Missouri Western groups together just after sweeping the double header against Washburn University to enjoy being the schools first MIAA regular season champions.

The Griffons are the MIAA baseball regular season champions for the first time in history, and improve their record to 34-7.

After sweeping the double header against Washburn University in the last regular season home game, and after the ice cold Gatorade shower, coach Buzz Verduzco told his players they get a steak dinner after this one.

“I’m so proud of you guys,” Verduzco said. “I want you to enjoy every bit of it because you guys deserve it.”

Game one was controlled by Western’s pitcher, Jerad Hawkins, as he only allowed one run on three hits in a complete game to get his sixth win on the season.

“It feels great,” Hawkins said. “We’ve worked hard and accomplished it with our work ethic. There’s no more pressure on us this weekend, we’re just going to keep playing hard and win as many games as we can.”

Hawkins told the coach after pitching Sunday that he was ready for this one.
Game two was where the batting really got back to what they often do. Western run-ruled yet another team and did it with incredible energy. First baseman, Spencer Shockley, ended it with a blasted home run over left field.

“It definitely feels good,” Shockley said. “It feels good to be a part of a great team this year and it’s a huge boost of confidence. It’s really something special to be a part of.”

Shockley’s game winning and MIAA clinching home run was his second homer of the day. He finished the double header with four runs, four hits and four RBI’s.

Seven different Griffons contributed runs in the second win.

Third baseman, Grant Fink, batted a run in on a triple and a double and his hitting a .411 average on the season. Second baseman, Kyle Simpson also had two RBI’s, and scored two runs of his own.

Western pitcher, Mark Spreckels, recorded the win in game two. Spreckels went five innings allowing five hits and one run. Kyle Kelly and Mason Queen finished the last three innings giving up no hits and no runs. Kelly recorded four strikeouts in his two innings.

With a team batting average of .363, the Griffons have the second highest team average in division II. Short Stop, Michael Schulze, is leading the high hitting by batting .436, and has the eleventh highest individual average in the country. The Griffons also have the second most home runs in the country.

It took Shockley less than three seasons to break Javier Martinez’ record of 42 doubles – which stood for 16-years and was accomplished in four seasons – after transferring from Western Iowa Community College after his freshman season.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know I was close to breaking it, but its pretty cool that I will have some tradition with the school now and it means a lot,” Shockley said.

Shockley credits his ability to get so many extra-base hits on his lack of ability to knock the ball completely out of the park. “I just can’t get them over the fence. That extra 10 feet kills me so I end up with doubles.

According to Coach Buzz Verduzco, the reason Shockley has been so successful as a hitter starts with the amount of work that he puts into the game.

“He’s got power and the kid is a worker,” Verduzco said. “He’s always been a weight room kid and does his work in the offseason and during the season to maintain his strength. Any time you have that type of work ethic, it’s going to carry over to the field.”

Verduzco noted that it’s is an unbelievable feat to break such a long-standing record in the timespan that Shockley has been a Griffon.

“It just goes to show what kind of hitter he is and just how tough a hitter he is,” Verduzco said. “He has a superb eye that allows him to go deep into the count. When he’s on, he’s one of the toughest in the league to get out – he’s that good.”

Shockley has the distinction of knowing what it feels like to win a championship as he transferred into Western after his team won the junior college world series at Iowa Western.

“It’s a very similar feeling with the guys we have this year and the guys we had at my JUCO team,” Shockley said. “We’ve got guys that can hit the ball good. We get big hits when we need them so it’s just a good feeling going into the postseason.”

Nothing would make him happier than to win another championship in his final season of college baseball, this time as a Griffon. And he has full confidence that his team can accomplish the goal.

“Having a senior year like this is all you can ask for,” Shockley said. “Just putting yourself in a good position as a team and making a championship happen. If we play like we can play and if we get our timely hits and the pitchers keep throwing like they do, then good things will happen.”

The Griffons’ hitting has been nothing short of amazing this season, and Lincoln found that out first hand Easter weekend. In three games, Western cranked out nine homeruns, 53 hits and 42 runs.

It was just another testament to a great season. The series sweep of Lincoln brought the Griffons’ record to 24-4 overall and 19-1 in the MIAA. After the end of the 17-game win streak, Western was quick to start up another one, as they have won their last six.

Freshman pitcher Kyle Kelly doesn’t pay much attention to the streak part of winning, compared to the focus it takes to get wins against any opponent.

“We maintain focus out of necessity,” Kelly said. “Every team can be dangerous if not taken seriously. We want more for one another, so we stay focused for the guy next to us. During a win streak, we don’t really notice the ‘streak.’ We focus on winning for where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Kelly pitched four innings against Lincoln, allowing four runs and seven hits while recording his second win on the season.

Despite the great start to the season, coach Buzz Verduzco believes the biggest challenges are coming up in the next few weekends.

“Our next month that we have is going to be really tough,” Verduzco said. “It’s going to be Pittsburg State, Lindenwood, Central Missouri and of course Missouri Southern. So those weekends we’re going to start facing everybody’s best, the top portion of the league and we’re going to see what we’re really made of now.”

Three of those teams are ranked in the top four of the MIAA, behind only Missouri Western. Those are the next four weekend series for the Griffons. The last one, against Missouri Southern, will be the last series of the regular season.

In fact, Central Missouri is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in the same poll that Missouri Western is ranked No. 12 in, according to College Baseball Lineup.

Verduzco has no problem awarding some of this season’s success to Cobb, a player who does most of his work behind the curtain.

“Harrison Cobb is a fifth year senior and we’re going to miss him when he graduates,” Verduzco said. “We’ll take [batting practice] at the beginning of the day, and Harrison Cobb is the first guy to grab a bucket of balls and throw to everybody else. He’s not worried about himself taking batting practice; he’s worried about everybody else getting as much of whatever they need for us to win.”

Both baseball and softball have shown they have what it takes to win the MIAA, and maybe more.

Baseball has been the scariest team in the league pretty much all season. The (27-5) Griffons are a pitcher’s nightmare. They have been leading for much of the season in almost every statistical batting category.

They have knocked in 275 runs, the most by any team this season, which is 48 more runs than the Central Missouri, the team in second. They have the most hits, 382 total, which is 72 more than the team in second, Fort Hays State. They’ve cranked out 40 home runs. Northeastern State is the closest to that mark with 32, and only four teams behind them have hit over 20. Every other team has hit home runs in the teens or even fewer.

If you just took the home runs from Western’s hitters Grant Fink and Bubba Dotson, they would have 22. That would be enough to be ranked No. 6 in the MIAA.

They are also leading the MIAA in the most doubles, RBIs, slugging percentages and batting averages. Their batting average as a team is an amazing .391. Most hard hitting teams and players also seem to get paired up with the most strikeouts. Western has chosen not to follow those guidelines. Despite being the hardest hitting team, they are currently tied for the second fewest strikeouts as a team.

It’s not just the batting that is getting it done. Give just as much credit to the pitching and the defense.

The pitching has the lowest ERA in the MIAA at 3.74. All other teams are four and above. They have given up 195 hits this season, and are the only team to have given up fewer than 200.

They are clearly the team to beat in the MIAA.

Softball hasn’t gotten off to the best start they could have had, but it’s nothing they can’t move on from. Despite letting a few winning chances slip away, this team still has what it takes to beat anybody.

Currently with a record of 26-10, they are No. 4 in the MIAA.

They aren’t leading in every category, but they are among the top in batting.

Home runs are the trending thing for Western this year. They have 37 home runs of their own, more than any other team. They’ve stolen 48 bases, the second in the conference, and amazingly have only been caught stealing twice, the fewest by any team. They are sitting in the top five in the MIAA in batting average, runs, hits, triples and slugging percentages.

The pitching has the second lowest ERA at 2.23 and is tied for second for the most wins. Every other pitching category is among the top five.

Fort Hays State and Central Missouri are the toughest opponents in softball this year. They both have only lost one game in the MIAA. Western has to prove they can handle those teams if they plan on winning the conference.

They have yet to beat either of them. Western lost to Central Missouri 1-2 and 0-2. They hung with the nationally ranked No. 18 Fort Hays State for 12 innings to lose it 1-2. They got blown out of the water in the second game 3-11.

Both softball and baseball are in the top of the conference and have a chance to go far in the post season. Both being lead by arguably the greatest pitchers in Western’s history at their sport, Jackie Bishop in softball and Brandon Simmons in baseball. If these teams can live up to their expectations, this could easily be the most well-rounded, winning time of the year for the Griffons’ athletic program, and possibly one of the best spring sports seasons in Western’s history.

Western coach, Buzz Verduzco, was happy with the hitting Saturday, but disappointed the Griffons couldn’t get anything going against Pittsburg State’s top guy, Matt Stalcup.

“Heading into Sunday we knew we were going to face their best guy and probably one of the best guys in the league, and he was every bit of that,” Verduzco said. “He really did a great job against us; he threw his fast ball hard, his breaking ball was tight and we couldn’t quite get anything mustered.”

