Kandi Wieberg

University of Missouri-Rolla softball player Kandi Wieberg has added yet another honor for the 2007 season as she has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team for the recently completed campaign.

Wieberg was a third-team selection on the college division squad that includes players from NCAA Division II and III and the NAIA. She was the only player from a Great Lakes Valley Conference school to be named to the academic squad.

Previously, Wieberg was named to two All-America teams for her play on the field, earning second team honors on the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association squad and first team laurels on the inaugural Daktronics Division II team as voted on by sports information directors from Division II institutions.

She was named to the All-America squads along with centerfielder Ashley Winter as the first on-field All-America selections in softball in school history.

Wieberg, a junior at UMR who was named as the "Player of the Year" by the GLVC, batted .402 with a team-high 12 home runs and 39 runs batted in during the recently completed season in which the Lady Miners made their first-ever appearance at the NCAA regional tournament. As UMR's leadoff hitter, she also led the GLVC in doubles (21), total bases (127) and slugging percentage (.751), while ranking second in runs scored (46), hits (68) and home runs. She ranks among the top five in the GLVC in nine categories and is sixth nationally in doubles per game.

During the 2007 season, Wieberg has broken UMR career records for doubles (42) and home runs (24) and tied the record for the longest hitting streak of 18 games. She had a .494 average in conference play with five homers and 16 RBI for the Lady Miners.

In the classroom, Wieberg is a civil engineering major from St. Elizabeth, Mo., who has been on the honor roll at UMR and has served as the softball team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

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Bryan Schiding

Bryan Schiding, the assistant coach for the University of Missouri-Rolla track and field program, has been selected as the regional assistant coach of the year for the Great Lakes region for the recently completed 2007 season.

The award, which covers both the indoor and outdoor track seasons, was awarded for the first time this season.

Schiding, who is in his fourth season with the UMR program, works with the sprinters and field event competitors. During the 2007 season, UMR had six individuals – all in field events – make the NCAA Division II Championship meets and three of those six earned All-America honors.

In the indoor season, Tyrone Smith finished second in the long jump, Lucas Handley took third and Jordan Henry finished seventh in the pole vault to give the Miners their highest finish ever at an NCAA Division II track meet as UMR finished in a tie for 12th place overall.

Last weekend, the Miners had three individuals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as Becca Kueny finished ninth in the javelin throw in her second appearance at the national meet in as many years, while Chris Carsten competed in the hammer throw and shot put and Peter Hollenbeck was in the pole vault.

UMR also had five other outdoor provisional qualifiers in events that Schiding coaches during the 2007 season and another during the indoor season when freshman Jarryd Dean – who was named as the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s “Freshman of the Year” – hit the mark in the high jump. In addition, 36 school records in those events have fallen over the course of the last four years, a span that has included 54 who have made an NCAA qualifying mark, 85 who have earned all-conference honors and 12 who have won All-America awards.

During the two conference meets this season, the Miners earned six All-GLVC awards at the indoor meet and seven more at the outdoor meet, while the Lady Miners had four covering the two seasons.

UMR had conference championship efforts on the men’s side from Smith (indoor long and triple jump), Dean (indoor high jump, outdoor triple jump), Carsten (hammer), Charles Melton (indoor 55-meters) and Jamel Sims (outdoor 110-meter hurdles), while getting them on the women’s side from Kueny in the javelin and Taylor Hahn, who won both the indoor and outdoor pole vault.

Earlier this month, Schiding was also honored as the co-recipient of the "Coach of the Year" award at the M-Club awards banquet.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Becca Kueny reached the finals in the javelin throw Saturday, but couldn't rise any higher in the final three rounds and finished ninth in the event at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Kueny made the finals with a second round throw of 132-6 which put her in ninth after three rounds. Unfortunately for the UMR senior, she could not improve on that mark in any of her final three attempts, with the best mark being a 125-11 in the fifth round.

The eighth place finisher, Jayci Peters of Fort Hays State, had a mark of 136-3. Western Washington's Monica Gruszecki won the javelin with a throw of 145-8 in round three.

The other UMR competitor Saturday, men's freshman pole vaulter Peter Hollenbeck, did not clear the opening height of 15-5. The event was won by Grand Valley State's Bryant Wilson at 17-2 3/4.

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Chris Carsten

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- University of Missouri-Rolla senior Chris Carsten finished in 20th place in the shot put Friday at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships, a day after placing 18th in the hammer throw competition.

As was the case Thursday, Carsten fouled on his first two throws before posting a legal throw in the third round of 49-9.

The winner in the shot put was the top-ranked individual coming into the meet, Ashland's Bryan Vickers, with a throw of 62-7 3/4 which was more than two feet better than the next-best mark.

Carsten had a throw of 147-6 in the third round of the hammer Thursday. The winner of the hammer was Kibwe Johnson of Ashland University, who had a winning mark of 222-8. Johnson entered the meet with the top mark in the nation in the hammer throw.

UMR will have two competitors in action Saturday, as Peter Hollenbeck will compete in the pole vault and Becca Kueny, the lone Lady Miner in the national meet, will look to repeat as an All-America in the javelin.

Posted by John Kean at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Brandon Cogan

Brandon Cogan has earned a second all-region award for the 2007 season as he was named to the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Great Lakes region second team for the recently completed campaign.

Cogan, a freshman during the past year at UMR, was selected last week to the Daktronics All-Great Lakes region first team for the program's inaugural year.

Cogan was selected to the team as an infielder after being chosen as a utility player on the Daktronics squad. Cogan was also named as a utility player on Great Lakes Valley Conference's all-league first team after finishing the season as the Miners' leading hitter and as one of the team's top starting pitchers for much of the 2007 campaign.

Cogan split time between pitching and second base this season and ended the 2007 season with a .351 average and 13 runs batted in. On the mound, he was 3-2 with a 3.34 earned run average in 35 innings of work; he also posted a shutout in a 1-0 victory over Lewis in late March.

The Miners finished the 2007 season with a 20-27 record.

RAWLINGS/ABCA ALL-GREAT LAKES REGION TEAM
Second team selections
SP: Gerad Bryan, SIU Edwardsville
SP: Patrick Larm, Rockhurst
SP: Vince Rizzi, Grand Valley State
SP: Michael Thompson, Bellarmine
RP: Frank Allen, Rockhurst
C: Nick Smith, Grand Valley State
1B: Jon Weisman, Wayne State (Mich.)
2B: Spud McKenzie, Grand Valley State
3B: Ben Bartley, SIU Edwardsville
SS: Cory Bunner, SIU Edwardsville
IF: Brandon Cogan, Missouri-Rolla
OF: Andy Heller, Wisconsin-Parkside
OF: Pat Radde, Grand Valley State
OF: Derek Ranck, Wayne State (Mich.)
OF: Tyson Rowland, Ashland
DH: Brandon Fanion, Saginaw Valley State

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A fourth player has signed with the University of Missouri-Rolla men’s basketball team for the 2007-08 season, as Andrew James, a 6-7, 205-pound forward from Eureka High School in Eureka, Mo., has signed a national letter of intent to play at UMR.

