Truman State Archives

Truman State falls in GLVC tournament, but has hopes of an NCAA D-II berth

March 4, 2017 By Bill Pollock

After upsetting No. 12 Southern Indiana on Thursday in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals, the magic ran out for the Truman men’s basketball team as it fell to defending conference champion, Lewis, by a score of 85-75 on Saturday inside the Ford Center in Evansville, IN.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 22-9 overall, but have hopes of making the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid when the field is released on Sunday night at 9:30 CT

Truman was led by Cory Myers, who finished with 23 points, three assists, two rebounds, one steal, and a block in 39 of the 40 minutes. Myers more than likely earned himself one of the five spots on the All-Tournament team as he averaged 28.7 points, 3.3 boards, 2.7 dimes, and 1.7 swipes through the Purple and White’s three games.

Truman State soccer picks up 1-0 victory to advance in Women’s NCAA D-II Tournament. UCM and UMSL set to play

November 13, 2015 By Bill Pollock

#5 Megan Frkovic

Senior Megan Frkovic scored in the 50th minute, and the Truman women’s soccer team dominated play throughout much of the night to open the 2015 NCAA Div. II tournament with a 1-0 win against Cedarville (Ohio) on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs (15-2-5), who were making the 11th NCAA postseason in school history, out-shot CU (13-5-4) 7-2 in the opening 45 minutes. Then, after weathering a brief Yellow Jacket swarm at the start of the second half, the purple and white earned a corner kick just four minutes into the half. Frkovic sent a ball into the box, which was returned out to her just off the end line. She then floated a ball towards the goal, which carried just enough to go over the out-stretched hands of the CU keeper and in to give Truman a 1-0 lead.

Much of possession in the second half was played in the Bulldogs’ attacking third of the field; however, the Bulldogs couldn’t find an insurance goal, despite out-shooting the Jackets 7-1 in the second half. CU put together one last effort in the final three minutes – earning its only two corner kicks of the night – but the Bulldogs held off any tying effort and advanced to the NCAA tournament’s second round.

For the game, Truman out-shot CU, 14-3 (7-2 on goal), and took eight corner kicks to the Jackets’ two. Senior midfielder Alexis Heffernan took a game-high five shots, putting three on goal, while junior forward Stephanie Williams took four. Sophomore Katie Mattingly recorded her 12th shutout of the year, making two saves aginst a Cedarville offense that had scored 76 goals on the season entering Thursday night’s match.

The Bulldogs advance to face the second-seeded Knights of Bellarmine, who come into the tournament at 16-2-2 overall. BU defeated Truman, 1-0, in overtime in Louisville during the teams’ only meeting this year.

The MIAA Regular Season and Tournament Champion Jennies Soccer team earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA-II Central Region Soccer Tournament as announced by the NCAA on Monday evening.

As the No. 1 seed the Jennies will host one half of the Central Regional on Friday, Nov. 13 and Sunday, Nov. 15 in Warrensburg. UCM will host fourth-seeded Minot State and the No. 5 seed Winona State. Those two teams will play in Warrensburg on Friday at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to face the Jennies on Sunday at noon at Jennies Field at the South Recreation Complex.

The Jennies are making their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their ninth appearance overall.

UMSL travels to Allendale, Mich., to begin play in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Tritons are the five seed in the Midwest Region and will face four-seed Quincy on Friday at 7 p.m. (EST). The winner advances to Sunday’s second round against host and top-seeded Grand Valley State, the two-time defending national champion.

Division II football polls released. NW Missouri picked to win the MIAA. Truman State tabbed for second in GLVC

August 4, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Photo from a game between Northwest Missouri State and Truman State (courtesy Bearcat Athletics)

Defending MIAA Co-Champion Northwest Missouri received 36 first place votes between two polls as they topped both the coaches and media poll for 2015. MIAA Co-Champion Pittsburg State earned 17 first place votes between the two polls as they finished second in both the media and coaches poll.