Stalcup pitched seven innings, had nine strikeouts and gave up just four hits against the top hitting team in the MIAA for his fourth win of the season.

It was almost as if Western hit themselves out of rhythm after the way they were connecting Saturday. The Griffons knocked in a thundering 10 homeruns on Saturday, six coming in the first game and four in the second.

Western third-baseman, Grant Fink, contributed to those homers, bringing his total on the season to 12; the most by anyone in the MIAA.

“I’m just trying to give my team the best chance to win,” Fink said. “We can’t think ahead, and as hitters we need to take it one pitch at a time and have a plan at the plate. We are a dangerous hitting team that has a lot of weapons and consistency, so just being in the now will keep us where we need to be.”

Pitching continued to be great in the series. Brandon Simmons picked up his seventh win on the season in the first game Saturday. Pitching was also strong in the second game as the freshman pitcher, Kyle Kelly carried four strong, scoreless innings on five strikeouts to help Banks Born get his fourth win on the season.

Verduzco is especially glad to have Kelly available now, after he red-shirted his first year.

“When you’re a red-shirt player, you wait and it seems like that year is forever before you get a chance to play,” Verduzco said. “He’s a very humble kid, he’s a competitor, got a good fastball and he can get in on people, and he learns too. He’s always trying to learn the game and he doesn’t think he knows it all, and he’s always trying to get better every time he goes out. You can see it in his performances.”

Kelly says he loves his role on the team this year coming from the bull pen because he feels it is the ultimate team first type of role, but hopes to one day be a starter.

“Obviously everyone likes to start and I’d be happy if I got the chance in future seasons,” Kelly said. “It would mean I would have learned more about pitching rather than throwing.”

Western’s one loss to Central Oklahoma came Friday evening and is the only conference loss it has had in their 15 MIAA games so far this season. The Griffons have been playing outstanding all season both offensively and defensively, and have shown every team they’ve faced thus far why they are sitting at the top of the MIAA.

Westerns coach, Buzz Verduzco, has moved on from the win streak talk and is now looking on the bright side of entering into the middle of the regular season.

“The streak is over, so I can say that now,” Verduzco said. “We’ve kind of gotten past that now but it was a great run. Now as far as how we talk to the team and what that means is, we try to get them to be a little bit more consistent minded during the middle part of the season.”

Top pitcher Brandon Simmons saw that loss as a reminder for how bad losing feels, and motivated the team to not want to feel like that again.

“This weekend was a good test for us,” Simmons said. “[Central Oklahoma] was a very competitive team and they gave us kind of a reality check. Their pitching was outstanding and really shutdown our hitters, who have been on fire. I think this past weekend really put the nasty taste of losing back into our mouth and no one enjoyed it.”

Hitting for the Griffons has been off the charts so far in the first half of their season. Westerns hitting numbers are greater than their opponents in every statistical batting category. Runs have been the biggest standout number, having a total of 221 runs scored, averaging out to the team scoring 9.6 runs per game, which is almost twice as many as their opponents 114 runs, at 4.9 runs per game. Western has scored 10 or more runs in 12 games.

Simmons believes that teams that have such dominant hitting are capable of taking the pressure off of their pitchers.

“Having a lineup such as this one it really makes the game so much easier,” Simmons said. “It makes you not afraid to go out and throw strikes and if you give up a run or two, then our team will come up a get them back. It really makes pitching a whole lot easier in general.”

The key to their hitting seems to be coming from their power. The Griffon big bats have already hit 30 homeruns. With seven players hitting over .400, and five players slugging over .600, it’s hard not to get rack up the runs.

Westerns own Michael Schulze, Kyle Simpson and Bubba Dotson are three of the top four hit leaders in the MIAA.

Schulze and Dotson have been the MIAA hitters of the week these last two weeks. Schulze feels that the good hitting between players motivates everyone to elevate their game.

“We are all just very confident and focused,” Schulze said. “Friendly competition is definitely there between all of us. Once one guy hits everyone wants to hit, so it’s actually a good thing. Offense in baseball is contageous so we all definitely feed off each other at the plate. In the end, we all have the same goal and that is to win.”

Although the 17 game win streak ended, another streak still continues. Schulze is currently on a 16 game hit streak. Ever since the first game cancellation, he has recorded at least one hit in every game.

Baseball is not only his oldest passion, but it is one of his first memories. Ever since his grandfather started tossing him wiffleballs to hit when he was 2-years-old, it was all he wanted to do. Simmons knew at a very young age that he wanted to be a collegiate athlete, and it wasn’t until high school that he knew it would be a possibility.

Lucky for Missouri Western, one graduate may have been the deciding factor as to why Simmons chose to be a Griffon.

“On my visit it was a place that felt like home,” Simmons said. “The players were a joy to be around and made me feel welcome. My assistant coach in high school is an alumni from here and he set the whole thing up. I took my visit and instantly became a Griffon.”

The three time First Team All State pitcher fit in quickly at the college level. He led the team in wins with six in his first season pitching as a Griffon. Despite a slight sophomore slump, Simmons still managed to get six wins and become an All MIAA Honorable mention for his second year in a row.

It wasn’t until his Junior season that Western found out how dynamic of a pitcher they really had.
Simmons busted out with 12 wins, the most ever by a pitcher in a single season at Western. His 12-win season was not only enough to lead the MIAA, it was enough to lead the nation in wins.

Western’s coach Buzz Verduzco really sees the positive for the team as a whole with Simmons as the lead pitcher.

“He’s the ace of our staff,” Verduzco said. “Since he got here as a freshman four years ago we could tell at the very beginning he was going to be special, because he really controls the game for us.”

The ace pitcher is coming off his biggest season, and is with a team that has what it takes to push Western farther than they have ever been before.

Simmons has always had one pre-season goal, to be better than the previous year. Despite his record breaking Junior season, his drive to be the best and obtain his goal is still in his sights.

“This year will be no exception,” Simmons said. “I’ve been in this league for four years and have a pretty good idea on how teams will approach the game, and I do my best to disrupt that.”

Coach Verduzco also notices where Simmons pitching game carries over into his leadership qualities.

“The thing that he does for us too is really help out the young pitchers and teach them how to pitch,” Verduzco said.

One young pitcher in particular, Kyle Kelly who was a redshirt freshman last season, sees how Simmons makes players around him better.

“Brandon is a great leader,” Kelly said. “He is a lead by example player and our guys feed off him. He is very detailed in his routine and it shows in his success.”

Simmons success has made him the stand out pitcher he is today. He hopes to not only have individual success, but have team success in his last collegiate season.

“Our expectations are to finish top in our league and eventually win a world series,” Simmons said. “This team has the tools that are needed to win it all.”

After posting a 34-17 record last year, the baseball team is bringing out the bats in hopes of having an even more productive season than last year.

This season, the team is filled with players who have been on the team for years, and their leadership will be needed as they start another season.

Head coach Buzz Verduzco feels that this season will be just like any other season, but the fact that they are ranked as a Top-2 team in the MIAA does heighten up the expectations.

“I think like any other year we have high expectations,” Verduzco said. “This year might be a little different because we have a pretty veteran group. They are coming off a pretty good season last year so I think that players and the coaches have some pretty high hopes as far as where we can finish in the conference and regionally.”

Verduzco noted that this years’ roster is deeper than in the past. The combination of transfers and veterans gives him fresh legs for their long season.

“I think with as many junior and senior type kids that we have, if any body goes down or falls through, we have somebody else to pick them up,” Verduzco said. “We are deeper than what we have been in the past.”

Personality is one of the things that the program pays attention to when picking up transfers from around the country. Verduzco said that this year will be no different.

“We are really big on the type of character a player is when he comes to our program,” Verduzco said. “These men are just awesome guys. They are great teammates and they have been able to fit in with what we do here as well as being able to play with the guys who are playing.”

The Griffons enter the season with five players being named to the all-Region team. Brandon Simmons (RHP), Spencer Shockley (1B), and Grant Fink (3B) are three of the seniors that where named to the all-Region first team.

Senior designated hitter Nate Ramier and Junior SS Michael Schulze were named to the all-Region second team.

Spencer Shockley hopes to bring some veteran leadership to the team as well as a championship in his last season with the team.

“I am expecting to finish pretty high up,” Shockley said. “Hopefully take first in conference, get to a regional, and see what we can do from there. I want to bring some good leadership to the team, get my bat going as well as keeping good momentum.”

Brandon Simmons expectations and hopes are as big as Shockley’s. Both players spoke very heavily about improving from last year and bringing leadership. Simmons said he was excited for another season with new players and winning is the top priority for them.

“We have a lot of returning guys, plus some better guys,” Simmons said. “I expect for us to be better. I just want to bring everyone together and play like a team. We get along well, we bond like a family and we are definitely confident.”

Western’s all-time leading rusher Michael Hill will play in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic in Montgomery, Ala. on Saturday, January 19.  His team will be coached by ex-NFL head coach Dan Reeves.  The practices are open to the public.

