Redbirds

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Missouri State softball team (10-8, 1-2) will head out on a five-game road trip with stops at Eastern Illinois (10-10) and Evansville (7-14, 0-3) this week. The Bears visit Charleston, Ill., for just the second time since the teams played in the Gateway Conference in 1992. The last time the Bears played at EIU, MSU defeated the Panthers 1-0 in nine innings at the Eastern Illinois Tournament on April 1, 1994. Missouri State will be back in conference action at Evansville on Saturday.

The Springfield Lasers professional tennis team will open its 16 th World TeamTennis Pro League presented by GEICO season on Monday, July 4 vs. the Philadelphia Freedoms. Carly Gullickson returns to the Lasers team for her second season and Rik De Voest makes his third season return. New to the Lasers team in 2011 are Lilia Osterloh, and Paul Hanley. Assistant Coach Martin Damm, WTT league MVP in 2010 with the Lasers, will coach the first five matches, while Coach J.L. De Jager and Rik De Voest fulfill their obligations as coach and team member for the South African Davis Cup Team.

     Little Rock, AR - Winners of three straight games, the Cardinals looked to continue their winning ways with a win over the Arkansas Travelers. A battle of titans on the mound, Springfield sent righty and top prospect Shelby Miller against Texas League Pitcher of the Year, Matt Shoemaker. For the second straight start, Miller battled his control in the first inning throwing 28 pitches. He allowed a one out walk before Luis Jimenez singled to put runners on the corners.

     While the St. Louis Cardinals are one step closer to being eliminated from baseball's post-season, former Missouri State Bear pitcher Shaun Marcum is one step closer to making the playoffs after his Milwaukee Brewers won and the Redbirds lost on Sunday.      Marcum, a member of Missouri State's College World Series team in 2003, was traded from Toronto to Milwaukee this year and has been a key leader in getting the Brewers into first place in the National League Central.  Despite being swept by the Cards earlier this week, Milwaukee's lead over St. Louis is back to nine-and-a-half games after St. Louis lost two-of-three to Cincinnati and the Marcum-led Brewers blanked Houston on Sunday 4-0.     Marcum had a no-hitter going through six innings, allowing just one-hit over seven innings and striking out eight.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State had four players score in double figures and two more finish with nine points Friday in an 84-70 victory over Missouri Valley Conference rival Indiana State at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears (12-6, 5-3 MVC) forced 21 turnovers and out-rebounded the Sycamores (10-10, 4-4) by a 46-36 margin to improve to 7-1 at home. Missouri State made eight of its first 12 shots from the field in building a 20-9 lead over the Sycamores. The Lady Bears led 4-0 just 30 seconds in, scored on their first five possessions for a 10-3 advantage and went on an 8-0 over a 90-second stretch that ended at the 14:40 mark with MSU ahead 18-6.

   Five new members have been chosen as the 2012 class of the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame, with ceremonies set for Tuesday, September 25 at the University Plaza Convention Center.   The new honorees include Bob Brown, one of the winningest area basketball coaches in history with successful runs at Richland and Bolivar as well as 21 years at Springfield Parkview where he won seven regional titles, six conference championships, plus second and third place finishes at state.

ST. LOUIS -- Nick Punto will begin a Minor League rehab assignment on Monday with Double-A Springfield. Punto, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 18 with a strained right forearm, is headed to Double-A ball because Springfield uses a designated hitter, meaning the infielder will be able to play while taking things slowly with his arm. "He will DH the first four days," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said on Saturday. Punto has not played since May 17, and is hitting .262 with 11 RBIs.

    SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State (9-5, 2-0) shot a season-best 60.4 percent from the field and got 22 points from a red-hot Kyle Weems here Saturday afternoon to turn back Drake, 72-61, in Missouri Valley Conference play. It was a league-best eighth straight conference win for the Bears who also got 14 points from Jarmar Gulley and 11 from Anthony Downing. Weems, who scored 31 points in Wednesday's win at No. 19 Creighton, was 10-for-12 from the field with a game-high 9 rebounds.

ST. LOUIS -- Once again, the Cardinals' resilience was tested on Sunday. Once again, they answered the test with flying colors. One half-inning after losing a late lead, and 3 1/2 innings after losing their superstar first baseman to an injury, the Cardinals pulled out a hard-earned 5-4 win over the Royals at Busch Stadium. Skip Schumaker's walk-off home run against lefty Tim Collins was the final blow in a truly memorable game. "I'm not sure there's a better feeling than hitting a home run, a walk-off, it doesn't happen too often," Schumaker said.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.   - Behind Eric Stamet's three-hit day and the pitching of Kyle Lloyd, Evansville pulled out a 3-1 victory over the Missouri State Bears Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field. Lloyd limited the Bears to one run on six hits over eight innings, while Stamets sparked the Purple Aces' go-ahead rally in the eighth with a two-out single and his Missouri Valley Conference-leading 29th stolen base of the season to help Evansville (29-22, 8-9 MVC) even the series at one game apiece.