The polls could not agree in the third place spot as Central Missouri edged Central Oklahoma by just one point for third place in the coaches poll while the Bronchos were third for the media. Missouri Western racked up 350 points to be picked fourth by the media while UCM was six points behind them in the fifth spot in the media poll with the Griffons earning the fifth spot in the coaches opinion.

Sixth place was agreed upon by both polls as Fort Hays State earned 284 points from the media and 71 points from the coaches. Their was a tie in the poll for the coaches at seventh place as Turnpike Tussle Rivals Emporia State and Washburn each earned 59 points. In the media poll the Hornets edged the Ichabods by just 13 points.

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Truman’s State historic season comes to a close after two losses at the D-II College World Series. First winning season since ’82

May 27, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Truman State went 0-2 at the NCAA D-II Baseball National Finals (photo/Trumanbulldogs.com)

Things may not have ended well for the Truman Baseball in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Finals, but it can’t dampen the historic run the Bulldogs put together. Their season ended on Tuesday with a 13-2 loss to Cal Poly Pomona. The Bulldogs season ends with a record of 35-21, their first winning record since 1982.

The Bulldogs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when Dave Gambino singled and stole second. Jarod Hahn drew a walk and Wyatt Fones was hit by a pitch to load the bases. T.J. Wood hit a two-run single into right center field for the lead. Wood finished the tournament going 3 for 6 with two RBIs.

Cal Poly Pomona tied the game in the bottom of the second and then scored two in the fourth and three in the fifth to pull away. The Broncos tacked on a run in the seventh and then five more in the eighth. Ryan Olson improved to 12-0 on the season after throwing eight innings and allowing both runs on six hits and struck out 14 Truman hitters.

The Bulldogs historic season concludes with a school record 35 wins, and their first NCAA Tournament berth and Midwest Regional championship, along with their first trip to the Division II National Finals.

Over 65 Missouri born student athletes now competing for national championships in baseball or softball (VIDEO)

May 20, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Central Missouri Jennies are back in the D-II College World Series (photo/UCM Athletics)

There is a very good chance that Mizzou and Missouri State baseball will find spots in the NCAA tournament, but there are three softball programs and two baseball programs that are already making plans to compete for a national title starting this upcoming weekend. Between Mizzou, Central Methodist and Central Missouri softball and Truman State and Webster University baseball, over 65 student-athletes who are from the Show Me State will be competing for national titles.

Mizzou softball heads to UCLA this weekend for Super Regionals. It will be a tough test, but one that head coach Ehren Earleywine feels his team can handle.

Pat Reardon the head coach for Central Methodist softball is leading his team on a historic season for the Eagles. Winning a record 44 games and now on their way to Sioux City, Iowa, to open up Friday against Campbellsville, Kentucky.

Webster University is back in the D-III College World Series (photo/Webster Athletics)

Former Jennies softball player Susan Anderson played on the last team to make it the College World Series. Now she’s the head coach. She tells us about the similarities and differences between this year’s experience and what she went through back in 1994.

The Jennies hosted the regional tournament, and beat Missouri Western and Henderson State to get to Super Regionals where they went on the road to Augustana South Dakota and swept that best of three series. UCM tied a school record with 49 wins and Anderson says her team is hitting their stride.

For baseball, a tale of two very different programs. On the D-II level, Truman State hasn’t had a record above .500 since 1982, yet the Bulldogs and longtime coach Dan Davis are headed to Cary, NC for the World Series. Why has Davis stuck around through so many lean years to see this thing through? You’ll be impressed by his answer.

On the Division III level, we may have the closest thing to a dynasty with Webster University. This is the third time in four seasons, the Gorloks will be playing in the Division III College World Series and 7th time in 9 seasons for head coach Bill Kurich, that they’ve made it to postseason.