Travis Partridge, Michael Hill, Macon Allen, and David Bass were selected to the first team Don Hanson All Super Region 3 team. Ben Pister and Shane Simpson were honored by being selected to the third-team all defense.

Griffons baseball held its first practice of the highly anticipated season.  The Griffons start the season with high expectations as Collegiate Baseball Lineup ranked them No. 25 in their preseason poll.

“Our guys did a great job of improving the intensity and improving the production so from that standpoint it’s been good,” coach Buzz Verduzco said.

Things started out great for the Griffons as pitcher Brandon Simmons allowed no runs, eight hits, and struck out eight in nine complete innings on the mound in game one.  Western won the game 5-0 which included a homer and two runs batted in from Michael Schulze.  Simmons improved his record to 9-2 on the season.

The second game was a low-scoring affair where the Griffons got their only score off an unearned run and fell 2-1 as pitcher Matt Bergin took the loss in relief.  Truman was able to get a string of three hits off Bergin in the fifth inning and that was all that it needed to seal up the victory.  The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Western, its longest of the season.

“I challenge the team that you can’t always count on those pitchers being perfect all the time,” Verduzco said. “You can only win when you score.  The more we can keep the excitement in the dugout because our offense is staying aggressive, the better chance we have to keep winning.”

Western bounced back with an offensive explosion in the third game of the series.  With the game tied 1-to-1 in the fourth inning, the Griffons were able to score eight runs on six hits.  Shawn Egge hit a three-run shot in the inning and Western lead 9-1 after four.

Western went on to win 11-1 as pitcher Nik Jurado improved his record to 7-0 on the season by pitching six innings and only giving up three hits and one earned run.

“Our starting pitching has been great most of the year, but right now we are in a position where relief pitching is really struggling.” Verduzco said.

It looked as if the Griffons would escape with a 3-1 series victory after taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth of game four, but it wasn’t meant to be. Reliever Jake Jones took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits in the bottom of the last inning.

“He couldn’t find the strike zone,” Verduzco said. “Games like that you really can’t let slip away so from the relief standpoint that’s something we really have to fix and improve.  Whatever we have to do we have to improve that is what we are going to do.”

Nate Ramler finished out the series by going 3-for-4 with three runs batted in while Tony Loeffler went 2-for-3 with a run scored and Spencer Shockley went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.

Western returns to its home field to play Southern Baptist at the Spring Sports Complex on Friday and Saturday.

“His leadership ability is the biggest thing we will miss,” Coach Buzz Verduzco said. “Trying to get the new catcher for next year to do what he does is going to be the biggest task. Not just his catching ability but his leadership ability.”

Loeffler has done a very good job of managing the pitching staff, something that Verduzco hasn’t always had in past years.

“He’s been with us two years, and his background in baseball and his approach to the game with his way of being able to positively handle the pitching staff, especially the upperclassmen,” Verduzco said. “He knows when to push the buttons at the right time, he knows how to back off, he knows how to encourage, and he knows how to call a game.”

“Managing this pitching staff is pretty easy because everybody on the staff is smart, has a lot of knowledge for the game, and knows what they are doing out there,” Loeffler said. “I just go with what they do best and tell them what I think and if they like it they do it.”

Loeffler has went through some early struggles at the plate and is batting .235 on the season with 14 runs batted in, but remained an extremely valuable part of the pitching staff’s success.

“Sometimes with baseball you go through streaks and slumps, and I was struggling pretty bad at the beginning,” Loeffler said. “I was just trying to help the team win any way that I can. I’m feeling a little better at the plate and seeing the ball well now, and hopefully I can keep it going through the end of the year,”

Loeffler wasn’t alone in struggling out of the gate and the rest of the Griffons had trouble getting the bats going as well. Recently the team as a whole has been hitting the ball much better and, in Loeffler’s case, Verduzco has an idea of why.

“Tony always says he’s a warm weather player and, sure enough, it’s here and, sure enough, he has been a big part of the offensive surge for the last few weeks,” Verduzco said.

Loeffler will celebrate his senior day along with seven other seniors including pitcher Nik Jurado, who he has been the catcher for in high school, junior college and during his Western career.

“It always helps when you have some familiarity with the guys on the mound,” Verduzco said. “Nik wouldn’t want anybody else to catch him.”

Both players made the journey from California to Missouri to play their last two years of college baseball. Loeffler doesn’t quite know what to make of the whole senior day experience.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet because I haven’t really put a lot of thought into it,” Loeffler said. “I’m sure when we get out there on Saturday it’s going to feel a lot more real.”

Loeffler has his focus set on extending his career for a few more games with the Griffons making a post-season run.

“It’s going to be a success either way, but I want to go as far as possible in the playoffs,” Loeffler said. “I personally think a success would be going to the regional and winning.”

“They have been our two work horses,” Coach Buzz Verduzco said. “Having them on the mound you just kind of know you will get a solid outing, you are always going to be in the game.”

Simmons has a record of 9-2 on the season with a 1.51 earned run average and 53 strikeouts. He was an honorable mention All-MIAA pitcher for the last two seasons for Western and is just a junior.

“I have really grown to like my fastball this year,” Simmons said. “I got it up to about 88 miles per hour, and I’ve been working hard on getting a good slider to go with it.”

Simmons credits the solid defense behind him for allowing him to focus solely on his pitches and location without having to worry about errors being made.

“Brandon is our number one guy, and he sets the tone for the weekend,” Jurado said. “We basically are the same pitchers with the same kind of stuff. He goes out there and shoves and it gives me confidence that I can do the same thing. I think he sets the tone for the whole pitching staff.”

Jurado boasts a unblemished 7-0 record with a 1.96 earned run average and has also struck out 53 batters on the season. He was an honorable mention All-MIAA pitcher last season and has improved his numbers this year.

“I don’t really think I have changed anything from last year, I’m just maybe a little more consistent with every single pitch,” Jurado said.

What makes the Griffons’ two lead pitchers success this season even more impressive is that they continued to give Western an opportunity to win early in the season when they weren’t getting much run support from the hitters.

“They always gave us a chance to really win and kept us in it,” Verduzco said. “The next thing you know we get a late-inning base hit and a late-inning run and win. That’s how a lot of those victories at home happened.”

The tide has turned and now the hitters are producing runs at a much higher rate than they were during the struggles, but the approach is still the same from the pitching staff.

“We knew the bats were going to come around sooner or later,” Jurado said. “We just have a goal to keep every game at five runs or less. Do that and our offense will eventually come around like it has been. They have been amazing the last couple of weeks.”

The Griffons feel good about their post-season chances with the pair of dominant pitchers on the mound, a luxury that not many teams have.

“Having Nik and Brandon is like having two aces going every week,” catcher Tony Loeffler said. “Most teams only have one top guy and we have two of them, so every time they step on the mound we have a really good chance at winning the game.”

Verduzco says that their success hasn’t necessarily come from having overpowering pitches, but from buying into the Western system and doing the little things right.

“Number one, they are competitors and they understand what we do here as a staff and buy into our philosophies,” Verduzco said. “They are exceptional at holding runners and maybe that is what sets them apart from the rest of the staff.”

Brandon Simmons improved his record to 8-2 on the season by only giving up four hits and zero earned runs in game one of the series.  The Griffons won 12-1 as Simmons pitched all seven innings.

Grant Fink hit a two-run homer in the game and produced three RBI’s, while Kyle Peterson and Michael Schulze batted in two runners each.  The Griffons scored eight runs in the first three innings, while the Gorillas’ only run came off of a throwing error in the second inning.

The hot bats continued as the Griffons took the second game 15-1.  Nik Jurado only allowed two hits and zero earned runs in five innings to improve his record to a perfect 6-0 on the season.

Fink, Nate Ramler and  Egge all hit homers while Michael Schulze went 4-for-5 with a triple.  Fink produced five runs batted in while Egge had four.  Kyle Peterson batted in three runners and came up with three hits in the game.

Ethan Ward took the mound in game three and, despite giving up five earned runs, still earned the victory to improve to 5-2 on the season whiles striking out six batters.  Western won game three 13-5 in what was the closest game of the series.

Schulze and Egge went yard and each batted in three runners while hitting 3-for-4.  Western hit seven doubles and two triples to go along with the two home runs.

The fourth game was no different than the first three. It ended with Western getting the blowout win.  The Griffons’ offensive explosion yielded 17 hits and 11 RBIs in the final game of the series as Western took the game 17-6.

Fink, Egge, Jimmy Smelcer and Bubba Dotson all hit homers while Peterson ran out another triple.  Oliver Kady improved his record to 2-1 on the season by giving up four earned runs in six innings and striking out eight batters.

Western had 71 hits that amounted to 57 runs scored over the weekend.

The Griffons will try to keep the hot bats going this weekend against Truman State in a four-game series which starts at 4 p.m., Friday, in Kirksville.

