Pony Express Baseball Tournament
at Phil Welch Stadium
Chillicothe 4, Lafayette 3
Cameron 3, Savannah 2
at MWSU Baseball Field
Harrisonville 9, Benton 8
Maryville 7, Bishop Leblond 3
Category: Sports
Griffon men shoot 301 in opening round of MIAA Championships
The Missouri Western men’s golf team shot one of their lowest round of the season helping them sit in 6th place in the 12 team field after round one of the MIAA Golf Championships. The Griffons fired a 301 which is three better than Central Oklahoma (304) and five better than Nebraska-Kearney (306). The Griffons are one stroke back of Lincoln University (300) and four strokes back of Lindenwood (297). Central Missouri leads the event with a 283 putting them eight strokes ahead of Northeastern State (291) and 11 strokes ahead of Washburn (294).
Individually, junior Scott Sheldon had a solid round finishing in a tie for 12th with a one over 73. He is just two strokes back of 2nd and five strokes behind Cy Mortiz of Central Missouri who fired a 5-under 68.
James O’Brien sits two strokes back of Sheldon sitting in a tie for 23rd while Evan McCarthy and Tyler Gast are close behind firing 76 and 77 respectively. The final Griffon is senior Derek Hawkins who fired an 82.
Round two of the three round event will take place on Tuesday, April 22. The event is being played at Alvamar Golf Club on the Championship Course. The course is a par 72 with a distance of 7092.
— MWSU Sports Information —
Royals comes up short in Cleveland Monday, 4-3
CLEVELAND (AP) — The squirrel was fearless.
Zach McAllister wasn’t nervous, either.
Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley hit two-run homers to back McAllister, powering the Cleveland Indians over the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Monday night when a trespassing squirrel ran around Progressive Field and provided some extra entertainment.
Kipnis connected in the sixth inning off Jeremy Guthrie (2-1), helping the Indians overcome a 3-2 deficit. Brantley provided Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the fourth.
McAllister (3-0) gave up six hits and overcame three errors — one on his errant throw in the fifth. Marc Rzepczynski and Cody Allen pitched a hitless inning each, and closer John Axford worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.
After the Royals scored three times, McAllister got out of the fifth with an inning-ending double play and then shook off third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall’s error in the sixth and notched his third straight win.
“He didn’t let anything rattle him,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He worked to execute pitches. He was strong.”
McAllister also withstood a brief delay in the second when a squirrel ventured onto the field and eluded members of the grounds crew before finally leaving for the night.
“He was right in front of me,” McAllister said.
Indians first baseman Nick Swisher motioned for the critter to run to him, but it darted past and into the outfield grass.
“I was like, `C’mon over here and sit in my glove,” Swisher said. “I thought maybe he’d sit on my shoulder like a parrot. I tell you what, that squirrel is eating, bro. That was a big squirrel.”
The squirrel was directed inside the Royals bullpen by some of the grounds staff, but the slippery rodent escaped and returned for another scamper to the delight of the crowd of 10,789. The pesky intruder hung around for another inning before it was shooed into the Indians’ center-field bullpen.
The squirrel perched on a ledge for several minutes before jumping the wall into the Heritage Park monument area.
“That little joker was frolicking,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They could have arrested him for trespassing because he didn’t have a ticket.”
Alex Gordon and Omar Infante each had two of the Royals’ six hits.
Indians designated hitter Jason Giambi went hitless in four at-bats in his season debut. He missed Cleveland’s first 18 games with a broken rib.
Swisher led off the sixth with his second double, and Kipnis followed with his third homer, a drive into the seats in right-center. Kipnis is 8 of 13 (.615) with two homers and six RBIs off Guthrie, who except for the home runs pitched effectively for 6 1/3 innings.
Helped by McAllister’s throwing error, the Royals scored three runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
Mike Moustakas doubled to open the inning and scored when diving center fielder Michael Bourn couldn’t squeeze a sinking liner by Alcides Escobar. Jarrod Dyson followed with a bunt toward third that McAllister fielded cleanly before throwing wildly past first, allowing Escobar to score. One out later, Infante’s RBI single put the Royals in front.
Brantley connected in the fourth for his team-leading fourth homer, and second in two days.
Kipnis led off with a double, and with one out, Brantley drove a 2-1 pitch from Guthrie over the wall in right. Brantley only hit 10 homers last season, and Francona believes the 26-year-old could develop into a more potent power hitter because “he gives himself a chance every at-bat.”
— Associated Press —
MWSU women’s golfers sit in 7th after first day of MIAA Championships
After day one of the MIAA Women’s Golf Championships, the Missouri Western women sit in 7th place out of the nine team field. The Griffons fired a day one total of 363 which is just four strokes back of Central Missouri for 6th, six strokes back of Nebraska-Kearney for 5th and 11 strokes back of Northwest Missouri State for 4th. The leader of the event is the University of Central Oklahoma who fired a 320, six strokes ahead of Northeastern State (326) and 25 strokes ahead of Lindenwood (345).
