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Category: Sports

St. Louis signs SS Jhonny Peralta to four-year contract

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MLB: Detroit Tigers at Miami MarlinsFree agent shortstop Jhonny Peralta and the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed on a four-year contract, giving the All-Star a fresh start after his Biogenesis drug suspension last summer.

The Cardinals filled a need by getting a top-hitting shortstop a month after losing the World Series in six games to Boston. Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso, while generally good fielders, are light hitters.

The deal was expected to be worth more than $50 million.

”We are pleased to announce that Jhonny has agreed to terms and I know he is equally excited to be joining the Cardinals,” general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. ”Jhonny is among the game’s top offensive shortstops, he’s a steady defender and he has experience playing for a contender. He gives us proven veteran experience and brings balance and versatility to our everyday lineup. ”

But the move drew a different reaction from a couple other big leaguers.

”It pays to cheat… Thanks, owners, for encouraging PED use,” Arizona pitcher Brad Ziegler tweeted.

”Apparently getting suspended for PED’s means you get a raise. What’s stopping anyone from doing it? (hashtag)weneedtomakeachange,” free agent pitcher David Aardsma tweeted.

The 31-year-old Peralta was suspended 50 games last season as a result of Major League Baseball’s investigation in the Biogenesis case involving performance-enhancing drugs. He returned to the Detroit Tigers in late September and played in the postseason, both in left field and at shortstop.

Shortly before Peralta was penalized, the Tigers acquired young shortstop Jose Iglesias from Boston in a three-team trade.

Peralta hit .303 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs in 107 games during the regular season, then batted .333 with one homer, four doubles and six RBIs in 10 playoff games.

The two-time All-Star is a career .268 hitter with 156 homers and 698 RBIs in 11 seasons with Cleveland and Detroit.

The NL champion Cardinals have been busy since the season ended. A few days ago, they sent third baseman David Freese, a hometown product and the 2011 World Series MVP, to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Peter Bourjos in a four-player trade.

The Cardinals cut about $45 million off last season’s payroll, and wanted to plug a hole at shortstop. St. Louis lost All-Star Rafael Furcal in spring training for the whole year because of elbow surgery.

Detroit did not extend a qualifying offer to Peralta, meaning there would be no compensation draft pick involved in his move from the AL Central champions to the NL Central winners.

Earlier this offseason, the Tigers traded first baseman Prince Fielder to Texas for second baseman Ian Kinsler in a swap of All-Stars with rich contracts.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs blow late lead and lose at home to San Diego

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ChiefsKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Philip Rivers called it the kind of game that could save the Chargers’ season. Seyi Ajirotutu called its defining play the greatest catch of his career.

The once-embattled quarterback stoically marched San Diego downfield against Kansas City on Sunday, and then found his unheralded wide receiver with a 26-yard scoring strike with 24 seconds remaining that gave San Diego a 41-38 victory and ended its three-game losing streak.

“It’s one of those you’ll never forget, that’s for sure,” said Rivers, who threw for 392 yards and three touchdowns against a Kansas City defense that had been among the NFL’s best.

“It’s kind of what our season’s been about,” Rivers said. “Can you drive and score at the end?”

The touchdown pass to Ajirotutu answered one that Alex Smith had thrown to Dwayne Bowe with 1:22 left in the game — one that had seemingly given the Chiefs (9-2) the victory.

It turned out there’d be more lead change in a game that had eight of them.

“Philip said, `Fly on the boundary,” Ajirotutu said, “so I knew that’s a little code word that he usually says that the ball’s coming to you.”

Smith wound up throwing for 292 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs, who lost their second straight after a 9-0 start. They also lost top pass rushers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston to injuries, and now face the prospect of playing the Broncos next week without them.

Hali has a sprained right ankle and Houston a sprained left elbow, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that both of them are due for MRI exams on Monday.

“I’m not making excuses,” Reid said. “The next guy has to come in and we expect them to step up and make plays. There’s no excuses.”