Sport: Baseball

Year: Junior

Position: Third Baseman

Stats this week: Hits — 13; RBIs — 11; Doubles — 5; HRs — 4;

Fink helped the Griffons go 6-0 this week with a sweep over Emporia State and Pittsburg State. The junior nailed four homers and secured 11 RBIs as the Griffons moved to No. 2 in the conference. Fink, a transfer from Mount Hood Community College, is second on the team with a .349 batting average.

“We seem to have a little trouble in game two of the double header typically,” Coach Buzz Verduzco said. “That’s been our deal for most of the year, which is tough because you leave the park not feeling real good and you have to pick it up next time.”

Brandon Simmons and Nik Jurado earned wins.  Simmons pitched a complete game and improved his record to 7-2 on the season while striking out six batters and allowing only one run as the Griffons won 2-0.  Jurado gave up five earned runs on nine hits and needed some help from the offense to get the win, but the Griffons won 7-5.  Jurado improved his record to 5-0 on the season.

“Two guys that have been lights out for us is Nik Jurado and Brandon Simmons,” Verduzco said. “They really give us a chance to win on the road.  If you can split on the road, people say it’s a victory.”

The two games that Western lost were lopsided on the scoreboard.  In game two of Friday’s doubleheader, Western was defeated 9-1 after Northwest scored five runs in the second inning and five more in the seventh.  In the second game on Saturday, the Griffons were outscored 11-1 and took the run rule in the eighth inning.

“The most difficult thing for us so far is to try and get our offense going,” Verduzco said. “We have been taking a lot of the pitches we should be hitting and swinging at a lot of the ones we shouldn’t be. We just have to be able to turn that around.”

Western’s lone offensive outburst of the weekend came in the first game on Saturday.  The Griffons scored seven runs off of 12 hits.  Grant Fink was 2-for-2 with two RBI’s and Nate Ramler went 3-for-4 with three RBI’s.  Tony Loeffler went 1-for-2 with the hit being a home run.

“We just didn’t play with any energy,” Verduzco said. “You can’t do that against your rival.  It was a battle, at the beginning of the series we knew it was going to be a battle.”

Despite the fact that the Griffons were able to split on the road, Verduzco has warned his team about the pitfalls of relying on solid pitching and not being able to produce runs at a high rate.

“I told the team that offensively we are playing with fire right now,” Verduzco said. “After a while you have to start putting up the numbers offensively or we aren’t going to have a chance to win close games as the year goes on and the pitching gets tired.”

Nate Ramler started the scoring in the third inning of game one with a two run homerun that scored Spencer Shockley, who singled to left center earlier in the inning.  The hit was Ramler’s sixth homerun of the season.  The score stayed 2-0 for the next five innings.

A double by Jimmy Smelcer in the top of the sixth inning scored Grant Fink and then Kyle Peterson hit a sacrifice fly that scored Ramler to make the score 4-0.   Ethan Ward shut down the Hornets offense through the first six innings, allowing only three hits and no runs.

Just when it looked like Western had the win sealed up, Emporia finally got to Ward in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring four runs off of a series of singles to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shawn Egge pinch hit for Peterson and hit a single that scored pinch runner Jack Bond.  Egge’s RBI and only at bat of the game was the game-winner as it put the Griffons on top 5-4.

Jake Jones gave up a couple of hits in the bottom of the eighth inning, but fought through it to pick up his sixth save of the season.

The Griffons got on the board in the first inning of game two as a Shockley single scored Grant Fink.  Emporia responded with two runs in the second inning to make the score 2-1.

In the top of the third inning, Michael Schulze singled up the middle and Bubba Dotson singled after him to put runner on first and second.  Fink was hit by a pitch to load the bases up with one out.  A wild pitch scored Schulze and a Shockley fielder’s choice RBI scored Dotson to make the score 3-2 Western.

Oliver Kady shut down the Hornets offense in the bottom of the third and the Griffons got a big burst of offense from Egge in the top of the fourth.  Egge hit a three-run homerun that scored Tony Loeffler and  Smelcer.  The Griffons led 6-2 after the blast and it was all they needed to win as Emporia wasn’t able to produce anymore runs for the rest of the game.

Kady got his first victory of the season, pitching five innings and only giving up four hits.  Matt Bergin pitched two innings in relief and struck out three batters.

Egge had two hits and four RBI’s on the day including his first home run of the season and a game-winning single.  The Griffons are now only one game behind Emporia, who sits in second place in the MIAA standings.

Western will return to action in a four-game series against Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kansas on Saturday and Sunday.  The Griffons won’t play in St. Joseph until April 27th as their next eight games are on the road.

With two outs and Bubba Dotson on second base, Verduzco decided to pinch hit Jared Bell, who hadn’t had a hit all season. It paid off.

Bell’s walk off single to center field sent Dotson home to seal a 5-4 victory in game four of Missouri Western’s four-game sweep against Washburn.

“My logic was that [their pitcher] kind of took it to our right handers a little bit,” Verduzco said. “Some of the lefty at bats that I felt were a lot more productive against that kid than some of the right  handers. And we had one guy left and that was Jared Bell.”

Western took a 4-0 lead after five innings, but the Ichadbods scored two runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at four. With two outs, Bell delivered to give Western the victory and a 19-9 record overall, which includes a 12-6 conference record.

Bell’s walk off came one day after Jimmy Smelcer’s walk off to defeat Washburn 3-2. Western beat Washburn 3-2 in both game one and game two. The Griffons were outhit by the Ichabods in three of the four games this past weekend, and tied game three with six hits.

“One thing I can tell you about Jared, he doesn’t have a hit but he goes to the batters box and he swings,” Verduzco said. ”I’ll give Jared Bell that. He doesn’t get cheated. He’s going to up there and get a good pitch, and he’s going to swing. And so, sure enough, he got a pitch to hit, drove it up the middle and the rest is history.”

Western moves up to No. 3 in the conference, right behind No. 1 Central Missouri (23-5, 18-4 MIAA) and Emporia State (19-8, 15-7). Washburn fell to No. 5 with a .500 MIAA record (9-9) and a 13-12 record overall.

The Griffons head to Maryville to take on Northwest Missouri State this weekend. Although Northwest is currently sitting at No. 9 in the conference, Verduzco said that the team must be prepared because it is a rivalry game, and those are always tough. The Bearcats hold the second most hits in the conference with 303, just 10 behind Emporia.

“It’s going to be knock down, drag out, you’re going to throw records out the window; it don’t mean anything,” Verduzco said.

Pitching has been stronger than in the years past, according to Verduzco. Brandon Simmons holds a 6-2 record while Ethan Ward (4-1) and Nik Jurado (4-0) help provide depth.

Western doesn’t return home until Apr. 28 against Southwest Baptist, following 14 straight road games.

The Griffons bats came out hot in game one as Nate Ramler hit an RBI single that scored Michael Schulze in the first inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Bubba Dotson and Grant Fink led off with back-to-back homeruns. Spencer Shockley hit an inside-the-park homerun that put the Griffons on top 4-0 after four innings.

The Griffons added three more runs in the fifth inning as Dotson, Kyle Simpson and Shockley all crossed home plate to put Western up 7-0.

Pitcher Ethan Ward shut the Mules down until the fifth inning, when he gave up three hits and two runs. Central’s attempt at a comeback fell short as Ward improve to 1-1 on the season, striking out four batters and pitching seven innings. Western won game one 8-2.

The Mules bounced back in game two with hot bats, defeating the Griffons 11-0.

Pitcher Brandon Simmons’ record fell to 2-1 on the season as he gave up five runs in five innings. The Griffons offense totaled five this for the game.

In game three, Shockley and Dotson hit doubles in the second inning while Simpson hit a single and the Mules made two errors to put the Griffons up 4-0.

Homeruns by Fink and Ramler increased the lead to 6-0 after the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Western committed two errors of its own and Central scored seven runs highlighted by a three-run homerun by Jon Cotter. Central led 7-6 after six innings.

Ramler got a single in the seventh to give Western the 8-7 lead, but it wasn’t enough as the Mules got a bases loaded single to win the game 9-8 in the bottom half of the inning.

The Griffons got out to a 1-0 lead in game four, but Central responded with two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Mules never looked back and went on the win the game 7-2.

Western fell to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in MIAA Conference play after facing some very tough early competition.

Max the Griffon should watch out for Griffon pitcher Brandon Simmons after "jinxing" his perfect game. Photo by Jason Brown.

It’s an all-around norm to never talk about a no-hitter. Max Griffon didn’t know about this apparently. Seconds before Simmons threw three straight hits to Nebraska-Kearney and ended the opportunity, Max’s tweet read that Simmons had a no-hitter.

The jinx may have ruined Simmon’s chance at finishing out the accomplishment.

The mascot has been hiding ever since, and is on the lookout. Before anybody lost sight of him, he had one last tweet to say.

“They say don’t talk about a no hitter, not don’t “tweet” about it!,” Max tweeted. Though minutes later, he did send out an apology to Simmons.

Nonetheless, the Griffons won the game. But the game was practically in the bag anyway, so Max remains at fault. Let’s just agree he’s not Steve Bartman. So why is he hiding?