James was a two-time selection to the all-Suburban South Conference first team. He averaged 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during the 2006-07 season after posting marks of 9.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and nearly two blocked shots per game as a junior.

He was named to the all-tournament team at the Ameritime Tournament and was selected to play in the McDonald’s Riverwar all-star game featuring top high school players in the St. Louis area from Missouri and Illinois.

“Andrew is a very athletic player with nice size and I believe that he has a very good upside to be able to play at the Division II level,” said Miner head coach Dale Martin. “This is a good match for him both academically and athleticially.”

James was named as his school’s scholar-athlete and was an academic all-state selection. In addition, he is a three-year letterwinner in volleyball and helped Eureka win the state title in 2005 and reach the state semifinals last spring.

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Two Lady Miners named to 2006-07 Academic All-District team

The University of Missouri-Rolla women's basketball team has added its second newcomer to the mix for the 2007-08 season with the addition of Lauren Dubbert, a 5-10 guard-forward from Madison, Mo.

Dubbert, who has played for the last two seasons at Eastern Kentucky University, will have two seasons of eligibility at UMR. She played in 49 games over the last two years at EKU.

“We feel that Lauren will be a great fit for our system,” said Lady Miner head coach Alan Eads. “She was a great scorer in high school and has good size to play the two or three position for us. We know she has the ability to score, but is also a hard worker and a tough player who can rebound. She is a great student on top of all of that.”

Dubbert averaged 2.4 points and 1.1 rebounds per game last season at Eastern Kentucky, making 59 percent of her field goal attempts and five-of-13 from three-point range. She also dished out 17 assists and eight steals.

In her freshman year, Dubbert averaged two points and 1.6 rebounds per game and started in four of the team’s 25 games in the 2005-06 season.

At Madison High School, Dubbert was one of the most prolific scorers in Missouri high school basketball history. She finished her career with 3,048 points, the third-highest total ever, including a state record 686 points during her freshman year (the most ever scored by a freshman in varsity competition). She also holds the state record with 763 free throws made.

She averaged 30 points, just over 10 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in high school, where she pulled down over 1,000 caroms during her four seasons at the prep level.

Her play earned her all-state, all-district and all-conference honors in each of her four seasons of high school and three conference most valuable player awards. She was nominated for Miss Basketball honors in Missouri and for McDonald’s All-America.

Dubbert is majoring in biology and chemistry.

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Kandi Wieberg

The honors keep rolling in for two University of Missouri-Rolla softball players -- and the latest awards are without question the biggest to date.

Junior second baseman Kandi Wieberg and freshman centerfielder Ashley Winter have been named as All-America performers for the recently completed 2007 season. Wieberg was named to two All-America squads, earning second team honors on the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association squad and first team laurels on the inaugural Daktronics Division II team as voted on by sports information directors from Division II institutions.

Winter was chosen to the NFCA's All-America team as a third team selection in the outfield. The All-America awards are the first in school history for members of the UMR softball program.

Wieberg, who was named as the "Player of the Year" by the GLVC, batted .402 with a team-high 12 home runs and 39 runs batted in during the recently completed season in which the Lady Miners made their first-ever appearance at the NCAA regional tournament. As UMR's leadoff hitter, she also led the GLVC in doubles (21), total bases (127) and slugging percentage (.751), while ranking second in runs scored (46), hits (68) and home runs. She ranks among the top five in the GLVC in nine categories and is sixth nationally in doubles per game.

During the 2007 season, Wieberg has broken UMR career records for doubles (42) and home runs (24) and tied the record for the longest hitting streak of 18 games. She had a .494 average in conference play with five homers and 16 RBI for the Lady Miners.

Ashley Winter

Winter, a freshman, led the conference in hitting with a .469 average and a team-high 16 stolen bases. She is also led the GLVC in on-base percentage at .490 and ranks third in the league in hits (67) and runs scored (41). Her 15-game hitting streak earlier in the season was the longest in school history by a freshman.

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER/NFCA ALL-AMERICA TEAM
First team selections
P: Megan Brown, Florida Southern
P: Amber Browning, Columbus State
P: Kristin Erb, Lock Haven
C: Amber Lanier, Columbus State
C: Christie Softy, C.W. Post
1B: Stephanie Denlinger, Kutztown
2B: Vanessa Rodrigue, San Francisco State
3B: Carmen Paez, Florida Gulf Coast
SS: Stephanie Bour, Cameron
OF: Casie Hanson, North Dakota
OF: Sarah Kohlbrenner, Florida Southern
OF: Kandace Kubat, Angelo State
DP: Kaycee Taylor, Angelo State
UT: Katie Veltri, Nova Southeastern
At-Large: Lizzy Prescott, Humboldt State (pitcher)

Second team selections
P: Kari Galm, Angelo State
P: Courtney Reed, Emporia State
P: Samantha Yodowitz, C.W. Post
C: Kelcy Walker, St. Mary's
C: Melissa Slattery, Humboldt State
1B: Natalie Galletly, Humboldt State
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri-Rolla
3B: Megan Davison, Emporia State
SS: Jaclyn Corroto, Gannon
OF: Heidi Gibbs, South Carolina Upstate
OF: Megan Law, Cal State-Stanislaus
OF: Shay Slater, South Carolina Upstate
DP: Vanessa Flores, South Carolina Upstate
UT: Ashley Fitzgerald, Kutztown
At-Large: Malissa Magee, St. Mary's (pitcher)

Third team selections
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
C: Jessica Strickland, South Carolina Aiken
1B: Meredith Heckel, Arkansas-Monticello
2B: Meghan Ward, Mary
3B: Keidra Baitey, Georgia College & State
SS: Rachel Adams, Central Missouri
OF: Ashley Winter, Missouri-Rolla
At-Large: Molly Yetman, Wayne State, Mich. (pitcher)
At-Large: Stacy Haney, Colorado-Colorado Springs (outfield)
At-Large: Alex Acosta, Valdosta State (shortstop)
At-Large: Brittney Cargill, Angelo State (first base)
At-Large: Carolyn Cameron, Humboldt State (shortstop)
At-Large: Nichole Hartfield, San Francisco State (third base)

DAKTRONICS ALL-AMERICA TEAM
First team selections
P: Megan Brown, Florida Southern
P: Amber Browning, Columbus State
P: Kristin Erb, Lock Haven
C: Jeaniel Pati, Henderson State
1B: Stephanie Denlinger, Kutztown
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri-Rolla
3B: Carmez Paez, Florida Gulf Coast
SS: Rachel Adams, Central Missouri
OF: Jenny Dunn, Arkansas-Monticello
OF: Stacy Haney, Colorado-Colorado Springs
OF: Brittany Walker, Lincoln Memorial
DP: Kaycee Taylor, Angelo State
UT: Katie Veltri, Nova Southeastern

Posted by John Kean at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Brandon Cogan

Brandon Cogan, a freshman on the University of Missouri-Rolla baseball team, has been named to the Daktronics All-Great Lakes region first team for the recently completed 2007 season.