Truman State and Webster University baseball will represent Missouri at NCAA D-II and D-III College World Series

May 18, 2015 By Bill Pollock

The Truman Bulldogs make their first CWS appearance (photo/Truman Athletics)

A bases-clearing double by senior Zak Larkin in the top of the ninth inning broke open a 3-3 tie and the Bulldogs punch their ticket to the NCAA Div. II College World Series with a 6-3 victory against Ashland (Ohio) in the championship game of the Midwest regional. The victory capped a perfect 4-0 weekend on the Lindenwood University campus, as Truman beat Missouri schools, William Jewell and Drury.

The Bulldogs travel to Cary, N.C., with games beginning on Saturday, May 23.

This is Truman’s first College World Series appearance. Truman has broken the previous school record for single-season wins (26) in their first guaranteed +.500 season since 1982. The field will be set Monday evening.

Webster University makes their third CWS appearance in four years (photo/Webster University)

The #24 ranked Webster University baseball team won the NCAA III Waterloo Regional with a 5-1 win over Carthage College (WI) on Sunday in Waterloo, IA. The Gorloks advance to their third NCAA III Championship ‘World Series’ in four years.

Webster swept the regional, going 4-0, and will now travel to Appleton, WI, on May 22 for the ‘World Series.’ The Gorloks will be one of eight teams vying for the championship in the double elimination format. Webster previously advanced to the ‘World Series’ in 2012 and 2013. Webster will face the #1 ranked Cortland State (NY) in first round action.

The Gorloks are 34-13 on the season.

Truman State and Drury win their D-II regional baseball openers in St. Charles. Bulldogs and Panthers face each other Friday

May 15, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Truman State pitcher Cody Gardner (photo/TrumanBulldogs.com)

Senior Cody Gardner tossed his 14th career complete game and his second shutout as the Truman Baseball team blanked William Jewell 6-0 in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional on Thursday night. The Bulldogs will face the Drury Panthers on Friday at 7 p.m. Drury earned a 9-4 win over #2 Grand Valley (Mich.) State in the tournament opener that pitted champions from the postseason tournaments of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

Gardner allowed six hits, struck out four and walked nobody while throwing 115 pitches to earn his team-leading and school record breaking ninth win of the season and 15th for his career for Truman State.

The fifth-seeded Panthers used seven strong innings from senior pitcher Trevor Richards and a small-ball offense to beat second-seed Grand Valley State 9-4. In winning its fifth straight post-season game against a higher-seeded team – the then-seventh seed Panthers defeated seeds 1, 2, 3 and 5 last weekend to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship. Coach Scott Nasby’s squad improved to 32-22-1 with its 15th win in its last 17 games.

Four Missouri schools selected for the D-II baseball national tournament. Drury, Missouri Southern, William Jewell and Truman State begin quest this week

May 11, 2015 By Bill Pollock

Drury University baseball team

The NCAA Division II Baseball Committee has selected the 48 teams that will participate in the 2015 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

The championship provides for eight regional sites hosting six teams. All regionals are double-elimination tournaments and will be played May 14-17. Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 23-30 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The finals will be hosted by Mount Olive and the town of Cary, North Carolina.

Seventh-seed Drury scrapped its way to a 3-2 lead, and senior Tyler Arthur – for the second straight day – then broke it open with a pivotal homer as the Panthers knocked off top seed Quincy 7-2 Sunday afternoon for their second straight Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship and automatic NCAA-II tourney bid.

Coach Scott Nasby’s Panthers (31-22-1), who’ve won 14 of their last 16 games, will now enter the Midwest Regional in St. Charles, Mo. (Lindenwood University) as the No. 5 seed in the six-team regional, and will take on No. 2 seed Grand Valley State on Thursday in the double-elimination event. The regional runs through Sunday, with the winner moving on to the NCAA-II World Series in Cary, NC May 22-30.

It will mark Drury’s third straight appearance in the NCAA tourney and second straight via automatic bid, after the Panthers continued their amazing late-season surge by knocking off a strong Quincy team in the finals for a second straight year.