San Diego (5-6) finished with 491 yards of offense against a Chiefs defense that had allowed more than 17 points just once: last week’s 27-17 defeat in Denver.

Danny Woodhead had touchdowns rushing and receiving as he picked up the slack for Chargers running back Ryan Mathews, who left with a hamstring injury. Ladarius Green had a 60-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, while Keenan Allen had nine catches for 124 yards.

Of course, it was Rivers who made the entire offense sing.

“I’ll tell you right now, we’ve got a great quarterback,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “There was no doubt in my mind at the end of the game he was going out and scoring.”

Jamaal Charles added 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Chiefs, while Donnie Avery had four catches for 91 yards and a score in their best offensive game of the year.

“I mean, you’d like to take positives away form games,” Smith said, “but right now it wasn’t enough. We didn’t do enough as a team to come out on top.”

The game turned into a back-and-forth nail-biter in the second half.

San Diego pulled ahead 17-14 when a 54-yard pass to Eddie Royal set up a 1-yard TD run by Mathews. But the Chargers helped the Chiefs take the lead right back with three pass interference penalties that gave them the ball at the San Diego 1. Charles’ second touchdown made it 21-17.

The Chargers’ struggling defensive backfield got one back on the Chiefs’ next series. Shareece Wright, who had one of those pass interference penalties, batted a pass to Marcus Gilchrist, who had one of the others. The interception set up Woodhead’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Kansas City retook the lead at 28-24 on Smith’s short pass to Anthony Fasano, but after the teams traded chip-shot field goals, the Chargers took it right back.

Rivers hit Green on a quick slant, and the tight end ran 60 yards for his first career touchdown. It gave the Chargers a 34-31 lead with 7:50 left.

The Chiefs answered the call, only for the Chargers to trump them in the end.

“That’s what the game’s all about,” McCoy said. “When the game’s on the line, who’s going to come up and make the big play? Who’s going to make the big stop?”

— Associated Press —

Northwest women lose non-conference game at Pitt State

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Northwest2013riggertThe Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team fell to Pittsburg State Sunday in a non-conference game, 51-44.

Northwest struggled in the first half going 8-for-23 from the floor and 2-for-7 from behind the three point line, shooting 35 percent as a team.  PSU was able to capitalize on second chance points outscoring the Bearcats 12-4. Northwest trailed going into the half, 26-22.

The Bearcats came out tough in the second half tying the game up 33-33 with under 13 minutes to play.  The Gorillas then went on a 12-2 run to go up 45-35, and Northwest could not recover as PSU took the game 51-44.

Annie Mathews and Monique Stevens both finished the game with double-digit points as they scored 12 and 10, respectively.

The Bearcats move their season record to 1-4 and will play host to the College of Saint Mary Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 4 pm.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Griffon men suffer second straight loss as they struggle at Illinois-Springfield

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riggertMissouriWesternThe Missouri Western men’s basketball team gave up a 26-12 run midway through the second half to Illinois-Springfield which gave them their second straight loss this time by a score of 88-73. The Griffons turned the ball over a season high 17 times and made just 24-of-68 shots on the evening. Ryan Devers and Cortrez Colbert finished with 17 and 16 points respectively while Cedric Clinkscales had 11 rebounds. The Griffons fall to 3-3 on the season.

The Griffons took their first lead of the game at the 14:35 mark of the first half after a layup by Dareon Jones at 10-9. The Griffons last lead of the game came shortly after when Adarius Fulton hit a three giving MWSU a 15-13. The rest of the half belonged the Prairiestars as they outscored the Griffons by eight the rest of the half taking a 38-32 lead into the half.

The second half was close until midway through the half when UIS went on their big run. The Prairiestars finished the night hitting 50-percent (32-64) of their shots and 53.3-percent (8-15) of their long range shots. They had six players in double figures with Regan Bruenger finished with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Jacob Williams had a double-double scoring 14 points and snaring 12 rebounds.