“We don’t know who’s behind Max Griffon,” Western coach Buzz Verduzco said. “But we got that when Brandon Simmons has a no-hitter going, that evidently Max tweeted, ‘Hey Simmons has a no-hitter.’ One pitch later, boom, he gives up the first hit of the game, so he lost the no-hitter.”

So the baseball team is definitely blaming him.

Not everybody is blaming Max. Asst. Director of Athletics for External Relations and good friend Brett Esely is sticking up for Max Griffon.

“I actually have a pretty good relationship with Max, him and I talk on a regular basis,” Esely said. “I went back and looked at the transcript of that conversation, and that actually was tweeted initially at the top of the fifth inning, and let the record show that the no-hitter was not broken up until the top of the seventh inning.”

If anybody has info on where Max Griffon could be, please find him and report him back to the athletics office in Looney Complex.

Missouri Western baseball leaves to face North Alabama on February 18. Photo by Jason Brown

“We think we are ready to play, and we think we have our lineup set as far as who we are going to start opening day,” coach Buzz Verduzco said. “Two out of three starting pitchers they haven’t seen yet, so that’s a positive. We’ve seen two of their pitchers that will open up for them.”

North Alabama was ranked No. 20 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll and was also ranked ninth nationally by College Baseball Lineup heading into the season after making the NCAA tournament last season. The Griffons have high expectations of their own, being picked to finish third in the MIAA preseason coaches poll.

The Griffons are looking forward to getting out on the field after being stuck practicing inside.

“They have been outside, and they’ve been practicing everyday outside, so that makes a little bit of a difference,” Verduzco said. “We’re kind of field-housed out now, we’re ready to play. Our guys are getting antsy. We’re tired of being inside and just want to play somebody else; we’re excited about it.”

Verduzco is looking for the Griffons bullpen to keep the game close with the offense produces after the starters come out.

“Our bullpen is going to have to do a job. Very rarely are you going to have a kid go six or seven innings on opening day and have it be okay,” Verduzco said. “The first team that flinches starting pitching wise is probably going to lose the game.”

The Griffons will be looking for offense from their returning leader in batting average and home runs, first basemen Spencer Shockley. JUCO transfers Bubba Dotson and Shawn Egge will be counted on to play the outfield and provide offense.

“I think Egge is going to be a really good one,” Verduzco said. “He’s physical and can run, almost like a pro-type player.”

Sophomore outfielder David Chew, junior shortstop Michael Shulze and infielder Kyle Simpson will also be counted on for the Griffons.

“Simpson is very good defensively, and we will see how he hits,” Verduzco said. “We feel pretty comfortable with what we are going to send out there.”

The Griffons will play their first game of the season at the Spring Sports Complex Feb. 24-26 in a four-game series against Nebraska-Kearney.

After a stand-out high school career which got him a seat in his high school’s Hall of Fame, Loeffler kick-started his collegiate career by attending Skyline College. It was from this junior college that Western’s head coach Buzz Verduzco began to recruit him.

Catcher, Tony Loeffler, puts on his mask before taking infeild with his teammates on Monday. Loeffler is a team player with a great attitude towards the game of baseball. Jason Brown | Photo Editor

Although Loeffler chose to play Division I, coach Verduzco’s recruiting ability ultimately panned out to Loeffler transferring here. Most people would assume that it would be tough switching from three different collegiate baseball programs.

“It’s different, some things are easier, but other things can be difficult going from school-to-school,” Loeffler said. “The main thing for this school was that it really felt like home. The guys are great, the coaches are great and everyone is real easy to get along with.”

Loeffler brings a wide variety of playing experience, and is one of nine seniors on this year’s roster. As one of the team leaders, Loeffler tries to leave everything on the field by playing his hardest. This is one of the big things he wants to leave behind for the younger players to grasp and pass on themselves.

Last season, Loeffler received an honorable mention as All-MIAA catcher. This season, Loeffler could very well be the best catcher in the MIAA. Loeffler is not one to dwell on personal accomplishments, but rather focus more on what the team can accomplish. His best memories are even that of the team truly coming together.

His favorite baseball memory was last season against Fort Hays State in the conference tournament. Western was trailing Fort Hays 2-4 going into the ninth inning and pulled together by scoring in three runs to win 5-4.

“That was the best ‘team’ feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Loeffler said.

The 2012 season will start for the Griffons on Feb. 18, at North Alabama, a school transitioning into a D-I program. This is a tough team that beat Western last year a total of 26-4. They already started off this season strong with a big win against Kentucky State 24-4.

“They’re a good team,” Loeffler said. “We just have to go in there with confidence and play as hard as we can, and I think we can come out with a couple wins in that series.”

We will get to see the Griffons play in their home opener when they take on Nebraska-Kearney Feb. 24.

“It’s a compliment from the league,” coach Buzz Verduzco said. “The league is tough regardless of where you start out. I think the little bit of experience that we have coming back, in addition to some new guys are going to make for a little better of a season.”

The Griffons finished last season with a record of 26-25 and went 24-19 in MIAA conference play. The Griffons are returning three starting pitchers and some key relief. Matt Bergin went 10-6 last season with a team-low 2.54 earned run average. Oliver Kadey went 4-5 after appearing in 13 games with 10 starts accumulating a 5.58 ERA and Nick Jarudo went 7-3 with a 5.94 ERA. Tyler Riddle had a 4.31 ERA in 19 relief appearances. All four players are returning this season.

“We are excited about the experience coming back, but you have to perform,” Verduzco said. “We have some guys who have been through it, and that sometimes helps.”

On offense, Western will have to make up for the loss of power hitter Isaac Rome, who led the team with nine home runs and was tied for the lead in runs batted in with 42.

“I feel like we lost a big power stick, but this year I feel like we are going to have more consistent power throughout the whole lineup,” Spencer Shockley said.

Shockley is the returning team-leader in home runs with five and RBIs with 42. He’s also the returning team-leader in average, hitting at .319 last season.

Outfielders Shawn Egge and Bubba Dotson, both JUCO transfers, are players that are expected to add power to the lineup.

According to Verdasco, the strength of the team is its overall balance on both sides of the ball.

“I think our offense is going to balance with some returning pitching that will be a little bit experienced,” Verduzco said. “Hopefully the run production will allow our pitching staff to pitch more freely and aggressively than in the past. Knowing that we could potentially score more runs than we did last year is going to boost their confidence as a staff.”

The team returns Honorable Mention All-MIAA catcher Tony Loeffler, who is confident that his senior season will be a good one.

“I think this team can be one of the best teams that Western has ever had and I’ve ever played on, so the expectations are really high,” Loeffler said. “We talk about how we expect to be good a lot. We try and stay humble, go out there with the right mentality and play as hard as we can.”

Western baseball starts its season at North Alabama, who went 37-14 last season with a NCAA Regional appearance. Its first home appearance is at 2 p.m. on Feb. 24 against Nebraska-Kearney.

In game one of the series, the Griffons struggled at the plate. They were shut out through the first four innings of the game, with Jason Solma being the big hitter in the game with a two RBI double in the
fifth inning off Pitt State’s Ryan Sorell.

The Griffons had a chance in their final at bat to tie the game up, but pinch hitter Scott Groner hit into a game ending double play to seal the Griffons loss 6-4.

Nic Jurado put the team on his back in game two of the series as he threw his second consecutive complete game. Jurado gave up just three hits and struck out seven in the game as he improved his
record to 4-1 overall.

“I started throwing my changeup today and got guys out in front and was able to get a win,” Jurado said.

Matt Berig throws a pitch during his first collegiate start against Pitt State.

Solma continued his hot start from game one as he went 3-5 with three RBI’s. Western’s offense also came alive as they pounded out 11 hits in the game. The Griffons also scored four runs in the first inning with three of them coming with two outs.

Western would overcome four errors in the field to give Jurado the win 11-2.

Sophomore Brandon Simmons picked up his sixth straight victory in game three of the series on Saturday afternoon.

Simmons went 7.2 innings, throwing 98 pitches, 65 of them strikes. Tyler Riddle relieved Simmons and was able to work out of a two out jam with runners at second and third to earn the save and preserve Simmons’ win.

“I was still a little sore from Tuesday, but you just have to fight through it and give your team a chance to win,” Simmons said.

Kyle Peterson started the scoring for Western with an RBI single to left field to score Ian Atkinson. In the fifth inning, Andrew Pieper and David Chew executed a perfect as Peiper stole second and on the throw to second, Chew swiped home to give the Griffons a two run lead. Pieper later scored on a double by Ian Atkinson.

Behind a strong performance in his first collegiate start, Matt Bergin pitched eight shutout innings, struck out five and scattered seven hits to lead the Griffons to a 4-0 victory over the Gorillas.

“We expected him to go maybe five but for him to go as long as he did and keep them off balance, that was big for us,” Buzz Verduzco said.

Western’s offense did just enough in the game to give Bergin the win and take three of the four games in the series.