The Griffons are led by sophomore Callie Wilson who had a solid first round 81. She sits in 7th place overall just one stroke out of a tie for 4th and two strokes back of 2nd. The leader of the event is Taylor Neidy of Central Oklahoma firing a round one 76.
Anna Kloeppel sits in a tie for 21st with a 91 while Madison Romjue, Amber Chivington and Shelby Stone fired 95, 96 and 98 respectively.
The second round of the event will be played tomorrow April 21st. The event is being held at the Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence, Kan. on the Members Course. It is par 72 with a distance of 6237.
— MWSU Sports Information —
St. Louis gets blanked in series opener at New York
NEW YORK (AP) — The only thing Jenrry Mejia popped Monday night was his fastball.
Showing off a sizzling heater with wicked movement, Mejia pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning and led the New York Mets over the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0.
Mejia (3-0) bounced back well from a torn blister on his right middle finger that limited him to five innings in his last start. The 24-year-old righty began the game by getting Matt Carpenter to look at three straight strikes, and rarely was in trouble.
“Coming off the blister … we weren’t sure what he was going to give us,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He gave us more than we expected, for sure.”
David Wright lined an early RBI single that extended his hitting streak to 12 games and Kyle Farnsworth earned his first save as the New York’s newest closer.
On an evening when the Mets debuted new camouflage tops to salute the military, they looked sharp, particularly on a double play started by shortstop Ruben Tejada.
The Cardinals lost for the third time in four games.
“Their shortstop kind of stopped any kind of rally from happening,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
“Being frustrated, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” he said after the NL champions were shut out for the third time this year. “I think the bigger story is that our offense will get going on a consistent basis.”
Mejia struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings and walked three. He stretched his scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings.
Mejia said the blister was hardly a concern. The St. Louis hitters were the ones having trouble, not him.
“They know my fastball moves,” he said.
Scott Rice and Carlos Torres each got two outs before Farnsworth, the Mets’ third closer this year, pitched the ninth for his first save.
Farnsworth inherited the role after Bobby Parnell needed Tommy John surgery and Jose Valverde struggled. Farnsworth had two saves last season for Pittsburgh.
Tyler Lyons (0-1) lost in his first major league game of the season. Promoted from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day to take the rotation spot of injured Joe Kelly, he allowed two runs and six hits in six innings.
A 26-year-old lefty with a big-breaking slider, Lyons struck out seven. He’s another in the long line of tall, homegrown pitchers developed by the Cardinals, and went 2-4 last year in his first big league season.
Lyons struck out the first two batters in the third before Eric Young Jr. singled for the Mets’ first hit. Slumping Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch and Wright singled for a 1-0 lead.
Lyons’ throwing error on a tapper set up another run in the sixth. Daniel Murphy walked, later stole third and scored on a single by Travis d’Arnaud.
Mejia escaped his biggest jam in the sixth when, with runners at the corners and one out, he retired Matt Holliday on a popup and Matt Adams on a grounder.
The previous inning, the Mets backed Mejia with a sweet double play. Tejada dived to stop Jon Jay’s grounder up the middle and flipped to Murphy, and the second baseman made a barehanded catch and spun quickly for the relay.
“Tremendous double play,” Collins praised.
— Associated Press —
Northwest’s Couronne named MIAA Tennis Athlete of the Week
Northwest Missouri State freshman Julien Couronne was named the MIAA Men’s Tennis Athlete of Week on Monday in a release from the league office. Couronne, from LyceeFrance, was 4-0 on the week at doubles and singles.
The Bearcats started the week with a road victory over Division I member UMKC on Wednesday in Kansas City. Couronne picked up a win at No. 5 singles overUldis Gaismins, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, and teamed with fellow freshman Romain Boissinot to win at No. 3 doubles, 8-3. On Friday, Couronne beat Bethany College’s No. 5 singles player Amir Rahbar, 6-2, 6-1, and also won at No. 2 doubles with Boissinot, 8-3.
The Bearcats will host Graceland on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Frank Grube Courts. The regular season concludes on Wednesday against Washburn in Topeka, Kan. The Bearcats have already secured the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Championships, and will play on Saturday, April 26, at 9 a.m. against either Lindenwood or Washburn at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Mo.
— Northwest Sports Information —
Ventura struggles as KC falls short of sweep against Twins
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is customary in baseball for a pitcher to be awarded a commemorative baseball after his first big league win, a nice keepsake to reflect upon years down the road.
The Twins’ Phil Hughes did not earn his first win on Sunday. It only felt like it.
His jokester teammates gave him a ball anyway.
Hughes pitched into the seventh inning to win for the first time since last July, helping Minnesota to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals that also avoided a three-game sweep.