UIS dominated the points in the paint outscoring the Griffons 38-18 and had 18 points off turnovers to the Griffons 11. They improve to 2-2 on the season.

Dzenan Mrkaljevic finished with 13 points while Jones had 10 off the bench. The Griffons return to action on Monday, November 25 with a non-conference game against Upper Iowa University. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in the fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sport Information —

No. 8 Missouri moves to 10-1 with win at No. 24 Ole Miss

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MUOXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars.

But as a collective they’re an awfully tough bunch to beat, and the Tigers are now one victory away from playing for a Southeastern Conference championship in just their second season in the league.

Henry Josey rushed for two touchdowns, Marcus Murphy added another and No. 8 Missouri rolled to a 24-10 victory over No. 24 Mississippi on Saturday night.

”To say I’m proud of my football team and my staff would be an understatement,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. ”They battle every time they play. They prepare well and focus at a very high level.”

The Tigers strolled into a hostile environment at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and never flinched, jumping out to a 17-3 lead by halftime for the relatively easy victory.

Now the big one awaits for the Tigers (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). The Tigers host Texas A&M next weekend, with a win clinching the SEC’s East Division title.

James Franklin completed 12 of 19 passes for 142 yards and an interception in his first start since a shoulder injury caused him to miss four games.

”I thought he did an outstanding job,” Pinkel said. ”The guy hadn’t played in six weeks and there was a lot of pressure on him to play well.”

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Ole Miss (7-4, 3-4). Bo Wallace threw for 244 yards and an interception, but was battling an illness for much of the game and struggled during the second half.

Donte Moncrief caught six passes for 115 yards, but dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss made three trips to the red zone, but managed just three points.

”It’s impossible to beat a top 10 team when you get in the red zone and don’t score touchdowns or points,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. ”… If you don’t score some points in the red zone against that team you aren’t going to win.”

It’s the fourth 10-win season for Missouri in the past seven years and was coach Gary Pinkel’s 100th win with the Tigers.

The Tigers’ used a deep running back rotation to slowly wear down the Ole Miss defense. Josey had most of the big plays, but Russell Hansbrough and Murphy combined for 99 more yards, helping Missouri shorten the game in the second half with time-consuming drives.

Missouri jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter after a blistering eight-play, 72-yard drive that took less than three minutes. Andrew Baggett added a 33-yard field goal and Murphy scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter as the Tigers took a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Tigers finished with 485 total yards, including 260 on the ground.

”We’re just a focused team,” Missouri linebacker Andrew Wilson said. ”The coaches did a good job keeping us focused. We had a great gameplan. We knew what we had to do.”

Franklin – making his first start since suffering a shoulder injury Oct. 12 – completed 7 of 7 passes for 89 yards in the first half.

The Ole Miss offense had a few opportunities to match Missouri, but kept blowing opportunities in the red zone. The litany of errors included two false start penalties, one blocked field goal attempt and several unsuccessful running plays.

But the Rebels regrouped in the third quarter, pulling within 17-10 on the opening drive of the second half on I’Tavius Mathers’ 45-yard run. The sophomore bounced off a few would-be tacklers and then dashed down the left sideline, outrunning a pair of Mizzou defenders into the end zone.

The momentum was short lived. Missouri responded with an 86-yard touchdown drive that ended on Josey’s second touchdown of the night and the Tigers had a 24-10 lead.

Bo Wallace completed 20 of 28 passes for 172 yards and an interception in the first half, but didn’t start the second half because he was sick. Wallace and backup Barry Brunetti split snaps in the second half, but neither had much success.

Moncrief had a productive night, but his dropped pass in the end zone was a microcosm of the Rebels’ frustrating night. Ole Miss could have cut Missouri’s lead to 24-17 with eight minutes remaining, but instead turned the ball over on downs one play later and Missouri went on to its third straight victory.