By being named to the first team in the program which is in its inaugural year, Cogan will be on the national ballot for All-America honors. That team will be released late next week in conjunction with the Division II World Series in Montgomery, Ala.

Cogan was selected to the team as a utility player, the same spot in which he earned first-team honors from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. He finished the season as the Miners' leading hitter and was one of the team's top starting pitchers for much of the 2007 campaign.

Cogan split time between pitching and second base this season and ended the 2007 season with a .351 average and 13 runs batted in. On the mound, he was 3-2 with a 3.34 earned run average in 35 innings of work; he also posted a shutout in a 1-0 victory over Lewis in late March.

The Miners finished the 2007 season with a 20-27 record.

DAKTRONICS ALL-GREAT LAKES REGION TEAM
First team selections
SP: Nick Beach, Grand Valley State
SP: Matt Marksbury, Northern Kentucky
SP: Danny Richard, Grand Valley State
SP: Michael Thompson, Bellarmine
RP: Joe Panozzo, Saint Joseph's
C: Scott Hauber, Quincy
1B: Jon Weisman, Wayne State (Mich.)
2B: Spud McKenzie, Grand Valley State
3B: Casey Jirsa, Ashland
SS: Cory Bunner, SIU Edwardsville
OF: Tony Hines, Wayne State (Mich.)
OF: David Lough, Mercyhurst
OF: Hunter Slade, Southern Indiana
DH: Brian Sampsel, Findlay
UT: Brandon Cogan, Missouri-Rolla

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Joe Ahearn

ROLLA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri-Rolla has named Joe Ahearn, an assistant coach at Colgate University, as its new men’s soccer coach.

Ahearn is taking over for Vince Darnell, who resigned from the position last month to pursue other career opportunities.

"Everything makes so much sense -- good academics, good program, good conference, good people and a good location," Ahearn said. "There are a lot of exciting things going on at UMR and we look forward to being a part of it."

"Joe will bring excellent experience and a strong technical background to our program," said UMR director of athletics Mark Mullin. "I am extremely pleased and feel fortunate to have him join our staff. He will be an excellent leader of our men's soccer program.

"His character and amiable personality will make him an excellent recruiter and an outstanding representative of UMR athletics," he added. "His recent experiences at Colgate University have prepared him well for the academic environment at UMR. I am excited for him to get started as I know he is."

Ahearn has spent the last two seasons at Colgate, a school located in Hamilton, N.Y., and a member of the Division I Patriot League. The Raiders finished the 2006 season with a record of 8-4-5 after going 9-7-3 in the 2005 season, making the Patriot League Tournament in both seasons.

Before joining the staff at Colgate, Ahearn spent three seasons as an assistant coach at DePaul University where he played his collegiate soccer. While on the DePaul staff, he was involved in the day-to-day operations of the program and assisted in game preparation.

Prior to that, he worked as the equipment operations coordinator for the United States Soccer Federation and traveled with the national team to the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan. He also traveled with the team when it took part in the Under-20 World Championships in Argentina.

In addition, he served as the associate director of the Chicago City Soccer Camps.

Ahearn is a 2000 graduate of DePaul, where he played in 67 games over his four-year career for the Blue Demons and started in every game in his last three years. He was selected to the Conference USA all-league team as a third-team selection following the 1999 season and was chosen as his team’s most valuable player.

He is the holder of a United States Soccer Federation National A coaching license.

"What you will see with our team is that it will be a hard working group on both ends of the field," Ahearn said. "I want this to be a well-balanced team. Our organized defense and creative attack will give us the opportunity to be a top team in the conference."

Ahearn and his wife, Katie, have one son, Frankie.

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ROLLA, Mo. – Andy Ball, who has served on the coaching staffs at Culver-Stockton College and the University of Central Missouri, has been named as the new offensive line coach for the University of Missouri-Rolla football team.

Ball is taking over the position that was occupied last season by Bryan Johnson, who stepped down after the season to pursue other career opportunities.

“My family and I are really thrilled about this opportunity,” Ball said. “One of our goals here is to improve our running game to compliment our outstanding passing game, because we need to be able to run the ball effectively to score more in short field situations and give our team another dimension.”

Ball has spent the last three seasons at Culver-Stockton as the offensive line and strength coach, while also working with various aspects of the special teams.

“We’re really excited about Andy becoming a part of our program,” said UMR head coach Kirby Cannon. “He has a great knowledge of the game and the enthusiasm for it as well, which goes a long ways when coaching the offensive line.

“He has a good coaching background and did a great job at the two schools he has worked at previously as a strength coach, assistant and recruiter,” he added. “I anticipate that he will bring that hard work into our program as well.”

“I am excited to have Andy join us,” said UMR director of athletics Mark Mullin. “He is a personable and motivated individual. He will add a great deal to our football staff and will be an excellent addition to our department.”

Prior to his stint at Culver-Stockton, Ball served as a graduate assistant on the staff at Central Missouri. He worked in all aspects of the Mules’ program, including assisting on special teams, game planning and video breakdowns as well as strength and conditioning. Ball also directed the UCM summer speed camp.

As a student assistant, he assisted in coaching the outside linebackers and special teams. He received his bachelor’s degree from UCM in 2001 and his master’s degree from the university two years later.

Ball’s father, Randy, previously served as the head coach at Western Illinois University and Missouri State University.

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The University of Missouri-Rolla will have three individuals taking part in the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships over Memorial Day weekend at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.

Becca Kueny, who earned All-America honors in the javelin throw last season, will have a chance to earn a second award in the event as the lone member of the Lady Miner squad picked to take part.

The men's team, meanwhile, will have a pair of first-time national entrants in senior Chris Carsten and freshman Peter Hollenbeck. Carsten will compete in the two events where he holds the UMR school record, the hammer throw and shot put, while Hollenbeck will compete in the pole vault.

Kueny will go into the national meet ranked 16th in the event in which 18 competitors were selected. She earned All-America honors last season at nationals at Emporia State with a throw of 148-6 to place eighth. Her top throw of the 2007 outdoor season is 138-9 and is a back-to-back Great Lakes Valley Conference champion in the event.

The national leader in the event is SIU Edwardsville's Alicia DeShasier with a mark of 164-9.

Hollenbeck continues a line of pole vaulters who have earned berths to nationals, as he is the fourth different member of that group to earn a national berth in the last four seasons. His top clearance of the season, 16-1 1/4 set during the Dewey Allgood Invitational at UMR, has him ranked in a tie for 10th heading into the meet.

The current leader in the pole vault is Grand Valley State's Bryant Wilson with a mark of 17-1 1/2.

Carsten set new school records this season in the hammer throw with a mark of 182-2 -- which won the GLVC title -- and shot put at 54-1 1/4 which was established during the Miners' home meet this spring.

He is 13th in the shot put and 18th in the hammer throw going into the national meet. The top performances in the events this season have been posted by competitors from Ashland University, with the shot put mark coming from Bryan Vickers of 61-8 1/4 and the top hammer mark is owned by Kibwe Johnson of 241-3.

