoma. Missouri Western returns to St. Joseph with a 9-9 record and a 2-2 mark in MIAA play.

Game 1: #20 UCO 6, MWSU 3

Central Oklahoma jumped out to a 6-1 lead after just two innings and the Griffons scored two in the third to pull within three but pitching took over for the next four innings in Missouri Western’s eighth loss of the season.

UCO scored three in the first but MWSU answered with one in the second. The Bronchos added three more in their half of the second on a two-RBI double and a sacrifice fly. In the third it was the Griffons’ turn to score with Paige Shifflett driving in one on a single and Kailey Green picking up an RBI when she reached on a fielder’s choice to make the score 6-3. Janie Smith slammed the door on the Bronchos the rest of the game but Nicole Brady did the same to the Griffons.

Smith picked up the loss, her fifth of the season, through six innings of work. She allowed six earned runs on six hits, struck out three and walked four. Shifflett went 2-4 and Katie Klosterman was 2-3 in the game.

Game 2: #20 UCO 8, MWSU 4

The Griffons had the tying run at first when the final out was recorded of an 8-4 loss at Central Oklahoma.

Trailing 8-4 in the seventh, Morgan Rathmann grounded out to second to lead off the inning but Tiffany Gillaspy followed with a single to second. Sydney Washington then drew a walk to put two on with one out. Shifflett struck out to record the second out before Green was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on with Klosterman at the plate but a ground out to the pitcher ended the Griffons’ attempt at a rally.

Missouri Western jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Rathmann’s lead-off homer. The Bronchos scored the next eight runs with three in the first and six in the second. Green pulled the Griffons within five in the fourth with a two-run home run and Washington’s RBI single in the fifth made the score 8-4.

Shyanne Saladino was charged with the loss to move her to 5-4 on the season. Saladino allowed 11 hits and eight runs. The Griffon defense recorded four errors behind her. Washington finished 3-4 with one driven in and a run scored. Rathmann and Gillaspy each went 2-4 in game two.

Missouri Western will host Southwest Baptist on March 14 in their home opening series. The Griffons and Bearcats will play a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Royals stay unbeaten this spring with win over Angels

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A swarm of bees chased players from the field and fans from their seats before the Angels’ Mike Trout hit his first spring homer and the Royals’ Eric Hosmer connected for his second, and Kansas City beat Los Angeles 6-4 Sunday.

Trout, the reigning AL MVP, hit a towering shot in the fifth inning off Miguel Almonte that nearly cleared the berm beyond the wall in left-center field 410 feet from home plate. Trout had career highs of 36 homers and 111 RBIs in 2014.

Hosmer had a two-run shot off Matt Shoemaker in the first, a drive to right-center.

“It was just an off-speed pitch,” Shoemaker said. “Just up in the zone. Not a well-located pitch.”

Shoemaker, a surprise 16-game winner in 2014, made his first Cactus League appearance this year — after a swarm of bees delayed the start of the game for 10 minutes.

The bees flew in from left field and gathered on a microphone attached to the netting behind home plate, toward the to the Angels dugout on the first base side. Fans behind home moved back to the concourse behind the field section of seats.

Shoemaker said he was warned about the swarm by Angels shortstop Erick Aybar as the bees buzzed overhead while throwing his pregame warmup pitches. Shoemaker said left fielder Collin Cowgill told everyone on the field about the bees. The umpires waved all players off the field and about five rows of fans were asked to move until the exterminators arrived.

A person in full protective gear shook the netting and sprayed the bees in the fourth inning during another delay of about 10 minutes.

Shoemaker allowed four hits and two runs and struck out one. He allowed all four hits in the first but settled down over the final two innings, allowing only a hit batsman.

Edinson Volqeuz made his Royals debut and allowed three hits, three runs — one earned — in two innings. He signed a three-year deal with the Royals after going 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA with Pittsburgh in 2014.

Trout, Albert Pujols and David Freese singled consecutively off Volquez in a three-run first. C.J. Cron added a sacrifice fly.

BEE CAREFUL

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he’d seen bees at ballparks before but nothing quite like the gathering Sunday.

“We never had them migrating,” Scioscia said. “Fortunately they stayed up there until we could get rid of them. If those bees would have stayed on the field, it would have been impossible to play.”

STARTING TIME

Royals: Volquez was happy with his first appearance. “There was a lot of confidence in my pitches,” he said. “I was a little up in the strike zone.”

Angels: Shoemaker has a secured spot in the rotation after a stellar rookie year. He told reporters that nothing has changed for him this spring. “My whole goal in spring training is just to get ready for the season and at the same time compete for a job no matter who you are or where you’re at,” Shoemaker said.

He said he was not bothered by the bees at the start.

“(You just) roll with it,” Shoemaker said. “Get your warm-up’s in. Wait and go warm up again.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Left-handed reliever Tim Collins underwent an MRI on his throwing elbow on Thursday and the diagnosis came back with damage to the ligament. He will have a second opinion on the injury over the next seven to 10 days. … Second baseman Omar Infante is currently getting treatment on a bone spur in his right elbow.

UP NEXT

Angels: Highly-touted left-hander Andrew Heaney, named the team’s top prospect by Baseball America, will make his debut as an Angel vs. Cincinnati at Goodyear. The Angels acquired Heaney from the Dodgers for Howie Kendrick a few hours after the Dodgers acquired Heaney from Miami He’s expected to compete for the final starting rotation spot with Hector Santiago and Nick Tropeano .