— Associated Press —

Western women hold off Rockhurst to stay unbeaten

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riggertMissouriWesternThe Missouri Western women’s basketball team were able to win a defensive struggle in their first road game of the season by a score of 63-59 against the Rockhurst University Hawks. The Griffons outscored the Hawks 9-4 in the final 4:47 of the game keeping them undefeated on the season at 4-0. The Griffons had 12 players score in the game with Sharniece Lewis leading the way with 10 points.

The first half was a back and fourth battle with neither team leading by more than three points. The Griffons largest lead was at 29-27 when Quenisha Lockett hit a free throw with 2:19 to play in the first half. Kendall Hart’s layup with 14 second left helped the Hawks close the half on a 7-4 run giving them a 34-33 lead.

Missouri Western opened the second half an a 9-3 run helping them to their largest lead of the game at 42-37 after an Ariana Novak free throw with 15:22 to play in the game. The Hawks responded going on a 13-6 run which was capped by Mary Dineen giving Rockhust the 50-48 lead with 9:11 to play. The teams continued to back and forth but with two free throws by Lewis with 4:20 to play gave the Griffons the lead for good.

The Griffons shots just 31-percent (18-58) from the field and 29.4-percent (5-17) from long range. They did make 71-percent (22-31) of their free throws. MWSU had 20 offensive rebounds and 14 second chance points. They also had 33 bench points and nine assists in the contest.

The Hawks fall to 3-2 on the season as they had three players score in double figures. Dineen led the way with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting and going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. The Hawks made 29-of-36 free throw attempts in the game.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 29 when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to participate in the Doubletree/Houlihans Thanksgiving Classic. They will take on the Drury Panthers at 5:30 pm in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

— MWSU Sport Information —

K-State’s four-game win streak snapped with loss to Oklahoma

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KSUMANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Bob Stoops ran away from the tub filled with ice water just about as quickly and effectively as the Sooners’ Brennan Clay ran through the Kansas State defense on Saturday.

Who’d want to celebrate a milestone win by getting soaked on a frigid afternoon?

Clay ran for a career-high 200 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Sooners, and Trevor Knight filled in admirably at quarterback as No. 22 Oklahoma handled the Wildcats 41-31 to give Stoops his 158th victory and break a tie with coach Barry Switzer for the most in school history.

”I don’t look at anything at all individual,” Stoops said. ”I don’t have time to look at (the record). It’s something that, down the road, I’ll look back.”

Stoops insisted that the signature win didn’t feel any different coming against his former mentor, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. Stoops was one of Snyder’s defensive assistants from 1989-95, and was instrumental in helping to turn around the wayward program.

”Bob’s never been one about whatever honors he’s won or been a part of,” said Mike Stoops, his younger brother and the Sooners’ defensive coordinator. ”I think with our whole team, it’s just not a big deal, even though I know he takes great pride in doing this.”

Freshman Trevor Knight, filling in for the injured Blake Bell, threw for 171 yards and accounted for two TDs for the Sooners (9-2, 6-2 Big 12), who found themselves in a shootout with a Kansas State offense that almost entirely abandoned the run.

Tyler Lockett was the beneficiary of it. The junior had 12 catches for a school-record 278 yards and three touchdowns, and finished with a school-record 440 yards of total offense.

”They challenged us to throw the ball and our receivers stepped up big,” said Jake Waters, who threw for 348 yards and accounted for four TDs. ”Tyler proved he’s one of the best in the nation so that made me look a lot better, too. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Tyler.”

Waters didn’t look so good when he was picked off by the Sooners’ Zack Sanchez in the fourth quarter. Sanchez returned it 74 yards for a touchdown, putting the game out of reach.

It also ended a four-game winning streak for Kansas State (6-5, 4-4).

”This was a collective loss. Take your pick,” Snyder said. ”Oklahoma played very well. They were the better team and played better and coached better. They did everything better.”

