Riding high on 8-game winning streak

Amelia Mallatt | Sports Writer The Pittsburg State University softball team won all four of its games over the weekend against Emporia State and two more on Wednesday, March 28, pushing its winning streak to eight games. PSU started the MIAA portion of its season strong by defeating the Northwest Missouri Bearcats at home on Saturday, March 24, in a doubleheader. The Gorillas defeated the Bearcats 8-2 and 15-7 in six innings. Northwest Missouri batted first and took a 2-0 lead on a home run hit by Kristen Uthe. Pitt didn’t flinch, closing the gap with a solo homer by Mannie DeCastro. DeCastro’s homer was the first of 10 for the Gorillas on the day….

Short game keeping the Gorillas in the rough

Tyler Smith | Sports Writer The Pittsburg State University men’s golf team was busy over Spring Break, tying for 11th out of 18 schools competing at the Midwestern State invitational on March 20. The Gorillas shared the spot with MIAA rival Missouri Western State University and Dallas Baptist University. Sophomore Brett Dowell led the Gorillas. The Shawnee native shot a round of 73 (38-35) to tie for third, while Tyler Gast led Missouri Western with scores of 38 and 36 to finish the round with 74. The sophomore was pleased by his performance, but he believes they still have much to work on as a team. “We all need to work on our short game…

Lions swipe two from Gorillas

Tyler Smith | Sports Writer The Gorilla baseball team had a tough two-game series against the Missouri Southern Lions as PSU was swept by MSSU at Joe Becker Stadium on Tuesday, March 27. “MSSU pitched us tough, and we were unable to capitalize in some RBI situations that could have swung either game in our favor,” said Adam Reed. “We just need to work on executing better and driving in runs in two-out situations.” Austin Lastimado says he thinks they have the ability to win these games, but they just need to be sure to get something positive out of it, such as appreciating the pitching performance of Matt Stalcup. “I felt like we didn’t…

Above and beyond greatness

Garett McCullough | Sports Editor The 2011-12 Women’s basketball season began with high expectations for the Gorillas, from both within the program and from the community. The Gorillas had established themselves as contenders in the MIAA over the last two seasons under head coach Lane Lord. Now it’s safe to say that those expectations were met. “We have been hanging around third or fourth in the conference, which is the best conference in the country, these past two years,” Lord said. “We had high expectations, but to get to the Elite Eight exceeded them all.” The players knew the season could be special from the beginning, thanks to a few variables and a record-setting start…

San Antonio bound

Gorillas continue historic run GARETT MCCULLOUGH | Sports Editor Lizzy Jeronimus earned the tournament’s most valuable player award and led Pittsburg State University to a 79-67 vic- tory over Emporia State Univer- sity in Topeka. Jeronimus had a 35-point, 10-rebound perfor- mance Monday, March 12, in the South Central Regional Finals. “Jeronimus is a great player,” head coach Lane Lord said. “She makes every one of our players better. We wanted her to touch the ball every time down the floor.” Her performance helped the Gorillas overcome a slow start and extended their record-setting season as PSU now prepares for a trip to the Elite Eight in San Antonio, Texas. Jeronimus’ 35-point single game perfor-…

Sweepin’ Suns:

Softball gets first sweep of the season AMELIA MALLAT | Sports Writer The Pittsburg State University softball team won three of four games last week and earned its first doubleheader sweep of the season. PSU split with the North- eastern State Riverhawks on Saturday, March 10, in a double- header. The Gorillas won the first game 6-5, but Northeastern rallied to win the second game 5-3. On Tuesday, March 13, the Gorillas earned two more wins over Arkansas Tech with a 6-0 victory in the first game and a 7-0 win in the second. In the first inning against Northeastern, Kreslee Ketcham cranked a two-run homer over the right-field fence off of North- eastern’s Shelby…

Three tracksters earn All-American honors

TYLER SMITH | Sports Writer The Gorilla track teams completed the indoor season at the Division II In- door National Championships on March 9 and 10 in Mankato, Minn. Colbie Snyder and Keenan Soles came up big for the Gorilla men while Heidi Smith earned All-American honors in the shot put for the women. Snyder notched a career best in the pole vault at the best possible time, earning him All-American honors as well. Other MIAA participants came from schools such as Central Missouri and Lincoln University. Grand Valley State took the women’s side championship with a total score of 94, besting Lincoln, 43, and Hillsday, 33. On the men’s side, Grand Canyon University earned…

Winning Big in a Big Game

Garett McCullough, Sports Editor The Pittsburg State Gorillas faced-off against the Northeastern State Riverhawks Saturday March, 10 for the right to play in the Regional finals and it was the Gorillas who came out on top, 68-54.   This was the third time these two teams faced each other this season.  The Riverhawks won the first matchup in Larissa Richards scored the game’s first bucket, but the Riverhawks went on an 8-0 run and forced Gorilla Head Coach Lane Lord to take a timeout at the 15-minute mark.   “Northeastern is one of the toughest teams to play, because of their motion offense,” Lord said.  “You gotta give it to our kids.  What a great…

In it to win it

The Pittsburg State women looked to be cruising towards their first National Tournament win leading 40-21 after the first half, but the University Central Missouri Mules never quit in a game that wasn’t decided until the final minute on Friday, March 9.   Pitt State’s women made their first appearance in the NCAA DII National Tournament since 1998 and earned their first tournament win in program history.  The Gorillas topped the Mules 74-70 aided by a 29-point performance by All-MIAA first-teamer and Freshman of the Year, Lizzy Jeronimus.   “These guys were in kindergarten last time we were in the tournament,” Head Coach Lane Lord said. “What a great win for the Pitt State program.”…

Overcrowding at the Weede

Zach Wagner | Sports Writer For Pitt State student-athletes and coaches, the phrase “Packing the Weede” has a negative ring to it. Pitt State’s track and field coach Russ Jewett says the congestion during indoor training has become a regular occurrence while athletes are practicing side by side. “We have had a few problems in the past,” Jewett said. “In one instance while we had some of our runners practicing hurdles, we had a basketball roll onto the track. It happens on both sides, though. A couple of times we’ve had one of our shot-put balls roll onto the basketball court during practice.” The 40-year-old indoor athletic center is part of the university’s Master Plan,…