Royals: Jason Vargas will make his first spring start vs. Milwaukee in Maryvale. Vargas went 11-0 with a 3.71 ERA in his first season with the Royals in 2014.

— Associated Press —

Northwest softball earns two victories at Northeastern State

Posted on March 8, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State softball team swept Northeastern State on Sunday afternoon in Tahlequah, Okla.

The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and used a five-run sixth to seal the 9-3 victory in game one. Then Northwest scored two runs in the sixth and seventh inning to take game two, 7-6.

The Bearcats improved to 4-6 and 2-2 in the MIAA, while the RiverHawks are now 8-12 and 0-4 in the conference.

In game one, Sarah Baldwin got the start for the Bearcats and pitched 4 2/3 solid innings, giving up two runs on four hits. The junior struck out four and walked three batters to take the win.

Chantel Adams hit her first home run of the year in the sixth, finishing 3-for-3 with five RBI, while Stephanie Mark continued her strong weekend, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.

In game two, Freshman Jessica Rawie was a triple short of the cycle, finishing 3-for-3 with three RBI and one run. Rebecca Maher reached base twice, scoring two runs and crushing the game-winning home run in the seventh, and Senior Stephanie Mark added two RBI and two runs, hitting her fourth home run of the weekend in the first inning.

Abbie Vitosh started in the circle for the Bearcats, throwing 3 1/3 innings and giving up just one earned run. Kendle Schieber earned the win after throwing three innings and striking out four, while Sarah Baldwin recorded the final two outs to earn her first save at Northwest.

The Bearcats will return to Maryville for their home opener on Wednesday against Upper Iowa. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Nebraska ends regular season with eighth consecutive loss

Posted on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Maryland coach Mark Turgeon told his players early in the week that they would impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee if they could win their last two road games.

On Saturday he told them that if they beat Nebraska on Sunday night, they would set the school record for wins in a regular season.

The coach’s motivational talks must have helped, because the 10th-ranked Terrapins were pushed to the limit before getting out of Lincoln with a 64-61 win.

Dez Wells made a contested 18-foot jumper with 8.8 seconds left after Nebraska had made it a one-point game, and Shavon Shields missed what would have been a tying 3-pointer in the last second.

Maryland (26-5, 14-4), runner-up to Wisconsin in its first Big Ten season after being picked 10th in the preseason, heads into this week’s conference tournament in Chicago on a seven-game win streak.

“Twenty-six wins. We found out yesterday that we had a chance to set a record, most wins in a regular season, and we really dialed in,” Turgeon said. “I think because that number was sitting out there, we stayed focused and kept trying to get it done.”

Freshman guard Melo Trimble scored 21 points, Wells had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Jake Layman added 11 points for the Terps.

“This team, I’ve always thought we could do anything. Twenty-six wins, I knew we’d get it as long as we played our game,” Trimble said. “Coach Turgeon told us we were on the way to breaking the school record. Once he told us that, we really wanted it.”

Regular season-ending road wins at Rutgers and Nebraska gave Maryland a 5-4 Big Ten road record, and the Terps also had a December win at Oklahoma State.

“They say we’re a 3, 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament,” Turgeon said. “The committee likes road wins. We had two chances to get road wins this week, and our guys took advantage of it.”

Shields had 26 points and Terran Petteway added 19 for the Cornhuskers (13-17, 5-13), who lost their eighth straight.

Shields’ three-point play with 43 seconds left pulled the Huskers to 62-61. The Terps called a timeout with 11 seconds left and 4 on the shot clock. Wells took the inbounds pass and hit his shot from the wing.

Nebraska outscored Maryland 23-21 at the free-throw line, but made only 12 of 22 in the second half.

Maryland went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good after Nebraska had gone up 48-43.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles said he had a “devastated locker room” after the game. The Huskers are the No. 12 seed in the conference tournament and play Penn State on Wednesday.

“Just play your butts off and let destiny lay where it is,” Miles said he told his team. “If we ended up losing whatever in a row out, big deal. Just play your butts off. That’s what we did today. We gave ourselves a chance.”

—

LOCKER ROOM BAN ENDS

Miles on Saturday ended the locker room lockout he imposed after the Huskers lost by 28 points to Iowa on Feb. 22. Miles had said his players’ effort didn’t merit them having access to one of the most posh locker rooms and lounges in college basketball.

LOTS OF FOULS

Officials called a combined 51 fouls in a grinding game. Turgeon was surprised one didn’t get called when he ordered that Petteway be fouled on Nebraska’s last possession. “We were trying to foul,” he said, laughing. “We weren’t trying to foul for those other 27 fouls, but we were trying to foul then.”

TIP-INS

Maryland: The Terps’ 26 wins mark a nine-game improvement from last season. … The 26 wins match the most in a season in Turgeon’s 17 years as a head coach. His 2005-06 Wichita State team, which went to the Sweet 16, also won 26. … The 7-foot-1 freshman Michal Cekovsky was back after missing two games with a left knee injury.

Nebraska: The eight-game losing streak is the program’s longest since a nine-game skid in 2002-03. … F Walter Pitchford returned after missing a game with a hip flexor injury.

UP NEXT

Maryland plays in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal Friday.

Nebraska plays Penn State on Wednesday in the Big Ten Tournament.

— Associated Press —