The Sooners struck first when Knight hit Sterling Shepard from 12 yards out on third-and-goal in the first quarter, but that was about the last pass that Oklahoma called in the first half.

At one point, Stoops called for runs on 17 of 18 plays, including all 14 on a 98-yard TD drive. Clay and Knight did most of the work, with Knight fooling defensive end Ryan Mueller on a fake handoff and running untouched the final 8 yards for a 14-0 lead.

While the Sooners were pounding the ball, Kansas State abandoned the run.

Waters and Lockett took advantage of blown coverage to hook up for the first time for a 48-yard scoring strike early in the second quarter. When the Wildcats got the ball back, Waters found his favorite target with a perfectly thrown 30-yard TD pass in the corner of the end zone.

Oklahoma answered on the ground with Clay scooting to his right, sticking his foot in the turf and turning up field, racing past the secondary for a 69-yard touchdown run.

It took all of one play – a 90-yard pitch-and-catch from Waters to Lockett – for the Wildcats to make it 21-all. The TD catch also allowed Lockett to match the school record for a single game.

Michael Hunnicutt’s field goal in the final seconds gave Oklahoma a 24-21 halftime lead.

As entertaining as the first half was for offensive savants, the third quarter turned into a sluggish affair. Both teams muddled their way to field goals on time-consuming drives.

The Sooners finally seized control when they pinned Kansas State at the 3-yard line. The Wildcats went three-and-out, and Mark Krause’s punt into the wind went nowhere. Jalen Saunders caught it on the run and returned it to the 3, where Clay ran it in on the next play.

Oklahoma put the game out of reach moments later, when Sanchez picked off Waters and returned it up the sideline for a touchdown. The Sooners’ sideline erupted as he crossed the goal line to make it 41-24 with just over 11 minutes left in the game.

Waters added a TD run for Kansas State in the closing minutes for the final margin.

”We had our chances and we let it slip,” Waters said. ”That kind of proves that we’re almost there, but we’re not quite there yet. We still have a lot of room to improve.”

— Associated Press —

Tigers pull away from Gardner-Webb for 72-63 victory

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MUCOLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Johnathan Williams III grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and Earnest Ross scored 17 points to lead Missouri past Gardner-Webb 72-63 on Saturday.

Missouri (4-0) only led by two points at halftime and foul troubles hampered its effort to pull away from the Runnin’ Bulldogs, who were picked to finish second in the South Division of the Big South.

The Tigers won their 76th consecutive game at home against a nonconference opponent and their 21st in a row overall at Mizzou Arena.

Naji Hibbert and Jerome Hill both scored 17 points for Gardner-Webb (2-3).

Missouri led 31-29 at the break but amassed 10 fouls in the first 7:47 of the second half. Officials whistled Jabari Brown for a technical with 14:53 remaining after he missed a fastbreak layup and got tangled with a handful of Gardner-Webb players underneath the basket.

The Tigers’ bench then received a technical after complaining that no infraction was called against Jordan Clarkson on a missed layup with 11:14 on the clock. Hibbert converted one of the two ensuing free throws to narrow the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ deficit to 48-45.

Missouri answered with a 14-0 run capped by a 3-point play by Williams with 7:24 remaining to give the team some breathing room the rest of the game. Playing in only his fourth career game, Williams’ putback dunk created the loudest applause of the night from the 6,738 in attendance.

A 6-foot-9-inch freshman from Memphis, Tenn., Williams became the first freshman to start a season opener for the Tigers since 2004. He scored seven points on 3-of-10 shooting Saturday, but his rebounding helped Missouri take a 46-29 advantage on the boards and a 46-18 lead in scoring from the paint.

Hibbert, a transfer from Texas A&M, has scored 52 points for Gardner-Webb in his last three games after averaging 3.7 points per game in three seasons with the Aggies. He faced the Tigers five times when the schools met as members of the Big 12.