The NCAA Championships get underway May 24. Carsten will compete in each of the first two days, with the hammer throw taking place on May 24 at 3 p.m. and the shot put at the same time on the following day. Kueny will compete May 26 in the javelin at 2:15 p.m., while Hollenbeck will be in action later that day in the pole vault at 5 p.m.

Posted by John Kean at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

EMPORIA, Kan. -- The UMR men's track and field sent several competitors to the Emporia State Twilight Qualifier Saturday in a final effort to qualify individuals for the NCAA Division II Championships.

Although several of those competing finished with good marks in their events, none were either better than what they had already posted or were enough to reach the provisional qualifying standards to take part in the national meet over Memorial Day weekend in Charlotte, N.C.

Chris Carsten had a throw of 172-10 in the hammer throw to take third in that event and later in the meet had a throw of 53-2 3/4 in the shot put.

Jarryd Dean had his best mark of the season in the high jump, but his mark of 6-8 was short of the provisional mark of 6-9 1/2 to have a chance to make the meet. He also had a mark of 45-7 in the triple jump. In the pole vault, Lucas Handley cleared 15-7 1/4, but fell short of the provisional qualifying standard for the outdoor championships as well.

Paul Roland ran a time of 1:56.87 in the 800-meters.

The field for the national meet will be announced late Tuesday morning.

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Emily Tucker

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lady Miners fought back from a four-run deficit with six outs to go to keep their season alive, but saw it end about 90 minutes later when Grand Valley State’s Lisa Pruess homered in the 13th inning to give the Lakers a 5-4 victory over UMR in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional at Lewis University.

The loss closed the Lady Miners’ first appearance at the regional tournament and their season with a final record of 29-18. UMR, however, did not go down without a fight.

Grand Valley State jumped out to a 3-0 by the time the second inning ended on three solo home runs off UMR starter Jen O’Hara. Kristin Moleski and Elizabeth Smith hit back-to-back homers in the first with two outs, then Pruess led off the second with a homer.

The Lakers extended their lead in the fifth and knocked O’Hara out of the game when Moleksi hit a line drive off the pitcher’s hand to drive in Karen Walters. Ashley Wallingford took over in the circle and induced a double play grounder off the bat of Smith to get out of the inning.

GVSU starter Lori Andjelich carried a no-hitter into the fifth before Lauren Feltmann broke it up with a one-out single. The Lady Miners then proceeded to break up the shutout in the sixth.

Following Krista Porterfield’s leadoff single, Kandi Wieberg belted a two-run homer to left to cut the lead in half. With one out, Kelsey Musselman singled up the middle and then scored moments later when Emily Tucker hit a home run to center to draw the Lady Miners even.

Wallingford pitched around hits or walks in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings to give UMR a chance to win it. The Lady Miners had a couple of opportunities to end the game in the meantime.

Porterfield reached base in the 10th when shortstop Nichole Woityra tripped and fell while backpedaling to field her pop fly, but got thrown out on a close play at second in an effort to get into scoring position.

An inning later, Ashley Winter singled with one out and stole second, but Tucker lined out to third to end the inning.

After Wallingford retired the first two hitters in the 13th, Pruess hit a pitch over the fence in left to put the Lakers back in front.

UMR had one last chance when Winter singled with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, but Andjelich got Musselman to pop up in front of the plate for the final out.

The Lady Miners finished the game with six hits with Winter getting two of them.

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Emily Tucker

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Ferris State beat the Lady Miners at their own game Friday afternoon, knocking out a big inning early in the contest to beat UMR 12-4 in six innings in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Romeoville, Ill.

The loss pushes UMR (29-17) into an elimination game Saturday morning, where it will take on Grand Valley State at 11:30 a.m. A victory will keep UMR alive for a 4:30 p.m. game against either Gannon or Wayne State (Mich.), while a loss would end the season.

The Bulldogs answered UMR’s three first inning runs with eight runs on eight hits, which included a pair of three-run homers.

UMR, who brought the top offensive team from the Great Lakes Valley Conference into the regional, got a jump on the Bulldogs, taking advantage of three errors in the top of the first to score the three runs

After Kandi Wieberg drew a leadoff walk, Ferris State pitcher Holly Bruntjens threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt by Ashley Winter to put runners on second and third. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Kelsey Musselman allowed Wieberg to score the first run of the game.

With one out, Emily Tucker singled to the opposite field to bring in Winter and an error on right fielder Ashley Nieman allowed Tucker to reach second. The third error of the inning, this one on McKenzie West, allowed the third run to score.

But in the bottom half of the first, the Bulldogs jumped on starter Ashley Wallingford as they batted around and knocked her out of the game before the first inning ended.

Four consecutive one-out singles led to the first two runs, then Laura Crower belted a three-run homer over the left field fence to give Ferris State a 5-3 lead. Wallingford retired the next hitter, but Bruntjens doubled on a ball that Winter couldn’t come up with at the fence and Ashley Nieman followed with a hit to end the Lady Miner starter’s day.

Jen O’Hara took over in the circle, but was greeted by a three-run homer off the bat of Sarah Mueller to complete the first inning scoring.

After Ferris State added a run in the second, the Lady Miners got back on the scoreboard in the third when Winter singled and Musselman doubled into the gap. However, the rally ended right there as the next three hitters were retired in order.

The Bulldogs put two more runs on the board in the fifth and ended the game an inning later when Amanda Jager homered the lead off the sixth.

UMR was held to six hits by Bruntjens, with two of them coming from Winter. Ferris State finished with 13 hits in the contest.

Posted by John Kean at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

JOPLIN, Mo. – UMR’s track and field teams sent several individuals to Joplin Thursday in one of the last attempts to improve or meet qualification marks for the NCAA Division II Championships later this month.

Unfortunately for those taking part in the meet, none of the competitors were able to improve their status and will take one last crack at it Saturday at Emporia State.

UMR had winning performances from Becca Kueny in the javelin with a throw of 128-4, while
Chris Carsten in the hammer throw with a throw of 166-feet. Second place performances came from Wendy Moore in the 800-meters in 2:17.35 and Kal-El Waters-Jones in the triple jump at 44-6, while Carsten was third in the shot put with a throw of 52-1 1/4.

Pole vaulters Peter Hollenbeck and Jared Anders finished fourth and sixth, respectively, with clearances of 15-3 3/4 and 14-9 1/2.

Jamel Sims posted a hand-held time of 13.96 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles.

Posted by John Kean at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ashley Winter

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- The Lady Miners' first appearance at the NCAA Division II Tournament was historic, exciting – and successful.

UMR jumped out to a five-run lead, then withstood a four-run Lewis fifth inning to hold on for a 5-4 victory over Lewis in the opening round of the Great Lakes Softball Regional.

The victory sends the seventh-seeded Lady Miners into a winner's bracket game against No. 6 seed Ferris State, which upended third-seeded Gannon 6-1 earlier in the day, at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Following three relatively quiet innings to start the game, the Lady Miners unloaded on Flyer starter Julie Wingerter in the fourth inning.