William Jewell baseball

For the first time since joing the NCAA, the William Jewell College Baseball team earned a spot into the 48-team NCAA Division II National Championship Baseball Tournament. The third-seeded Cardinals will play on Thursday against fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Truman State who is seeded fourth in the regional tourney. Times for the tournament will be announced later today.

The Cardinals will head to the Regional with an overall record of 37-17 and the Bulldogs finished the season at 31-20. The two teams split the four games they played during the regular season back on March 28 and 29 in Liberty.

For the first time in program history, the Truman Baseball team earned a spot into the 48-team NCAA Division II National Championship Baseball Tournament. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs will play on Thursday against the third-seeded William Jewell (Mo.) at a time to be determined.

Truman State baseball

The Bulldogs (31-20) and the Cardinals (37-17) split the four games they played during the regular season in Liberty. William Jewell won 4-3 and 5-4 while Truman won 6-5 and 6-4. The two teams did not play each other at the GLVC Postseason Tournament.

Missouri Southern advanced after the tournament after heavy rain in Kansas City, cancelled the final game in the 2015 MIAA Baseball Tournament. With both Missouri Southern and Emporia State having only one loss and Missouri Southern being the highest-remaining seed, the Lions were named tournament champs and named the MIAA’s automatic qualifier to the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Click here for more on Missouri Southern.

Story and photos courtesy drurypanthers.com, trumanbulldogs.com, and jewellcardinals.com

Former Truman men’s basketball standout Mike Carlson signs with Spanish club CB Clavijo

July 29, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Mike Carlson

Former Truman men’s basketball standout Mike Carlson has signed with the Spanish club CB Clavijo, continuing his international basketball career in Logroño, Spain, after a brief stint in Brisbane, Australia.

Carlson joins a Spanish club that currently features four former NCAA Div. II players on its roster, including GLVC-member Drury (Mo.) University’s Alex Hall, and former MIAA-foe Fort Hays (Kan.) State’s Ben Conguista.

Carlson, who earned co-Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year honors following the 2013-14 season, began his professional career with the South West Metro Pirates of the Australian League before agreeing with CB Clavijo. After averaging 21.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, and nearly two assists per game as a senior at Truman, Carlson exploded in Australia’s major league to a tune of 26.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in nearly 34 minutes per night with South West Metro.

In his final game with the club, he scored 42 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a Pirates victory.

“Playing professionally has been a goal of mine for a long time, and it is only possible because of the culture that the coaching staff and my teammates created while at Truman,” Carlson said. “They created an environment where it was expected that you perform at a high level every single day. That mentality has been crucial to my successes in Australia this summer and will be paramount as I begin my professional career in Spain.”

“Nobody deserves this opportunity more than Mike,” Truman head coach Matt Woodley said. “He’s the best player I’ve coached, as his toughness, skill level, and drive will make him a great pro player for many years. I am so proud of him. He has meant the world to me as a coach and was the main cog in turning this program around.”

CB Clavijo competes in the Spanish LEB Gold league, the second of three leagues in Spain. The club tied for seventh in the 2013-14 standings, finishing with a record of 13-13.

Story courtesy, Truman State Athletics.

Drury University and Central Missouri advance in NCAA Tournament. Truman St and UMSL out

March 15, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Annie Armstrong puts up a shot against Truman State. (photo/Drury Athletics)

Drury University guard Annie Armstrong scored a career-high 22 points, including the driving bucket to send it to overtime, as the top seeded Panthers escaped with a 74-68 victory over No. 8 seed Truman State in overtime of the NCAA-II MIdwest Regional women’s basketball tournament Friday night at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

Amber Dvorak added 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Lady Panthers (25-3) advanced to Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. semifinal against fifth-seed Quincy (23-6).

Amy Briggs put Truman State up 65-53 with a three-pointer with 1:15 to go, but both teams turned it over twice in the final minute before Armstrong’s running jumper with 10 seconds left tied at 65, and Briggs missed a potential game-winner before time expired.

The Lady Panthers never trailed in overtime.

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