JUPITER, Fla.- After Friday's series opener was washed out due to heavy rain fall, the Palm Beach Atlantic University and Flagler College baseball teams got together for a breezy but beautiful Saturday afternoon of action at the Roger Dean Complex. After a masterful complete game effort by senior right-hander Logan Thomas led the Sailfish to a 6-1 win in the opener, the Saints turned around and claimed a series split by holding off a late PBA rally in earning a 4-3 win in game two.

The double-header split leaves Palm Beach Atlantic with a 4-2 record while Flagler sits at 3-3 in the early going of the 2012 season.

Game One

Thomas (1-0) was simply dazzling on Saturday, allowing only a solo homerun in the ninth inning as he tallied his first complete game of the season while narrowly missing out on a shutout effort.

He would finish with five strikeouts while allowing only five hits as the Melbourne, Florida native gave his team and bullpen a shot in the arm with a nine inning pitching effort.

The Sailfish would put together the game's first rally in a scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning when a leadoff infield single by Ethan Perla was backed up by a walk to Matt Perkowski. A walk to Luis Mejia would later follow and then two-run single by Travis Murray.

Mejia would then attempt a steal of third base later in the frame as a wild throw by the Flagler catcher allowed him to trot home for a 3-0 Sailfish lead.

The Fish added a single run in the fourth on a RBI groundout from Perkwoski while two more insurance runs came in to score in the sixth, first on an Ethan Perla fielder's choice and another on a Cody Higgins sacrifice fly.

Thomas armor would be slightly dented in the ninth as FC catcher Kyle Foti launched a solo homerun to break up the shutout bid.

PBA finished with 11 hits in the game including a 3-for-3 performance by first-baseman Johnny Cole and a 2-for-4 game by Murray and Perla.

Flagler's Jonathan Armold (1-1) took the loss by going four innings while allowing five hits and four runs.

Freshman reliever Danny Brown was solid in relief for the Saints as he tossed four innings while allowing two earned runs.

Game Two

Sending T.J. Harbuck to the mound for game two, the Sailfish and associate head coach Kent Bottenfield were hoping for a repeat performance of last week's efforts that saw the Ormond Beach, Florida native go a strong 6.1 innings of work in a 4-0 Sailfish win.

Although Harbuck wouldn't have quite the same stuff as last week's efforts against Warner University, he did pitch admirably as he exited Saturday's game by allowing three runs (one earned) and seven hits over five innings of work.

Flagler pushed across single runs in the second, third, and fifth innings. Jay Laurienzo delivered a run-scoring double in the second inning to push across the first run for Flagler followed by another run coming in to score in the Saints third inning on a PBA error.

The Saints increased their lead to 3-0 when another PBA error in the fifth inning allowed Foti to come around to score.

Following a scoreless inning of work by PBA reliever Nic Kovacs, the offense would look to get on track for Palm Beach Atlantic.

After starter Micah Kellogg had fooled the PBA hitters to the tune of just two hits through five innings, the Sailfish bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth as they received a big one-out, two-run double from Luis Mejia to cut the lead to 3-2 while Murray added in a groundout to score Mejia one batter later for the 3-3 tie.

The Fish opted to insert closer Alejandro De Moya in the tie game only to see the Saints push across the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh that began with a leadoff walk. Nate Fudala drew the free pass and came in to score a few batters later when Foti singled through the left-side.

The Fish would put two runners on in the bottom the seventh however FC closer Max Rusch would close the door by retiring Perkowksi on a liner to right to end the game.

Rusch improves to 1-0 on the season while De Moya drops to 1-1.

Flagler's Brett Moreland finished 3-for-4 in game two to lead the Saints nine-hit effort while PBA registered six total hits including one each by six different players. Mejia had two runs driven in.

Kellogg was solid for the Saints before being relieved in the sixth as he went 5.1 innings while allowing only five hits and three runs. He walked none and struck out five batters.

The Sailfish return to action on Tuesday, February 14th when they will battle Northwood University at 2:30 pm in West Palm Beach. The game will take place at Northwood however Palm Beach Atlantic will be the home team.

FULTON - Despite an 18-point outing from Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) the William Woods University women's basketball team saw a six-point halftime lead evaporate as the Owls fell 66-76 to Columbia College on Saturday.

 The Owls shot just 9-of-35 in the second half, falling into a second-place tie in the AMC standings.

Dexter, Mo. native Ashlee Taylor, fresh off a career-high scoring effort, was good for nine points and six rebounds in the contest.

WWU was much the better team in the first half, hitting at a .500 clip en route to a 39-33 halftime lead. The Owls led by as many as 12 during the period, but Columbia was able to hang around with solid free throw shooting.

The second half was a different story, however, as WWU wasn't able to find the distance. The Owls went scoreless for two five-minute stretches during the second half and missed on all 13 attempts from beyond the arc as Columbia took the lead and stretched out to a 12-point cushion.

With 2:46 to go, Andrews tried to take control for WWU but the comeback came too late. The senior finished with 18 points and eight rebounds on the night, with Blake French (St. Charles, Mo.) adding 11. The Owls dominated the rebounding battle 41-31, including an 18-6 edge on the offensive glass.