After the series, Western improves to 17-13 overall and 16-9 in the MIAA. The Griffons also currently sit fourth in the MIAA standings.

With the Griffons tied up with Northwest at two late in the eighth inning, head coach Buzz Verduzco put on a suicide squeeze that was executed perfectly by Andrew Piper. Piper laid down a bunt down the first base line that he was able to beat out on the play and allow Mac Collette to score and give the Griffons the lead at 3-2.

Jake Graham belts a pitch from a Northwest pitcher during their four game series this past weekend.

“I just had this feeling that we were going to be able to pull the game out, especially with all the momentum we had coming into this game,” Piper said.

One run was all Brandon Simmons would need to shut the door on the Bearcats as they take the game 3-2.

Simmons pitched a complete game, allowing eight hits and striking out 10 in the victory.

In a double header on Saturday, the Griffons would keep their momentum as they swept both games from Northwest.

In the first game of the day, Ollie Kadey continued where Simmons left off on Friday night. Kadey would go the distance in a complete game victory as he scattered five hits and gave up just one run.

In the second game of the day, Ian Atkinson continued his hot hitting as he went 2-3 with two RBI’s in the game.
Western’s Nick Jurado continued the dominant pitching as he went all seven innings in the contest as he shut out the Bearcats, giving up three hits and striking out four.

“This isn’t what you expect in a four game series,” Verduzco said. “We only used three pitchers in three games and you just don’t expect that.”

In the series finale, Northwest was able to avoid a four game sweep of the series with a 3-1 victory over the Griffons.

“From the first inning I could tell that we just didn’t seem to have it today,” Verduzco said.

Loeffler provided the lone bright spot for the Griffons as he delivered an RBI base hit in the second inning.

Western improves to 13-11 overall and 12-7 in the MIAA after the series.

The softball and baseball teams have to enjoy not driving off campus to practice and for games three or four days a week. For the money that is being spent on the project, it is a top notch facility.

Not many have been inside the complex to see everything just yet, but there is one very noticeable thing that any driver going by can see. The baseball field has a turf infield. Now it may not be uncommon for some places to have turf instead of grass, but this field has turf instead of dirt.
Now the question has to be raised of how this will affect the players.
Playing on a turf infield with regular dirt is a difficult task, but how will it be taking on an entirely turf infield?

I guess we will all have to wait for the season to start; but the athletic department is making a very smart decision. We get a lot of snow in the winter and sometimes even in the early spring. Basically, this translates to a lot of cancelled games.

The turf baseball field will cut down on the number of cancelled games and therefore make the season a little colder for fans, but also add a little bit of a home field advantage.

Coming into the weekend, Western needed to play better than they had and take at least three of the four games from Pitt State and did just that.

The first game started with Western sending freshmen pitcher Oliver Kadey to the mound and he set the tone for the rest of the series for the Griffons. Kadey threw a complete game shutout against the Gorillas in a 2-0 victory.

Senior Danny Conners eyes a pitch during a Western baseball game. The Griffons defeated Pittsburg State this weekend 4-0 and kept their conference tournament hopes alive. Photo | Sara Baum

Game two provided a little more offense as the Griffons took the game 9-4 behind Isaac Rome’s four RBI’s including his 11th homerun of the year.
Western finished the series in a wild game Sunday night which they won 12-11 in 11 innings. The pitching staff, as well as the whole team, were running on fumes by the time the series came to an end.

“Andy Hebrard came into the last game Sunday giving us everything he had and we were able to ride out the emotional roller coaster and win it in 11 innings,” head coach Buzz Verduzco said.

The Griffons fought back to tie the game in the eighth inning behind Hebrard. Hebrard gave up a three run home run to center field in the top of the 11th to put the Griffons down 11-8 going into their final at bat.

Western used three hits to score four runs in their final at bat of the 11th inning to score the comeback win. Atkinson delivered the game winning hit on a RBI single to left center field to cap off the win.

Hebrard earned the win as he pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits but also struck out six batters in his fifth win of the season.

“This sweep was huge for us,” Hebrard said. “Pitching a long relief was something I wanted and so it wasn’t a big deal.”

Western knew they would have to sweep Pitt State in order to keep their post-season hopes alive.

“We were pretty emotionally drained after that series,” Hebrard said.

The Griffons will now take a few days rest and then face Emporia State on Friday and Saturday.in two double headers.

Billy Waldman catches a fly ball during Western’s game against Rockhurst last Wednesday. The Griffons lost the game 8-2 and struggled with errors during the game. Photo | Matt Fowler

Western could only answer with a single in the bottom of the first and would only get three hits over the first five innings.

“Kind of all year we’ve had a struggle with our at bats and tonight was really no different,” head coach Buzz Verduzco said.

On the mound Wednesday night was senior Blake Thomas, the veteran pitcher who went six innings and gave up eight runs. That seemed to be the problem for Western, because only three of those runs were earned.

“The errors kind of got us,” Verduzco said. “They kind of deflated us.”

On the hill for Rockhurst was Alex Seier. Seier went seven innings giving up five hits, one earned run and one strikeout. Leading Rockhurst at the plate was first baseman Ryan Porter. Porter went 4-5 from the plate with two big homeruns that really took the wind out of Western’s sails. Porter was the only player from Rockhurst with more than one hit in the game and a lot of that has to due with the way that Thomas pitched. If you take away the errors for Western, then you’re looking at a one run ball game.

Offensively for the Griffons, they struggled mightily at getting the bat on the ball. There was no Griffon with more than one hit and it wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Griffons were able to get a run across the plate.

In the game the Griffons left eight runners on base – when you do that it becomes very hard for a team to win baseball games. Western managed to get one more run in the eighth off a Scott Groner single.

“Hopefully we can take a few days off, regroup and get ready for the conference run,” Verduzco said. “But we don’t know what that’s going to be yet.”

The Griffons will play the University of Nebraska-Omaha in a double header on Wednesday, April 21 and then will have a double header against Pittsburg State on Friday, April 24.

The first game of the series started on Thursday afternoon in a close game that the Mules were able to take 4-3 in after an unusual error on the infield let the winning run score from second base. Western was able to take an early 3-0 lead on the second-ranked team in the nation as they capitalized on three Mule errors. UCM showed why they were the number two team in the nation, however, as the Mule pitching staff held the Griffons scoreless the rest of the game and only gave up two hits.

The second game of the double header was not as close as the Mules dominated the Griffons and winning the game 15-4.

Andy Hebrard bunts the ball during Western’s game two weeks ago against Northwest. This week when the Griffons played Central, they lost the series 0-4. Photo | Sara Baum

Freshman Scott Groner also chipped in with his first home run as a Griffon and also had three RBI’s in the game. Western committed three errors in the fourth inning that helped the Mules to tie up the game at three after the Griffons had taken an early 3-1 lead. Western also struggled with getting runners home in the game leaving nine runners on base.

“I was very happy with the performance we got from Brandon Simmons in the game and I think that we showed some fight in two of the games and in the other two they really showed why they are ranked second in the nation,” head coach Buzz Verduzco said.

Pitcher Andy Hebrard was disappointed with how the weekend went.

“This weekend didn’t go how we wanted it to,” Hebrard said. “We have to flush it out and keep working hard. We need to keep our heads up and know we have our chance to get ourselves back in it.”

Western falls to 13-15 overall and 7-15 in the MIAA. Western will continue their conference schedule on April 9-10 as they host Truman State University at Phil Welch Stadium.

After losing all four games against Fort Hays the weekend before, the Griffons were looking to turn things around and improve their record.

After getting the right mindset going into the games, everything else just clicked.

Senior Trevor Hannum prepares to bat during a Western game last year. This past weekend, the Griffons swept SBU 4-0. Photo | Marty Ayers

The games Friday ended positively for the Griffons when they won 4-2 and 8-0. The good start helped raise the confidence of the team and end the meeting with the Bearcats with a four-game sweep.

“The wins helped our confidence a lot, because you never want to start out conference 0-4 and it gives us a lot of momentum leading into playing the rest of our conference series at home,” said senior pitcher Corey White.

The Griffons just simply outplayed Southern Baptist the whole weekend, having stellar pitching performances by Andrew Hebrard, John Cochran and Chris Sundvold

They also produced their first errorless game as a team, which helped immensely.

“That was big for us as a team, the wins this week helped us get closer to finding our identity,” Hannum said.

The winning streak against Southwest Baptist continued on Saturday as the Griffons pulled out two wins: 9-3 and 6-2.

Both teams got close to an equal amount of hits all four games, with Western garnishing up 38 and SBU making contact 32 times. Yet, Western was able to take advantage of their hits and contribute more runs than the Bearcats.

“Our defense played a lot better than we did against Fort Hays,” White said.

The team expects to take the momentum of the sweep and turn it into positive play for the remainder of the season. After the successful weekend, Griffon baseball improved their record to 6-4 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while Southern Baptist dropped to 2-13 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

The Griffons finally will play ball in St. Joseph territory on Saturday, March 13, against Missouri Southern.