After Ashley Winter was retired at first on a close play while trying to bunt her way on, Kelsey Musselman blasted a home run to center to put UMR on the board. Rachel Wilkinson followed with a double in the gap, then Emily Tucker reached on an infield hit.

Lauren Feltmann followed Tucker's hit with an opposite field single to score Wilkinson and send Tucker to third, then stole second moments later. With two outs, Allison Plummer delivered a bloop single to center to bring home Tucker and knock Wingerter out of the game.

UMR got its fourth run of the inning when Krista Porterfield greeted Courtney Lyons with a single down the left field line.

Winter opened the fifth with a home run to left to give UMR a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Miners were one out away from sustaining that shutout through five innings, but the Flyers got three straight two-out RBI hits to close the lead to 5-4.

Christina Willis singled down the line and the ball got past Porterfield to score two runs, then Beth Shelus and Mallory Paine had hits to drive in runs to cut the lead to one. After a walk to Kelly Dianis, Jen O’Hara got out of the inning by retiring Kristy Vanek on a grounder to short.

UMR had a chance to extend its lead in the seventh when it loaded the bases with one out, but a pair of strikeouts ended the threat.

O’Hara got the first two Flyers in the seventh, but walked Paine on a 3-2 pitch to bring Dianis up as the winning run, but O’Hara induced her to fly out to Tucker in right to end the game.

The Lady Miners (29-16) had 11 hits in the game, with Musselman, Wilkinson and Feltmann all getting two hits apiece. O’Hara gave up just five hits and struck out two to improve her record to 19-11.

Friday's game will be broadcast live on KTTR-FM starting at approximately 4:15 p.m.

Posted by John Kean at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On the eve of its first-ever NCAA Tournament game, the honors continue to roll in for the University of Missouri-Rolla softball team.

Three members of the team were named to a pair of all-region teams Wednesday, as Kandi Wieberg, Ashley Winter and Emily Tucker -- all first-team all-league selections by the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the 2007 season -- landed on teams selected by the coaches and sports information directors.

Wieberg, the Lady Miners' second baseman who was named as the "Player of the Year" by the GLVC, was named to the first team along with Winter, who enters the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional as the GLVC's top hitter. Both players were first team selections on squads selected by the coaches from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and on the inaugural Daktronics All-America team as chosen by sports information directors in NCAA Division II.

Heading into the tournament, Wieberg is the second-leading hitter in the GLVC with a .418 average, 11 home runs and 37 runs batted in while hitting out of the leadoff spot in the lineup. She also leads the GLVC in doubles (21), total bases (122) and slugging percentage (.772), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.478), runs scored (44) and hits (66).

During the 2007 season, Wieberg has broken UMR career records for doubles (42) and home runs (23) and tied the record for the longest hitting streak of 18 games. She has a .494 average in conference play with five homers and 16 RBI for the Lady Miners, who earned their first national tournament berth this spring.

Winter, a freshman, leads the conference in hitting with a .470 average and a team-high 15 stolen bases. She is also leading the GLVC in on-base percentage at .493 and ranks among the league leaders in hits with 64. Her 15-game hitting streak earlier in the season was the longest in school history by a freshman.

Tucker, a second-team selection to both squads, is hitting .380 with four home runs and 30 runs batted in. Tucker, a sophomore rightfielder, had a 12-game hitting streak of her own recently where she hit .550 in that stretch.

UMR (28-16) will face Lewis Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in its first round game in Romeoville, Ill.

NFCA ALL-GREAT LAKES REGION TEAM
First team selections
P: Molly Yetman, Wayne State (Mich.)
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
C: Libby Lenart, SIU Edwardsville
C: Mallory Paine, Lewis
1B: Lindsey Perry, Wayne State (Mich.)
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri-Rolla
3B: Kristen McGaughey, Ashland
SS: Jaclyn Corroto, Gannon
OF: Ashley Winter, Missouri-Rolla
OF: Sarah Berry, Wayne State (Mich.)
OF: Jodie Ohlau, SIU Edwardsville
DP: Megan Russell, Indianapolis
UT: Jen Feret, Mercyhurst

Second team selections
P: Courtney Lyons, Lewis
P: Jenn Kulick, Gannon
P: Jaime Williams, Ashland
C: Ashley Mooney, Alderson-Broaddus
C: Sarah Kish, Wayne State (Mich.)
1B: Crista Buresh, Grand Valley State
2B: Kristin Moleski, Grand Valley State
3B: Steph Christ, Gannon
SS: Nichole Woityra, Grand Valley State
OF: Emily Tucker, Missouri-Rolla
OF: Maureen Bailey, Mercyhurst
OF: Amanda Miller, Wisconsin-Parkside
DP: Elizabeth Smith, Grand Valley State
UT: Sarah Mueller, Ferris State

DAKTRONICS ALL-GREAT LAKES REGION TEAM
First team selections
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
P: Lori Andjelich, Grand Valley State
P: Molly Yetman, Wayne State (Mich.)
C: Ashley Mooney, Alderson-Broaddus
1B: Jen Feret, Mercyhurst
2B: Kandi Wieberg, Missouri-Rolla
3B: Carly McCullough, West Virginia Wesleyan
SS: Jaclyn Corroto, Gannon
OF: Ashley Winter, Missouri-Rolla
OF: Alex Pepin, Missouri-St. Louis
OF: Josie Ohlau, SIU Edwardsville
DP: Megan Russell, Indianapolis
UT: Sarah Mueller, Ferris State
Player of the Year: Jaclyn Corroto, SS, Gannon
Pitcher of the Year: Molly Yetman, Wayne State (Mich.)

Second team selections
P: Jaime Williams, Ashland
P: Andrea Lewis, Charleston
P: Sara Somogyi, Saint Joseph's
C: Jasmyn Wentland, Quincy
1B: Crista Buresh, Grand Valley State
2B: Kristin Moleski, Grand Valley State
3B: Whitnie Highland, Fairmont State
SS: Kelly Dianis, Lewis
OF: Emily Tucker, Missouri-Rolla
OF: Amanda Miller, Wisconsin-Parkside
OF: Carol Keinzl, Gannon
DP: Stephanie Kickels, Saint Joseph's
UT: Kristen McGaughey, Ashland

Posted by John Kean at 01:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For the second year in a row, a freshman on the University of Missouri-Rolla baseball team has been honored by the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Brandon Cogan was named to the all-conference first team as a utility player after an outstanding season in which he finished as the Miners' leading hitter. He was one of two Miners named to the all-league team Wednesday, as outfielder Gerad Fox was chosen to the All-GLVC second team.

Cogan split time between pitching and second base this season and ended the 2007 season with a .351 average and 13 runs batted in. On the mound, he was 3-2 with a 3.34 earned run average in 35 innings of work; he also posted a shutout in a 1-0 victory over Lewis in late March.

Last season, Thomas McCormick was named as the GLVC's top freshman; the honor this season went to Drury shortstop Joe Rohlfing.