Missouri scored its first 26 points from the paint before Ross converted the first of two free throws with 2:34 remaining in the opening half. Tony Criswell and Torren Jones added another three combined points from the charity stripe to complete the Tigers’ scoring for the opening 20 minutes.

Gardner-Webb scored its first six points from inside the lane but only two of its next 23 came from the paint. The Runnin’ Bulldogs used an early 10-0 run to lead 14-10 just 7:20 into the game, but that would be their biggest lead of the afternoon.

The game marked the opening of the Las Vegas Invitational for both teams, who had never faced each other prior to Saturday. Although the matchup had no impact on the outcome of the tournament, both schools will travel to Nevada for games on Thanksgiving.

— Associated Press —

Kansas gets blanked at Iowa State, 34-0

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KUAMES, Iowa (AP) — Freshman Grant Rohach passed for a season-best 300 yards and two touchdowns and Iowa State beat Kansas 34-0 on a frigid Saturday night for its first Big 12 victory.

James White and Shontrelle Johnson each ran for a touchdown and Cole Netten kicked two field goals for the Cyclones (2-9, 1-7), who broke a seven-game losing streak at home and sent Kansas to its 24th straight road loss.

Just one week after breaking a 27-game conference losing streak, the Jayhawks (3-8, 1-7) failed to capitalize on some early scoring opportunities and never got much going in the second half, either.

Rohach, who had not thrown a touchdown pass in his five previous games, finished 15 of 20 with one interception and scoring throws of 58 yards to Aaron Wimberly and 15 yards to Quenton Bundrage.

It was the coldest game in Jack Trice Stadium history – 8 degrees at kickoff and 3 by the start of the second half – and the field was frozen and slick. But it didn’t bother the Cyclones, who amassed a season-high 502 yards and recorded their first shutout since beating Northern Iowa 27-0 on Sept. 25, 2010.

Iowa State had not blanked a conference opponent since a 41-0 victory over Baylor in 2001.

Kansas’ James Sims rushed for 114 yards in 21 carries to run his season total to 1,028 and become the first Jayhawk player with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

But freshman quarterback Montell Cozart was ineffective in his second start, completing just 4 of 12 passes for 20 yards and one interception. He was replaced in the third quarter by previous starter Jake Heaps.

Iowa State led 10-0 at halftime and put the game away with 17 third-quarter points.

Netten kicked a 21-yard field goal and Iowa State got the ball back at the Kansas 38 after a short punt. Six plays later, Rohach hit Bundrage on the right sideline and the sophomore wideout broke a tackle and fought his way into the end zone.

After a Kansas three-and-out, Rohach completed passes of 18 yards to Justin Coleman and 42 yards to Bundrage before White burst up the middle on a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 27-0, a safe cushion on a night like this.

Johnson added to it with a 23-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.

Iowa State, which has struggled to get its offense going early in games, struck on its second possession.

Wimberly slipped behind the defense and no one was near him when he caught Rohach’s pass and turned it into a 58-yard touchdown, the longest play of Rohach’s young career. Netten added a 22-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

Kansas had nothing to show for three drives into Iowa State territory in the opening half.

ISU’s Nigel Tribune stopped receiver Christian Matthews well short of a first down on fourth-and-4 at the Cyclone 26 on the Jayhawks’ first possession. Later, two nifty runs by Cozart got the Jayhawks to the ISU 13, where a horde of tacklers stuffed Sims for no gain on fourth-and-1.

Late in the half, the Jayhawks reached the 37, only to be frustrated by a holding penalty and Jansen Watson’s interception of Cozart’s heave to the end zone.

The coldest game at Jack Trice Stadium previously was a 17-14 loss to Colorado on Nov. 23, 1991, when it was 17 at kickoff and blowing snow obliterated the yard lines and numbers.

This season also had the warmest game in stadium history. It was 92 when the Cyclones opened the season against Northern Iowa on Aug. 31.

— Associated Press —

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