It was Hughes’ first win in 18 outings, a span that included eight losses.
“I knew it had been a long time,” said Hughes, who signed a $24 million, three-year deal with Minnesota in December. “It’s good to get that one out of the way, and hopefully go on a good run here and continue to pitch some quality games. But my first one with a new team, it’s special.”
He could have done without the ball, though.
“We had a little fun with him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It’s his first win since way back, and first win as a Twin, too, so we gave him a little grief about that.”
Josmil Pinto homered and Trevor Plouffe and Kurt Suzuki each drove in a pair of runs for the Twins, who battered Yordano Ventura (1-1) before piling on against the Royals’ bullpen.
Alcides Escobar hit a two-run homer and Omar Infante also drove in a run for the Royals, whose five-game winning streak came to an end.
“If you don’t score runs it doesn’t matter how many hits you get. We got a loss here today,” said the Royals’ Alex Gordon. “We’ll move on from here.”
Hughes’ solid showing came after he had allowed 12 earned runs in his first 15 innings with Minnesota. The former All-Star had not survived past the sixth since July 13, when he was still a member of the New York Yankees and was facing his current team.
It helped that the Twins staked him to an early lead.
After they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position in a 5-4 loss Saturday, Plouffe came through with a double in the Twins’ first opportunity Sunday. His drive into the gap in right was enough to score Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer and give Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
The Twins added on in the fourth. After Suzuki walked, the Royals were unable to turn a double play on a grounder by Aaron Hicks. Ventura then threw the ball away trying to pick him off first, and a wild pitch put Hicks on third base. Eduardo Escobar’s single scored the run.
Ventura was finally pulled from the game in the fifth, when the 22-year-old right-hander gave up a leadoff triple to Plouffe and a single to Chris Colabello. He allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four-plus innings, a line that looks even uglier after two dominant outings in which he allowed a combined one run on six hits against Tampa Bay and Houston.
“I tried to correct, to make adjustments,” Ventura said through Bruce Chen, his translator. “It’s not every day that I can make the pitches, but I wanted to go deep and help the team.”
The Royals bullpen, which had thrown 14 straight scoreless innings, never gave their offense a chance to get Ventura off the hook. Pinto’s homer came off Louis Coleman later in the fifth, and Justin Marks — making his big league debut — allowed three more runs in the seventh.
Escobar’s two-run shot later in the seventh knocked Hughes from the game, but relievers Brian Duensing, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins made sure his long losing streak would finally end.
“It’s good, a good feeling,” Hughes said. “Someone brought up last July or something since my last win. Definitely nice to get that one and hopefully get on a little bit of a run.”
— Associated Press —
Cardinals lose series finale against Washington
WASHINGTON (AP) — Denard Span’s approach with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning proves math pays off.
Facing a five-man infield, Span hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth and the Washington Nationals, with Bryce Harper back in the lineup and stealing his first base of the season, rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Sunday.
The Nationals loaded the bases against Seth Maness (0-1) when Danny Espinosa singled through third baseman Matt Carpenter’s legs with one out for his third hit, Jose Lobaton singled through the right side of the infield and pinch hitter Nate McLouth walked.
In his second game since being activated from the seven-day disabled list following a concussion, Span lofted a fly to left field. Espinosa easily beat the throw from Jon Jay, who shifted over from right field as St. Louis brought in an extra infielder.
“I counted: one, two, three, four, five,” Span said. “Right there I told myself a groundball probably not going to do it. Try to get the ball in the air somehow.”
After Espinosa crossed home, the Nationals mobbed Span, who suddenly had something else on his mind.
“I was screaming so loud, so into the moment, but at the same time I’m thinking don’t hit me upside the head too hard because I just came off the DL,” said the smiling center fielder, who grounded out with the bases full in the sixth before delivering the game-winner.
The Nationals split the four-game series. They had lost eight of the previous nine meetings with the Cardinals going into the series wrap-up.
“That’s a play I’m expecting to make and a play that I expect myself to make and I didn’t make it,” Carpenter said of his ninth-inning whiff. “It ended up costing us.”
Harper started in left field and went 1 for 4. The two-time All-Star was pulled from the game a day earlier for what manager Matt Williams called a “lack of hustle” after he failed to run out a comebacker to the mound.
The two spoke before Sunday’s game.
“I sat with him for a couple of minutes in his locker and told him I’m confident in him and I’m proud of him and he was going to have impact today, which he did,” Williams said.
Harper had a somewhat different take on the conversation with Williams, as far as length goes.
“He just said, ‘Go get ’em.’ That’s the three words he said,” Harper said. “It’s good to get back out there and play and be part of a win.”
Harper was left stranded at second base as the possible go-ahead run as Anthony Rendon struck out against Pat Neshek in the eighth.