Fox batted .320 out of the leadoff spot for the Miners with 13 runs batted in and a team-high 15 stolen bases. He was also solid in the field with just one error in 131 chances.

UMR also received another honor as outfielder Joe Montgomery was named to the academic all-district second team. Montgomery, a three-year member of the Miners, batted .260 with a home run -- an inside-the-park grand slam against Truman State -- and 19 runs batted in. He is majoring in computer and electrical engineering at UMR.

The Miners finished the 2007 season Sunday with a win at Northern Kentucky to end with a 20-27 record.

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For the first time in school history, the Lady Miner softball season will not end at the conference tournament.

After a couple of near misses in recent years, the Lady Miners earned a berth to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional that will take place this week at Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill. The tournament gets underway Thursday with UMR facing the host Flyers in its opening round game at 4:30 p.m.

It will be the fourth meeting of the season between UMR and Lewis. The Lady Miners swept the Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader from Lewis April 6 at UMR by scores of 9-1 and 3-2, then the Flyers knocked the Lady Miners out of the GLVC Tournament Saturday with a 6-2 win in the third place game.

UMR goes into the regional as the No. 7 seed with a record of 28-16 after also finishing third in the GLVC regular season race. Lewis, the No. 2 seed and regular season co-champion in the GLVC, brings a 34-12 record into the tournament.

The top seed is GLVC Tournament champion Southern Illinois Edwardsville (41-8), a team UMR split a doubleheader with during the season. The Cougars, the defending regional champions, will open tournament play against eighth-seeded Shepherd (31-17). The Rams finished third in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season but won the conference tournament over the weekend.

The other four teams in the regional all hail from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. GLIAC Tournament champion Gannon (37-13) claimed the No. 3 seed and will face Ferris State (29-15) in the first round, while fourth-seeded Grand Valley State (32-16), who lost to Gannon in the title game, will take on the league's regular season champion, Wayne State (39-15) in the opening game of the tournament Thursday.

UMR will play either Gannon or Ferris State Friday.

NCAA DIVISION II GREAT LAKES REGIONAL
MAY 10-14 AT ROMEOVILLE, ILL.

Thursday, May 10
9 a.m. -- #4 Grand Valley State (32-16) vs. #5 Wayne State, Mich. (39-15)
11:30 a.m. -- #1 SIU Edwardsville (41-8) vs. #8 Shepherd (31-17)
2 p.m. -- #3 Gannon (37-13) vs. #6 Ferris State (29-15)
4:30 p.m. -- #2 Lewis (34-12) vs. #7 Missouri-Rolla (28-16)

Friday, May 11
9 a.m. -- Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
11:30 a.m. -- Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4
2 p.m. -- Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
4:30 p.m. -- Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4

Saturday, May 12
9 a.m. -- Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 7
11:30 a.m. -- Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 8
2 p.m. -- Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8
4:30 p.m. -- Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10

Sunday, May 13
12 p.m. -- Winner of Game 12 vs. Loser of Game 11
2:30 p.m. -- Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 13

Monday, May 14
12 p.m. -- Winner of Game 14 vs. Loser of Game 14, if necessary

Posted by John Kean at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

FLORENCE, Ky. -- The events of the final week of the season has shown that the University of Missouri-Rolla baseball team can play with the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

UMR finished its season Sunday with a 4-3 victory over Northern Kentucky, its fourth win in the final eight days of the season over a team contending for a spot in the GLVC Tournament. The victory also allowed Miner starting pitcher Matt Campbell to tie a single-season record that had stood for 35 years.

The Miners took the lead in the third inning when Josh Hanrahan doubled with one out and scored when Norse shortstop Kory Lonergan threw away a ball off the bat of Garrett Prestegard.

After the Norse tied the game in the fourth on an infield hit, UMR got the lead back in the sixth when back-to-back singles by Gerad Fox and Cody Bass set up the run. Eaf Redden's ground out scored Fox to give UMR a 2-1 lead.

The Miners tacked on two more runs in the seventh for Campbell, who held the Norse to six hits and an unearned run in 6 1/3 innings. With one out, consecutive hits by Joe Montgomery, Nick Zurweller and Hanrahan brought Montgomery in to score. That was followed by a successful squeeze bunt by Prestegard to extend the Miner lead to three.

Northern Kentucky got two of the runs back in the eighth when Larry Pempek singled in a pair, but Mark Phillips -- the second of three relievers used by the Miners, struck out pinch-hitter Kevin Dusold to get out of the inning with Pempek on third.

Ben Sherman pitched around a one-out error to save the game from Campbell, who earned his sixth victory of the season in the finale. The six wins ties the UMR single season record for wins in a year, a mark that was set by Bob Pledge back in 1972.

UMR, which finished 20-27 on the season (13-24 GLVC), got two hits apiece from Zurweller and Hanrahan.

NKU finished the day tied for third in the league, but had yet to clinch a spot in the six-team event that starts Thursday.

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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The men's track and field team from the University of Missouri-Rolla had another strong performance at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Championships over the weekend as it placed second behind host SIU Edwardsville.

UMR had three championship performances in the meet and a total of seven all-conference performances in the meet, including one from its mile relay team.

Chris Carsten obliterated his own school record in the hammer throw and made an NCAA provisional qualifying mark as well with his winning throw of 182-2. UMR also got a win from Jamel Sims in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.66 seconds in the finals

Jarryd Dean, who took second in the triple jump at the league's indoor meet in February, won the outdoor title Saturday with a leap of 45-11 1/4. Later in the day, he earned All-GLVC honors in the high jump with a clearance of 6-6 and in the long jump with a mark of 22-10 1/2, finishing second in both events.

Peter Hollenbeck led a contingent of four Miners among the top six in the pole vault with his second place showing, as he cleared the bar at 16-1 1/4. Anders finished third at 15-9 1/4 and Jordan Henry was fourth at the same height to join the group of Miners who have provisionally qualified for nationals. Lucas Handley rounded out the group of scorers in the pole vault in sixth place at 15-3 1/2.

UMR had three of the top five finishers in the triple jump in Dean, Kal-El Waters-Jones who was third with a mark of 45-3 1/2 and Kyle Williams, who took fifth at 44-1 1/4. Waters-Jones finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 22-0 1/4, finishing ahead of Stuart Denson and Anders, who tied for seventh at 21-6 1/4.

Joffroi Holcombe just came up short of all-conference honors -- which go to the top two finishers in each event -- with a third place showing in the 10,000-meters. Holcombe posted a time of 31:47.03 in the event. Later in the meet, Holcombe finished fourth in the 5,000-meters with a time of 15:14.84.

Another third place showing for the Miners came from Matt Osmond in the 800-meters with a time of 1:55.13.

Ian Packard was fourth in the 400-meters with a seasonal-best time of 48.43 seconds as was Sims in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.49 seconds.

Ryan Vessell recorded a fifth-place finish in the 100-meters with a time of 10.94 seconds, while Matt Morrow was sixth in the discus with a throw of 136-4.

