MVC Round-up: Vikings win three of four on diamond

Freshman Weston Loftin got the Vikings out of a fifth-inning jam to get the win during their sweep of MidAmerica Nazarene. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Heart of America Conference road was unusually kind to the Missouri Valley College baseball team this week, providing wins in three of four games.

It didn't start out too well Monday at Central Methodist, where the Vikings dropped a 6-4 contest in the first game of a doubleheader. The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on singles by sophomore Jeremy Middendorf and senior Landry Cobb.

Valley tied it in the second, sophomore Ian Gray and junior Mark Leacox doubling, with the latter scoring when a batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Sophomore Tyler Belt broke the tie quickly with a solo homer and junior Cory Cowsert gave Methodist (8-12, 5-11 HAAC) the insurance it needed with a two-run shot in the third.

The nightcap belonged to the Vikings from the start, with eight runs in the first two innings pacing a 13-4 romp. Junior Gage Wollerman doubled in a run and junior Jay Walkup knocked in a pair with another two-bagged for a 3-0 lead in the first.

Walkup's three-run dinger capped Valley's five-run second. The Vikings added four runs in the fourth on three errors and one hit, Gray's RBI single.

Valley got its first road sweep of the season Tuesday at MidAmerica Nazarene, 11-3 and 5-4.

Wollerman homered in the opener and sophomore George Ban and Gray each drove in three runs to support senior Jeff Syrop, who got his first win by allowing only five hits and two runs -- while striking out six -- in five innings.

Three unearned runs in the top of the second inning gave the Vikings a lead in the getaway game, but the Pioneers (13-14, 5-9) scored the next four runs -- one on junior Jake Gill's homer -- over three frames.

Valley, though, got strong relief pitching from junior Casey Cull, freshman Weston Loftin and junior Kyle McClellan for three scoreless stanzas.

The Vikings surged ahead for good in the fifth when Walkup doubled home a run and scored on Gray's single.

Valley (9-20, 7-13), which posted its second three-game win streak of the season, hosts Evangel for four games Friday and Saturday.

Rodeo

MONTICELLO, Ark. -- The Missouri Valley College men's rodeo team began the second half of the NIRA season by extending its lead in the Ozark Region standings.

The Vikings got by Troy (Ala.), 650 to 605 points, last week at the Arkansas-Monticello Rodeo.

While Valley had no individual winners, it racked up big points with junior James Earl Carter's second place and junior Kyle Brennecke's third in bareback riding and another 2-3 finish by junior Adam Gilchrist and sophomore Will Smith in saddle bronc riding.

Junior Jake Shaw added another 110 points by coming in third in steer wrestling. Also of note on the men's side was a second place by Missouri State freshman Andrew Bridges of Marshall in bull riding.

The Lady Vikings nearly knocked off region leader Southern Arkansas for the women's crown, slipping only five points in the standings with the 430-425 difference.

Senior Kallie Agre of Lindstrom, Minn., had more than half of Valley's points -- claiming the all-around title by winning breakaway roping with runs of 3.3 and 2.6 second and tying senior teammate Amy Adametz for third in goat tying, won by MVC junior Katie Kimble of Henry, Ill.

Valley will be back in action this weekend at the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rodeo.

Men's Golf

SPRINGFIELD -- Freshman Craig Gibson finished in second place Saturday to lead the 24th-ranked Missouri Valley College men's golf team to the championship of the Evangel Invitational at Springfield.

Gibson covered Rivercut Golf Course in a seven-over-par 151 to tie Evangel sophomore Tim McGinnis for second, three strokes behind Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) sophomore Tyler Evenson.

Sophomore Adam Novakowski was sixth at 154, junior Tyler Kasubeck came in ninth with a 158 and sophomore Devan Bestgen placed 11th at 160 -- giving the Vikings 623 team points, three better than runner up Evangel and nine strokes ahead of No. 22 Dakota Wesleyan in third.

Valley was scheduled to compete earlier this week in the William Woods Invitational at Fulton, but the results are not yet available.

The Vikings will host the MVC Spring Invitational next week, Monday and Tuesday at Indian Foothills Golf Course.

Track & Field

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. -- The Missouri Valley College men's 3,200-meter relay (8:32.30) took first place Monday at the Baker Relays, helping the team to finish seventh in the nine-school meet.

Sophomore William Coleman was fourth in the shot put (14.02 meters) and senior Shane Jennings (11.42 seconds) and juniors Everette Sweeting (11.44) and Wilson Mwago (11.46) took the fifth through seventh spots in the 100-meter dash. Sweeting was also sixth in the 200 (23.38).

The Lady Vikings were eighth in the team standings, but had a couple of standout performances -- notably sophomore Taylor Whitacre's victory in the 5,000 (20:09.52).

Freshman Wava Denito was third in the 100 (13.40) and freshman Sheena Carter placed fourth in both the discus (35.37) and hammer throw (40.98).

Valley didn't achieve any qualifying times for the NAIA Championships during its first meet of the outdoor season. The Vikings are scheduled to attend the William Jewell Invitational on Saturday.

Men's Volleyball

Considering its 0-9 start to the regular season, the MVC men's volleyball team closed strong with three straight victories -- including an upset of 10th-ranked Missouri Baptist (30-26, 30-21, 21-30, 32-30) on March 23.

Senior Jamaal Ferguson and freshman Jonathan Roldan combined for 41 kills to lead the Spartans (9-19), but Valley had a balanced attack which put its hits in play -- with a .296 attack percentage.

Freshman Spencer Bishop had 17 kills in 27 attempts, while sophomore Josh DeLeon and senior Drew Fernandez each added 14 spikes.

Four Vikings reached double digits in digs: sophomore Jay Hanagami (16), DeLeon (12), senior Jarrett Fujita (12) and sophomore Mike Robbins (11).

Valley followed that up by taking a home-and-home series with MAMVIC West rival Hannibal-LaGrange.

The visiting Trojans were beaten Thursday, March 26, at Marshall, 30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-27 by another solid hitting performance -- a .295 attack percentage as DeLeon (12), freshman Maysam Amanishourbarik (12), Bishop (10) and senior Austin Zavala (10) combined for 44 of the team's 68 kills.

While individual statistics are unavailable for the Vikings in their30-19, 33-31, 25-30, 28-30, 15-13 win Tuesday at Hannibal-LaGrange (6-21, 0-10 MAMVIC West), the squad enjoyed a .310 attack efficiency -- including .364 in the tiebreaking set.

Valley (8-17, 3-7) is the fifth seed in the MAMVIC West Tournament, which will start Friday in Kansas City's Bartle Hall with a match against sixth-ranked Johnson and Wales (Colo.) -- with whom the Vikings split two home matches.