Rafael Soriano (1-0) pitched one inning for the win.
The Cardinals took an early edge against Stephen Strasburg and led 2-0 going into the seventh.
Washington tied the game with four straight singles off reliever Carlos Martinez, including RBI hits from Ian Desmond and Espinosa.
Strasburg struck out nine in six innings.
Shelby Miller left with the lead after pitching 5 1/3 innings for the Cardinals. He also hit a two-out, RBI double off Strasburg in the fourth.
St. Louis starting pitchers recorded an RBI in three of the four games versus Washington. Miller allowed four hits, striking out seven and walking five.
Matt Adams doubled twice and scored for the Cardinals.
“I was pretty happy we were able to put a couple together and obviously a big hit by Shelby,” manager Mike Matheny said. “That gives you a little bit of room and then we get the ball into the hands of guys we like to give the ball to. Good offenses are going to put together tough at-bats on tough pitching, and today they got us.”
True, though it took some doing. Washington left 17 runners on base and went 2 of 12 with runners in scoring position.
“Talk about those opportunities and giving ourselves that multiple times in the game, you like your chances, certainly,” Williams said. “Especially against a good team like that we want to create those. I don’t know how many guys we had on base today but it felt like a lot.”
— Associated Press —
Missouri Western drops final two games against No. 24 Mules
The Missouri Western pitching staff struggled on Saturday afternoon giving up 40 hits and 30 runs against the #24 Central Missouri Mules. The Griffons baseball team fell in game one 15-2 before falling 15-7 in game two. The Griffons fall to 24-17 overall and 20-14 in MIAA play.
In game one the Griffons got down 5-0 after three innings and were able to score two in the top of the fourth cutting the score to 5-2. From there the Mules piled on 10 more runs taking the 15-2 victory. The Mules had 19 hits in the contest.
Hunter Weiss had two of the Griffons five hits while Jake Jones falls to 5-3 giving up 12 hits and six earned runs in 4.1 innings. The Mules were led by three players with three hits while Kurtis Schuyler got the victory going all seven innings. He improves to 6-2 with the victory.
In game two the Griffons pounded out 15 hits but a nine run first by the Mules downed the Griffons 15-7. Dylan Koch and Cody Childs both had three hits while Trevor Lahonda, Ryan Degner, David Chew and Mitch Thorman each had two hits. Michael Yeager hit his first homer of his career with three RBI.
Tyler Sanders falls to 3-3 on the season going just 2/3 of an inning. He gave up seven hits and four earned runs. Mark Spreckles went 3.1 innings in relief giving up eight his and three earned runs.
The Mules improve to 32-13 on the season and 29-7 with the victory.
The Griffons return to action on Friday, April 25 opening up their final regular season series against the Fort Hays State Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm in St. Joseph, Mo.
— MWSU Sports Information —
Northwest baseball gets swept by Emporia State
The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team concluded the road portion of its 2014 schedule on Saturday afternoon, falling twice to Emporia State in doubleheader at the Trusler Sports Complex. The Bearcats dropped game one on a walkoff single, 3-2, and dropped the second game, 11-7. Northwest is now an even 21-21 on the year and 15-18 in MIAA play. Emporia State moves to 30-14 overall and 23-13 in conference action.
Ryker Fox went 6.2 innings in game one, allowing just two earned runs on six hits. He walked just one batter and recorded seven strikeouts. Emporia State scored once in the second and added another in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead. In the top of the sixth, Northwest, Brandon Huske singled to start the inning and scored as Eric McGlauflin homer two batters later, to tie the game 2-2. But an error to start the bottom of the seventh came back to bite the Bearcats, as the winning run scored on a two-out single.
Both Huske and Steven Garber picked up a pair of hits in the contest. Jon Pomatto, Ryan Abernathy, McGlauflin, Nikko Pablo and Blake Hardegree all had hits in the contest.
In game two, Northwest used the longball to keep the game close as Huske, Austin Wulff and Zach Ferreira all went deep for the Bearcats. Emporia State jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the first but Northwest answered with three runs in the top of the second as Wulff hit a two-run shot and Blake Hardegree singled in Steven Garber who doubled. The Hornets would add two more in the third to tie the game. In the fourth, Wulff lead off with a double and scored on a Garber single.
But Emporia State added four runs in the bottom of the fourth and added another in the sixth. In the seventh, Northwest got three runs as Ferreira homered to score Hardegree. One batter later, Huske hit a solo homerun, bringing the score to 8-7 in favor of ESU. The Hornets would add three in the bottom of the eighth and were able to hang on for the 11-7 win.
The Bearcats used six pitchers on the afternoon. The Bearcats picked up 11 hits and did not commit an error.
Northwest finishes the regular season at home against Pittsburg State next weekend, starting on Friday, April 25, at 2 p.m. The two teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single game on Sunday.
— Northwest Sports Information —