A new baseball stadium is planned to be built on the Missouri Western campus. The Griffons are thrilled about the opportunity to finally play baseball in front of a home crowd here on campus. 

“It’s always exciting to play in front of a home crowd,” Missouri Western baseball coach Buzz Verduzco said. “We don’t know much about it, other than we are enthusiastic and excited that it is going to happen.”

The Griffon baseball squad finished last year with a 28-23 record, and boasted a 21-14 conference record. They currently share a stadium with the minor league St. Joseph Blacksnakes at Phil Welch Stadium.

With a successful season and a playoff appearance under their belts, Coach Verduzco and the team are looking forward for what’s to come. 

“A lot of players from the past, present, as well as future will have put a lot of hard work and dedication into this program,” Verduzco said.

As the Max Experience recently finished phase two with the completion of the new basketball floor, the Missouri Western athletics program looks toward phase three. The Max Experience has already brought us admission to Western athletics, free food and drinks at athletic events, a new turf playing surface at Spratt Stadium and a new basketball gym floor.  Phase three will bring a new baseball stadium to Missouri Western.

Most of the baseball players are in the dark when it comes to the new stadium. Sophomore pitcher Jon Bond thinks having a new stadium on campus would be a great idea and help the baseball team become more popular.

“We have heard about it, but haven’t found out any details yet,”Bond said. “That would be awesome though.”

The timeframe for the building of the stadium is relatively unknown as well.

“We would like to get it going as soon as possible,” Verduzco said. “We’re very excited that we are at this point.  Hopefully it will happen soon.”

It seems that the process will be on hold until we find a new athletic director. Mark Linder, former athletic director was a huge part of the Max Experience. 

“It will become clearer after a new athletic director is hired as far as the timeline goes,” Verduzco said. Missouri Western hopes to have a new one in place by the beginning of October.

Phase four will involve upgrades to press boxes and student sections at the stadium. Phase four will also bring the addition of student success suites, an auxiliary fitness center, additional office space and a Griffon Zone (similar to ESPN Zone) in the Looney Complex.

The Griffons have no shortage of superstitions on their team. Some players get others involved in their superstition while others do their own personal thing. Even coach Buzz Verduzco has his share of superstitions.

Verduzco fills out his lineup card the same way for every game. He also posts the card in the same spot in the dugout. He doesn’t like guys getting individual media spotlight either.

“Anytime you get individual, a guy ends up 0-20,” said Verduzco. “We keep some of our up and coming guys away from the media out of fear they will go in the tank.”

One of the Griffons’ hottest players this season has a superstition of his own. Junior Tommy Bone leads the MIAA in batting average and has been a leader for the Griffons all year. That hasn’t stopped him from engaging in his own superstition.

“I refuse to touch anyone’s helmet but my own,” said Bone.

Some of these superstitions are normal in baseball, but some players on the team take part in truly crazy rituals.

Most superstitions are an individual thing.

Not for Sophomore Troy Landi. Landi likes to get other players involved.

The Spitbox is a ritual that some Griffon players get involved with. One person draws a square in the dirt to create a box for the event.

Then everyone stands in the same spot and spits into it.

“Everyone has to do it in the same order every time,” said Landi.

The award for strangest superstition goes to Drew Waller. Waller has a unique ritual that gets out of slumps.

When this Griffon goes into a slump he puts change into his right pocket. It’s always 37 cents. No more, no less.

“It’s called the Half Team,” said Waller. “It helps me get out of a slump or cold streak.”

Some Griffons don’t buy into baseball superstitions.

Willie Forrest is one such player.

He hasn’t ever really gotten into rituals and superstitions.

“Baseball has always had superstitions, but they just aren’t for me,” said Forrest.

Some players have different opinions on why guys have superstitions.

Bone thinks it’s a confidence thing. He says players repeat things they think help.

“If a guy does something one day and has a good day, he wants to do it again,” said Bone.

Landi has a different opinion on why players do such crazy things. He thinks it is a comfort thing.

“If someone finds something that works they want to keep doing it. I think it’s a matter of being comfortable,” said Landi.

Baseball players do some truly crazy things for hot streaks. They think they are doing what they have to do in order to win. After all, the baseball gods may be watching.

This spring has been one of the coldest in recent memory and it has had an affect on sports.

The average high temperature in April is 66 degrees. The average low temperature is 42 degrees. The numbers this year have been far below average.

So far this April the average high temperature has been 47 degrees. That is 19 degrees below the normal high temperature. The average low has been 31 degrees.

The below freezing temperature makes the ground hard and can change the playing surface of a baseball field.

The baseball team has suffered the wrath of Mother Nature. Wet field conditions have forced the team to restrict practice to the outfield many times this season. Coach Buzz Verduzco is getting frustrated with the weather this year.

“It has been really cold this year,” Verduzco said. “We never go inside to practice but it’s still hard to get into a game situation.”

These frustrations are reflected in the Griffons record. The baseball team made the NCAA National tournament for the first time last season, going 31-25.

The team is 15-17 this year and another bid to the NCAA tournament looks unlikely.

Defense has been a problem for the Griffons this year, which is something that can be linked to the weather. Not being able to get on the infield and get in some good practice has hurt the Griffons.

“We haven’t played defense, but we are pitching well enough to win,” Verduzco said. “We just have to keep plugging away.”

The team has hit the ball well enough to win games, averaging 6 runs per game. Errors and other mistakes have cost the team though, and that may prevent them from making back to back trips to the NCAA tournament.

“It will come down to pitching and defense for us, not hitting,” Verduzco said.

The Griffons took the first game of the series Friday. The final score was 19-6 in seven innings. The game was called because of a run rule.

Western pounded out thirteen hits in the win. 2B Willie Forrest and 1B Blake Bussman each got three hits apiece. Bussman helped the Griffons put the game away in the fifth inning. Bussman hit a grand slam in the fifth inning, helping the Griffons score six runs in the inning. It was his first home run of the year.

Junior A.J Huttenlocker got the win to run his season record to 3-2. Blake Thomas came on in relief to pitch the final two innings.

The Griffons won the second game of the series 9-7 Saturday afternoon. They scored the first three runs of the game, getting a solo homerun from Forrest in the first inning. They added  two more runs in the bottom of the second inning.

Truman scored two runs in the third inning, making it a 3-2 game. The Griffons pulled away until the end of the game.

Truman loaded the bases with one out and the score 9-6. They could only manage one run as the Griffons held on for the win.

Western pounded out ten hits, getting two solo home runs from Forrest. DH Tommy Bone and OF Brian Munson each had two hits apiece.

Junior Everett Saul went 5.1 innings to get his first win of the year. He gave up four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Kyle Grup got Western out of its ninth inning jam to pick up his first save on the season.

The Griffons improved to 11-9, 4-2 in conference, after the first two games of the series. Truman fell to 4-16.

The baseball team has an extra obstacle to overcome this season.

The Griffons haven’t been able to get out on the diamond because of the cold temperatures and snow. They will go straight from the field house to the field for their first game. Head coach Buzz Verduzco is a little worried about being stuck inside all winter.

“We’re dying to get outside,” said Verduzco. “The first groundballs we take on grass will be during pre-game infield.”

When the Griffons do get out on the field they will look to shortstop Sam Walker to step up and be a big contributor. Walker hit .348 last season and drove in 46 runs while earning first team all-MIAA honors.

Second baseman Willie Forrest also figures to play a big role in the Griffons season. Forrest led the team in homeruns last year and got honorable mention all-MIAA honors. Verduzco likes his dynamic duo in the middle infield.

“It’s nice to have those two guys out there,” said Verduzco. “They can make a difference.” Western made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time last year despite struggling with pitching all year. The team’s ERA was 6.30 last season. Injuries hurt the pitching staff last year but the team thinks that pitching will be one of its strength this season.

“If we can avoid injuries we should be better,” said Verduzco. “We have a deeper staff this season.”

Newcomer Tommy Bone will take over at first base for the team this year. He is a good player who may be able to provide some more power to the Griffons lineup. New catcher Tim Reed can also make a difference when he steps into the batter’s box. The team looks to get solid offensive production this season.

The team has higher expectations after making the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history last season. Western wants to improve from last season and make a run at the tournament again this year.

“We want to live up to those expectations and we understand what it takes,” said Verduzco.

The team thinks they can live up to those higher standards if they can stay healthy and improve their pitching. The pitching staff has another season of experience under  their belt and should be better this year. If the Griffons can shake off the rust quickly this season they think they can get into the NCAA tournament for a second straight year.

McGwire finished his career with 583 home runs, which puts him seventh on the alltime home run list. Normally 500 home runs guarantee a players spot in Cooperstown, which is where the baseball hall of fame is located in New York.

McGwire is a different story though. He is suspected of using steroids during his career, which has a lot of the voters saying they won’t vote for him.

Big Mac became a legend during the summer of 1998. His race with Sammy Sosa for the single season home run record was the biggest story of the year. Everyone loved both McGwire and Sosa.