Wes Everhart placed seventh in the javelin throw with a mark of 141-9 as did Charles Melton in the 100-meters in 11.28 seconds, Vessell in the 200-meters in 22.58 seconds, Andrew Ropp in the steeplechase with a mark of 9:49.17 and Brett Agee in the 10,000 with a time of 33:11.55.

UMR also got an eighth place showing from Carsten in the discus with a throw of 133-9 and Paul Roland in the 800-meters in 1:56.82.

The Miners' 4x400-meter relay took second with a time of 3:18.77 to earn All-GLVC honors, while the 4x100-meter relay team took fourth with a time of 42.82.

Men's results from GLVC Championships

Posted by John Kean at 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The University of Missouri-Rolla women's track team took fourth place over the weekend at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, thanks in large part to three all-conference performances.

UMR got conference titles from Becca Kueny, who repeated as the GLVC champ in the javelin with a winning throw of 126-2, and Taylor Hahn who won the pole vault with a clearance of 11-6 1/4. Tamara McCaskill also earned all-league honors by finishing second in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5 1/4.

The Lady Miners also got high finishes from Kierra Handley and Wendy Moore in the 800-meters, as Handley took third in a time of 2:16.99 and Moore fourth in 2:17.71.

Kylee Hyzer placed fifth in the 10,000-meters with a time of just over 41 minutes, while Katie Bruce was sixth in the 400-meters in a season-best 58.24 seconds.

Jamie Statler took sixth in the pole vault at 10-0 1/2, the same height cleared by Sarah Zaremba who finished seventh. Kueny also had a seventh place finish in the discus with a throw of 121-10. Megan Rodenburg also scored for UMR in the 400-meter hurdles as she was eighth in 1:13.35.

UMR's 4x400-meter relay team placed third with a time of 4:01.99, while the 4x100-meter relay team came in fifth place with a time of 49.91 seconds.

Womens' Results from GLVC Championships

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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The Lady Miners’ run at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament came to an end Saturday evening when Lewis scored four times in the top of the seventh to break a tie and beat UMR 6-2.

Mallory Paine’s bloop single over the head of first baseman Rachel Wilkinson scored Beth Shelus with the go-ahead run, then the Flyers added three more runs before the inning ended to end UMR’s run in the tournament.

The Lady Miners finished third in the event and now await word from the NCAA as to whether or not they will receive an at-large bid to the Great Lakes Regional that starts Thursday at Lewis. The selections will be announced Monday.

UMR got a lead in the contest right from the start when Kandi Wieberg homered to lead off the first. However, the Lady Miners didn’t get another baserunner until the fourth, after Lewis had tied the score.

Christina Willis’ two-out RBI single in the second drove in Carla Musillo, who had led off the frame with a triple.

Ashley Winter’s leadoff double that fell in between two Lewis players set up the Lady Miners in the fourth, but after an intentional walk to Kelsey Musselman, Julie Wingerter nearly pitched out of the inning.

But with two outs, shortstop Kelly Dianis couldn’t come up with Lauren Feltmann’s grounder, allowing Winter to come around to score.

Lewis answered the UMR run when Dianis singled through the hole to score Beth Shelus in the fifth.

UMR was held to two hits by Wingerter and had no baserunners after Feltmann had reached on the error in the fourth. The Lady Miners finished the GLVC Tournament with a record of 28-16.

MUSSELMAN'S BIG GAME KEEPS LADY MINERS ROLLING IN TOURNEY

Kelsey Musselman has played a lot of games at Eastside Centre, but may have never had a game there like the one she had Saturday.

Musselman recorded the first three home run game in school history Saturday afternoon, leading the Lady Miners to a 6-2 victory over Southern Indiana in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

All three of the home runs came with two outs.

UMR (28-15) now awaits the loser of the Lewis-SIU Edwardsville game, which it will play at 5 p.m. A win in that game would send the Lady Miners to Sunday’s championship game.

The Lady Miners grabbed the early lead – scoring in the first inning for the third time in four tournament games – when Musselman belted her first homer of the day.

However, the Screaming Eagles tied the score in the bottom half of the first, loading the bases and getting the tying run home when Ally McKinley was thrown out at first from right field.

Musselman put the Lady Miners back in front in the third, after Ashley Winter reached on a two-out single and stole second. The junior shortstop blasted a full count pitch over the fence in left center to put UMR up 3-1.

Two innings later, Musselman belted her third homer of the contest. Winter again reached base with two outs when she doubled down the left field line; a wild throw allowed her to reach third. USI’s Amy Harrison pitched to Musselman despite having first and second open, but left a pitch out over the plate that she hit out to right center.

After getting the extended lead, Lady Miner pitcher Jen O’Hara settled in and retired the Screaming Eagles in order in the fifth and sixth innings. She finished the game by getting pinch-hitter Nikki Nichols to hit into a double play.

UMR tacked on another run in the seventh when Winter drove in Becky Davis with a two-out single.

The Lady Miners finished with nine hits, as Winter had three hits in the game as well.

Posted by John Kean at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

FLORENCE, Ky. – The UMR baseball team posted yet another win over a playoff contender Saturday by knocking off Northern Kentucky 1-0 in the first game of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader Saturday.

Northern Kentucky took the nightcap 4-0

Eaf Redden’s RBI single in the top of the eighth inning drove in Gerad Fox with the only run of the game as the Miners (19-27, 12-24 GLVC) won their third game in seven days over a team competing for a spot in the conference playoffs.

Fox led off the eighth with his fourth hit of the game, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Bass and scored on Redden’s single.

Tavish Hill, who has been a hard-luck pitcher for the Miners throughout the 2007 season, pitched all eight innings and allowed just four hits to get the win. The Miner defense assisted him as three Norse runners were thrown out trying to steal and the team turned a double play to end the game.

The Norse did not leave a runner on base in the first game.

In the second contest, the Norse scored single runs off Stephen Read in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to post the 4-0 victory.

NKU got on the board when Kenny Wilson led off the third with a double and scored on a throwing error on Jon Back’s sacrifice bunt. Wilson drove in the second run an inning later with another double.

The Norse also got a run-scoring hit from Evan McDole in the fifth and added another on a throwing error in the sixth.

Read allowed eight hits and struck out seven in his final start for the Miners, who will conclude the 2007 season with a single game Sunday at noon (Eastern time).

Posted by John Kean at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The Lady Miners’ balanced offensive attack backed Jen O’Hara’s two-hit pitching Friday night as UMR remained alive in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a 6-0 victory over Quincy.

The win sends the Lady Miners (27-15) into play on Saturday against Southern Indiana at 1 p.m.

Unlike its previous game, when UMR needed a late home run from Kandi Wieberg to pull out an 11-9 win over Indianapolis, the Lady Miners methodically took down a Hawk team that swept them during the regular season.

UMR broke a scoreless tie in the third after Coley Naughton drew a leadoff walk. After she moved to third on a pair of ground outs, Quincy leftfielder Nicole Denton dropped a fly ball off the bat of Kandi Wieberg for the first run of the night.

