Matt Enright scored a game-high 29 points, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Tritons past Lake Superior State in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final on Tuesday in Springfield, Illinois. (Photo by Luke Rinne/UMSL Athletics)
Men’s Basketball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis men’s basketball team’s NCAA Division II Tournament run came to an end Tuesday night with a 75-62 loss to 16th-ranked Lake Superior State in the Midwest Regional final in Springfield, Illinois. The Tritons were tied at 45 with 13 minutes remaining in their bid for their third Elite Eight appearance in school history, but the offense stalled and they got outscored 30-17 the rest of the way. Guard Matt Enright did his best to keep UMSL in the game, finishing with a game-high 29 points while shooting 12 for 23 from the field and 5 for 10 from 3-point range. UMSL also got 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots from forward Troy Glover II. Both were named to the all-tournament team for their contributions on Tuesday and in earlier wins over Ferris State and top-seeded Missouri S&T. But the rest of the lineup struggled shooting, and the Tritons finished only 40.7% from the field – including 35.5% in the second half, and were 6 for 22 from 3-point range. Tyson Edmondson led Lake Superior State with 23 points, including 15 in the second half, as the Lakers advanced to the Division II Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Edmondson was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Lake Superior State also got 17 points off the bench from Adam Harakow, 12 points from Devin Womack and 10 from Kingsley Perkins to go along with 11 rebounds. The loss was only UMSL’s second in the final 13 games. Coach Bob Sundvold‘s team shook off an 0-5 start to finish the season 21-12. It marked the fifth time in the past six full seasons that the program won at least 20 games and the fourth time it qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Women’s Golf
The 21st-ranked Tritons placed third out of 14 teams in the Findlay Spring Invitational at Boone Trace National Golf Club in Richmond, Kentucky. UMSL posted a combined score of 890 in the 54-hole tournament and finished 29 shots back of team winner Anderson. Findlay finished second with a total of 868. Wilma Zanderau led the Tritons with a three-round total of 217, which tied her for fourth and also helped garner Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week honors for the second straight week. UMSL’s Mayan Covarrubias finished tied for 10th with a total of 223, and Hillary Currier tied for 17th with a score of 226. Anderson’s Kennedy McGaha was the individual medalist with a score of 204, eight shots better than teammate Zoey Iglesias and Findlay’s Kelly Mulcahy. The Tritons will next compete March 31 and April 1 at the Findianapolis Intercollegiate at Chariot Run Golf Club in Laconia, Indiana.
Softball
UMSL split its doubleheader at Maryville on Saturday, dropping the first game 4-0 but rebounding to take the second 3-1. Ashley Ware tossed a one-hitter in the Game 2 win, striking out five while yielding only one unearned run. Gwyn Miller had three hits for the Tritons, while Rylie Buchanan drove in a pair of runs. Jamie Widule had the other UMSL RBI, a second-inning single to center field that drove in Hannah Tomlianovich and snapped a 1-1 tie. Widule had a pair of singles in the opening game as the Tritons outhit the Saints 4-3 but couldn’t score off Maryville starter Cora Boyle. UMSL (11-12, 4-6 GLVC) will play a midweek doubleheader at Central Missouri on Tuesday before hosting conference foes Illinois Springfield and McKendree for doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Baseball
The Tritons dropped three of four games in a weekend series against Illinois Springfield at the UMSL Baseball Field. UMSL lost the opener 10-7 on Friday before responding with a 10-7 win in the second game of the doubleheader. Cade Grevengoed and Andrew Buescher each drove in a pair of runs in the victory with Grevengoed delivering an RBI triple in the first inning to get the Tritons on the board. Buescher, meanwhile, had three hits, including RBI singles in the first and fourth that helped UMSL take an 8-5 lead. The Tritons tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth after the Prairie Stars cut it to 8-7. Offense was harder to come by in Saturday’s doubleheader with UMSL totaling 11 hits in back-to-back 8-2 defeats. The Tritons (17-10, 7-5 GLVC) will take on visiting Missouri Western in a midweek game on Tuesday before traveling to Lewis for a four-game conference series beginning Friday.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL split dual meets against Harding and Rockhurst, beating the Bison 4-2 at home on Friday before falling 6-1 against the Hawks on Sunday in Kansas City. The loss snapped the Tritons’ three-game dual winning streak. No. 1 player Hannah Tse continued her strong season by beating No. 16 Alexia Zarage Valdez of Harding 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (1) and No. 10 Ella Coleman of Rockhurst 6-4, 0-6, 1-0 (7). UMSL also got singles victories from Anna Favaron at No. 3, Morgan Lint at No. 4 and Lauren Sweeney at No. 6 against the Bison. Favaron topped Itza Rogel 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 while Lint and Sweeney were straight-sets winners over Madison Stafford and Natalia Alvarez, respectively. The Tritons only other win outside of Tse’s against the Hawks came in the No. 3 doubles match, where Giuliana Cunza and Sweeney beat Sofia Valdespino and Maria Baez 6-1. UMSL will return home to face Quincy on Saturday and Drury on Sunday at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons lost a pair of duals against nationally ranked foes Harding and Rockhurst, falling to the 14th-ranked Bison 5-2 at home on Friday and getting swept on the road against the 42nd-ranked Hawks on Sunday in Kansas City. Percy Siercke and Henry Roberts scored the two singles points against Harding with Siercke winning the No. 3 singles match 6-4, 7-6 (4) over Cian Mikkelsen and Roberts winning the No. 5 singles match over Edoardo D’Arrigo when the latter retired in the third set. No. 1 singles player Alejandro Ley battled to a third set before losing 6-0, 6-7 (7), 6-3 against ninth-ranked Cas de Ruiter. UMSL took one of three doubles matches against Rockhurst with Ley and Joan Garros winning 6-2 over Josef Truhlar and Arnav Gannavaram at No. 3. But the Tritons went winless in singles, though Daniel Berdecio took the first set against Alex Tikhonov before losing in a match tiebreaker 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (2). The Tritons fell to 5-5 in dual meets this season and will play host to Quincy on Saturday and Drury on Sunday at the UMSL Tennis Courts.