McGwire gave an interview during which the supplement Andro was spotted in his locker. It wasn’t illegal then so nobody paid a lot of attention. Big Mac and Sosa were being credited with saving baseball.

Now in 2006, after Jose Conseco said McGwire used steroids while they were teammates, McGwire is going to be left out of the hall of fame. There is no proof that McGwire used steroids at all. There weren’t tests for steroids when McGwire played.

Even if there had been tests McGwire wouldn’t have been punished because the substances he was using weren’t illegal at the time. He wasn’t doing anything wrong according to the rules of baseball.

The voters want to make an example of McGwire because he is the first player from the “steroids era” to be eligible for the hall. In doing so they are keeping a deserving player from the honor he deserves.

Other players will be on the ballot in the future that carry the same suspicions as Big Mac. What will the writers do with them? Will Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, and Barry Bonds get in? All these players carry heavy suspicion of steroid use.

Bonds is in no matter what. Even if you credit 200 of his home runs to steroids and don’t count them, his numbers are still unbelievable. Sosa and everyone else will have a tougher time though.

What about players such as Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Albert Pujols? Nobody really thinks any of these players used steroids but will they be punished for playing in the “steroid era?”

Ramirez and Pujols are two of the greatest hitters to ever play the game of baseball. We are talking about two of the top 10 hitters of all time. They have to get in don’t they?

I am not supporting the use of steroids. They do horrible things to your body. But how do you punish someone for using a substance that isn’t even illegal? The voters will have to decide if they want Big Mac in the hall of fame in the next few months. I, for one, am cheering for him.

Let me start by saying I agree with everything said in the previous Royals commentary. The franchise has been in some serious trouble for a while now, but in the seven seasons since David Glass took over, there have been six losing seasons, four of which were 100 losses or more.

So my question is this; why is David Glass still the owner of the Royals franchise when he has done nothing good for it since he took over?

I suppose a better question to ask first is how did David Glass become the owner of the Royals in the first place? After all, when he was bidding for the team he was outbid by Miles Prentice. And this was no small margin, Prentice and his group of 40 some investors outbid Glass by $24 million. I guess since Glass was the Chairman of the Board with the Royals after Ewing Kauffman’s death, he had a lot of pull when it came to deciding who would own the team.

My next question involves the money situation. The last commentary on the subject said the Royals had the fourth lowest payroll in the Major Leagues. How is it that a man that could afford to spend $96 million on a baseball team cannot to invest more money into his players? He’s not using the money to renovate Kauffman Stadium; he had to ask taxpayers for that money. Maybe he’ll invest in something else important, like a new yacht.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit unfair. Not every person to come out of Wal-Mart’s upper corporate structure is a money grubber are they? Glass does have a building named after him at Missouri State in Springfield, so he must have donated to the school from which he came. Sounds like a good guy right?

Take this into account, in an interview that was later terminated by Wal-Mart, Glass was asked about children in Asia working in sweatshop- like conditions. His response: “You might perhaps, define children differently.” Not only did he show his supreme intellect as CEO of Wal-Mart, but went on to say that because of Asian’s generally short statures, you cannot tell how old they are.

Maybe it’s not all his fault. Maybe he is just unable to keep up with the team; after all, managing a baseball team is a major commitment, not like keeping track of business in thousands of stores around the country. That must be why he hired his three children to work on the Board of Directors, to help him make important decisions about the team, like raising ticket prices after the tax increase.

To top it all off, during the baseball strike in 1994-95, Kauffman was one of the strongest advocates for bringing in replacement players to keep the season going as well as being strongly against a settlement with the players union.

Why is this man still the owner of the Royals? What good has he done? He’s lined his pockets and managed to drive a team into the ground. People blame the managers for not being able to put the team together and pull off a winning season, but without the right resources, what options do they have?

Perhaps the biggest question of all is can this team come back from the brink and prove themselves as contenders again? With a piecemeal roster the chances are very unlikely. But if an investor or investors came forward and actually put some work and money into the team, I think this team is more than salvageable. Kansas City is known more for its dedication to the Chiefs, but if a city can get behind that team even when they are going through rough times, why can’t they help get behind this team too? I just hope that Buddy Bell doesn’t have to cry to get KC behind him.

I, like many other fans, wonder how they manage to be so bad every year? The Royals’ ownership and management would have you believe the team doesn’t bring in enough money to pay big time players. That’s why they can’t compete.

You could make an all-star team from former Royals players. Jermaine Dye, Carlos Beltran, and Johnny Damon all made the allstar team last season. They all also left the Royals because they were offered more money by other teams.

Another former Royals player just helped lead the Cardinals to victory at the World Series Championship game. Jeff Suppan was a key pitcher for the Cardinals during their World Series run. Suppan is also a former Royal.

Why do the Royals let all of these players go? They say they can’t afford to keep them. The Royals’ payroll last year was $47 million. That was the fourth lowest total in Major League Baseball.

Other teams in small markets make the playoffs every year. The Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, and San Diego Padres all made the playoffs this year. They also all play in some of the smallest media markets in baseball.

All of these teams know that they must keep their best players in order to win. None of these teams spend tons of money on free agents. They scout well and resign their own star players.

Baseball practices something known as revenue sharing. Clubs in large markets such as New York and Boston, give money to teams in smaller cities to keep the game fair. Almost all the Royals payroll was paid with money that other teams gave them. So all the money made off ticket sales, merchandise, and parking is pure profit for the ownership.

The Florida Marlins had the lowest payroll in baseball last year. They were also in the playoff hunt until the final week of the season. How did the Marlins win so many games with the lowest payroll in baseball?

They kept both of their best young players. The Marlins traded away most of their starting lineup last off-season but they kept Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Willis had a very good year and Cabrera made the all-star team.

So who is the Royals best player? The highest paid player last year was Mike Sweeney. He made $11 million while hitting .258 with eight homeruns and thirty-three RBIs.

Remember Jermaine Dye, a player the Royals let go. He made $5 million while sporting a .315 batting average. He also had 44 homeruns and 120 RBIs.

The Royals continue to make terrible decisions. They need to trade Mike Sweeney. He takes up one-fourth of the payroll and doesn’t give them any production. He may be the face of the franchise, but he isn’t helping them win games.

The Royals were recently voted the worst franchise in sports by ESPN writers. That’s the worst out of every sports league, not just baseball. There isn’t a more poorly run franchise in any sport. There is new hope for the Royals though. They have fired former General Manager, Allen Baird, and hired Atlanta Braves assistant, Dayton Moore.

The first true test will be what the Royals do with outfielder David DeJesus. He is a very good player who is going to want to be paid like one in the future. Will the new Royals GM realize the need to resign him, or will he let him go like so many players before?

Next on the list; I don’t like Kenny Rogers, never have. Unless he writes me a big check, I probably never will. The camera man incident was just the icing on the cake for me. All because Kenny, a man that is on TV at least once a week during the regular season, didn’t want to be filmed during practice.

If it were to have ended there, maybe I would be content with never mentioning his name again, but Kenny couldn’t stay out of the controversy limelight forever.

Game 2 of the World Series started off pretty routine, and the first inning went on without incident, but then the second inning started, and suddenly everyone in the baseball loving world knew that Kenny Rogers had something on his hand. What was it? Kenny says it was mud, others say pine tar. Why didn’t Tony La Russa do anything about it? We may never know the real reason, whether his friendship with Tigers manager Jim Leyland influenced his decision remains a mystery and besides, it was gone by the second inning and Rogers went on to pitch scoreless innings. Issue resolved right? Well, not quite.

See, the next day ESPN’s web page posted some very interesting pictures, showing Mr. Rogers once again, this time in the American League Championship Series, and what did it show? A smudge, very similar to the one shown on his hand in Game 2 of the World Series, and it was in the exact same spot. If he would have just come right out and said “I did it” I honestly would not have such a grudge against him, but he has the audacity to sit there and say that he didn’t realize it at the time.

Put aside the ready-made excuses he had for him, it was cold. A lot of other pitchers supposedly do it, he went on to pitch his team to victory, do I agree with those statements? Yes. But to tell people that it was an accident is just ridiculous, the Cardinals even collected balls after the game that Rogers had allegedly been scuffing with his fingernails.

The worst part about it is that Major League Baseball is doing what it does best, turning the other cheek. Baseball has a lot of room for players to cheat and give them just enough of an advantage to come out victorious. Scuffing a baseball makes it rotate differently, corking a bat makes the ball go farther and we know it happens, but for once do something about it.

Fines aren’t going to keep multi million dollar athletes from trying to slip in their tricks. When you cheat in college you get kicked out, maybe that’s what needs to happen here. The buck stops with the umpires of a baseball game, if they catch a player cheating, they should do something about it, eject them and then let the higher ups dish out the proper discipline, hopefully a suspension. Or has the league become so infested with players gaining unfair advantages that there wouldn’t be anyone left to play Major League Baseball? I would certainly hope not, but I don’t think the possibility is that far out.