More shoddy defense by the Hawks led to the next Lady Miner run as well. Emily Tucker and Lauren Feltmann got back-to-back hits with one out, then shortstop Lindsay Phillips couldn’t handle Naughton’s ground ball, allowing Tucker to score from second.

UMR tacked on a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Kelsey Musselman and three more in the sixth. Ashley Winter’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0, then run-scoring hits by Musselman and Rachel Wilkinson added on to the lead.

O’Hara allowed only a third inning single to Denton and a bloop single to Missy Weaver in the seventh, retiring 13 of 14 Quincy hitters between the two singles.

Offensively, the Lady Miners banged out 11 hits – all in the span of the four innings in which they scored. Winter, Tucker, Feltmann and Allison Plummer all had two hits apiece.

WIEBERG'S LATE HOMER KEEPS LADY MINERS ALIVE

The Lady Miners bounced back from an opening game loss in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament by scoring early and often in their elimination game against Indianapolis Friday evening.

However, UMR still needed one more big hit from the player named as the league’s “Player of the Year” to secure a wild 11-9 victory over the Greyhounds. Kandi Wieberg's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth broke a nine-all tie to give UMR the victory.

UMR has one more game on the slate Friday as it will play either Lewis or Quincy in another elimination contest later tonight.

The Lady Miners (26-15) built a 9-3 lead heading into the fifth inning, but Indianapolis drew even with a six-run inning to set up Wieberg’s late heroics.

UMR scored in each of the first four innings to build the 9-3 lead. A dropped foul ball by UIndy catcher Colleen Roach off the bat of Emily Tucker – which would have ended the inning – led to a two-run double by Tucker to put the Lady Miners on the scoreboard.

Another error on a stolen base attempt put UMR up 3-0 in the second, then Kelsey Musselman drove home a run with a single later in the inning. UMR extended its lead to five when Ashley Winter drew a bases-loaded walk in the third.

Indianapolis cut into the lead by scoring three times off starter Ashley Wallingford in the fourth, but the Lady Miners answered with four in the bottom half of the inning. Coley Naughton followed two hits with an RBI single, then Wallingford reached on an infield hit to load the bases.

Megan Russell got two quick strikes on Wieberg with two outs, but left an 0-2 pitch out over the plate which she belted into the gap for a two-run double. Winter followed that hit with a single down the line to make it 9-3.

However, the Greyhounds put six runs on the board in the fifth, scoring the tying run when Jen O’Hara – who entered the game during the course of the rally – walked Russell with the bases loaded.

Russell retired the first two Lady Miners in the sixth, but Krista Porterfield reached on an infield single to bring up Wieberg. The junior second baseman, who received her award from the league on Thursday night, hit a ball off the player named as the GLVC’s top freshman over the fence in right center to put the Lady Miners back in front.

O’Hara retired every hitter she faced after the walk to Russell to pick up the win.

Wieberg had three hits to lead the Lady Miners, while Winter, Rachel Wilkinson and Naughton had two hits each; UMR had 14 hits in the contest.

LADY MINERS SHUT DOWN IN OPENER BY SHIMKUS, RANGERS

The Lady Miner softball team got a better understanding as to why Meagan Shimkus was an all-conference pitcher in the Great Lakes Valley Conference this season.

After giving up a first inning home run to Kelsey Musselman, the senior pitcher held UMR to one hit over the final 6 1/3 innings to lead Wisconsin-Parkside to a a4-1 win over the Lady Miners in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Friday afternoon.

Following a rain delay of nearly three hours prior to the start fo the game, Musselman hit a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the first to give the Lady Miners the lead. However, the only other hit UMR would get would be a third inning single off the bat of Allison Plummer, which came after UW-Parkside tied the game with an unearned run in the top half of the inning.

After a leadoff single by Stephanie Luska, UMR pitcher Jen O'Hara made a wild throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Amanda Miller to put runners on second and third. Luska later scored on a ground out to tie the game.

The Rangers then took the lead with two runs in the fourth, going in front on Sara Anderson's one-out single. Luska followed that with an RBI double to make it 3-1.

UW-Parkside added an insurance run in the sixth, as Shimkus took care of the Lady Miners from there. After pitching around some walks in the middle innings, she retired the last eight UMR hitters to earn her 17th win of the year. Shimkus struck out four hitters in the game.

O'Hara took the loss for UMR (25-15).

Posted by John Kean at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lady Miners' All-GLVC selections: (From left) Ashley Winter, Emily Tucker, Jen O'Hara, Kandi Wieberg

PEORIA, Ill. -- Kandi Wieberg's outstanding junior year has landed her the top award from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Wieberg, the Lady Miners' second baseman, was named Thursday evening as the "Player of the Year" by the GLVC at the conference awards banquet held at the Radisson Hotel prior to the start of the conference tournament Friday.

Heading into the tournament, Wieberg is the second-leading hitter in the GLVC with a .440 average, nine home runs and 32 runs batted in while hitting out of the leadoff spot in the lineup. She ranks first in on-base percentage (.497), runs scored (42), doubles (school record 20) and total bases (111), while standing second in the league in slugging percentage (.787) as well as hitting. She is third in the GLVC in home runs and fourth in hits (62).

During the 2007 season, Wieberg has broken UMR career records for doubles (41) and home runs (21) and tied the record for the longest hitting streak of 18 games. She has a .494 average in conference play with five homers and 16 RBI for the Lady Miners, who enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed.

Wieberg was one of three Lady Miners to earn first-team All-GLVC honors Thursday, as outfielders Ashley Winter and Emily Tucker were also named to the squad. Winter, a freshman, leads the conference in hitting with a .470 average and a team-high 12 stolen bases, while Tucker is hitting .408 with four home runs and 28 runs batted in. Tucker, a sophomore rightfielder, is currently on a 12-game hitting streak where she is hitting .550 in that stretch.

UMR sophomore pitcher Jen O'Hara, who has 15 wins in the circle this spring and a 2.64 earned run average, received honorable mention from the conference.

SIU Edwardsville pitcher Kaitlin Colosimo was named as the GLVC "Pitcher of the Year", while Indianapolis' Megan Russell was named as the league's top freshman. George DiMatteo was selected as the GLVC "Coach of the Year" after guiding Lewis to a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the tournament.

UMR (25-14) will face Wisconsin-Parkside Friday at 10 a.m. in its first round game.

2007 GLVC ALL-CONFERENCE SOFTBALL FIRST TEAM
C: Mallory Paine, Lewis
C: Libby Lenard, SIU Edwardsville
1B: Kim Locke, Bellarmine
2B: Kandi Wieberg, UMR
SS: Kelly Dianis, Lewis
3B: Kristin Eckholt, Southern Indiana
DP: Megan Russell, Indianapolis
OF: Emily Tucker, UMR
OF: Ashley Winter, UMR
OF: Jodie Ohlau, SIU Edwardsville
UT: Haleigh Ashworth, Kentucky Wesleyan
P: Kaitlin Colosimo, SIU Edwardsville
P: Sara Somogyi, Saint Joseph's
P: Sabra McCune, SIU Edwardsville

Honorable mention from UMR: Jen O'Hara, P

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