The Owls fall to 17-8 on the season and are back in action on Thursday night. WWU travels to Walnut Ridge, Ark., to battle Williams Baptist College.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

DESOTO - After two hard-fought days on the mats at DeSoto High School, the Dexter Bearcats have qualified five wrestlers for the MSHSAA State Tournament next week.

Seniors Cody Stevens (160 lbs.) and Cole Dean (132 lbs.), junior Brad Wick (170 lbs.), sophomore Trevor Waldner (126 lbs.) and freshman Dylan Bazarian (152 lbs.) all finished in the top four to move on to the state tournament.

Stevens, Waldner, and Bazarian all competed for District Titles. Stevens was the only one to bring home first place in the second District Championship of his career.

Waldner and Bazarian are both products the local AAU wrestling program, founded four years ago, and Schwab noted it as a key in the underclassmen's successes.

"Being that Stevens started as an eighth grader it took him a few years to learn the sport and prepare himself to compete," Schwab said. "For Waldner and Bazarian, they've already been through the ringer with the AAU program and have entered their high school careers ready to go."

The 'Cats struggled in the team competition; several key upsets knocked the Bearcats out of contention for a plaque after being in fifth place at the end of the first day. Ste. Genevive continued their winning ways in the team competition, taking home a District Title with a 179.5 point total. The 'Cats finished sixth, with 122.5 points.

Schwab noted his team's disappointment, but was optimistic about the future of the program.

"We fell short of our goal this weekend. The wrestlers set high expectations to bring home a plaque this year," he said. "It was within our reach as we were in second place at one point, but we were upset at a couple of different weight classes and were unable to get upsets at others. Still, the boys had a great showing and our future looks promising."

Dean, Stevens, Waldner, Bazarian, and Wick will all travel to Columbia to battle for a State Championship starting on Thursday (Feb. 16) at Mizzou Arena; the tournament will conclude on Saturday (Feb. 18).

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners rallied from a double digit deficit but ultimately fell on a last second shot as Rita Flynn hit a fall away jumper with 1.6 seconds left to give Maryville a 65-63 win on Saturday at Moloney Arena.

The final play was setup by Shelby Miller who drove the lane and tried to get fouled on her shot attempt that she missed, but no one for the Lady Miners boxed out as the ball rolled to Flynn who put up and in.

Despite outrebounding the Saints 36-to-32, S&T had problems rebounding on the defensive end allowing multiple second and third opportunities which Maryville cashed in on including the winning basket.

The Lady Miners (16-7, 10-5 GLVC) trailed by as many as 11 with 6:24 to play but began to comeback scoring five straight to get within six on a free throw from Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) with 5:20 to play. Maryville (13-10, 9-6 GLVC) answered though as Alissa Oney buried a three from the right wing pushing the lead back to nine with 3:30 to play.

S&T then proceeded to run off 10 points in the next two minutes to take the lead. Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) started it off with four straight free throws then Toni Knar (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) buried a three from the top of the key to make it 60-58 with 2:13 to play. Meyer then forced a steal at midcourt and scored on the break to tie the game with 1:53 left.

After getting a stop on the defensive end the Lady Miners took the lead as Knar was fouled and went to the line making 1-of-2 with 1:01 to play. The Saints answered as Kate Childs hit a backdoor layup and was fouled with 0:31 left. She missed the initial free throw but S&T was called for a lane violation and given the reprieve she made the second to make it 63-61.

Knar tied the game with 0:12.3 left making a shot from the top of the key. Maryville then called a timeout to set up the winning play.

After being hold scoreless in the opening half Abby Duethman scored 16 in the second half including three three's.

S&T fell behind by three to start the game before Courtney Kemp (Fredricktown, Mo./Fredricktown) provided a spark scoring five straight and seven of the first nine giving the Lady Miners a 9-5 lead just over seven minutes into the contest. The lead grew to seven before Maryville cut it to five on a pair of free throws from Shelby Miller.

S&T built its largest lead of the half at 22-13 on back-to-back steals and scores from Kyesha Hall (Dodson, La.) and Julie Meyer (Marthasville, Mo./St. Francis Borgia) with less than five minutes to play in the frame.

Miller then took over the Saints scoring 11 straight points over a four minute stretch giving them a 24-22 lead with 1:17 remaining in the half. Hailee Parks (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) tied the game for the Lady Miners getting a layup to go with 0:27 left.

Maryville went into the locker room though with a 26-24 lead as Alissa Oney drove the lane and laid it in with 0:10 left. S&T had a final chance to tie but didn't get a shot off.

Both sides were cold shooting the ball in the first half. The Lady Miners were just 8-for-28 (29 percent) from the field while the Saints were 10-of-27 (37 percent). S&T outrebounded Maryville by a 21-17 margin but turned it over 12 times.

Kemp led the Lady Miners with seven points while Karli Sample (St. Joseph, Mo./Benton) added six more. Miller led all scorers with 18 in the stanza.

Maryville was 15-for-29 (52 percent) from the floor in the second half to finish the contest shooting 45 percent. It was 5-of-7 from behind the arc in the frame and 8-for-11 at the foul line. Miller scored a game-high 22 points with Duethman adding her 16.

S&T shot 42 percent (10-for-24) in the second half but still finished the game making just 18-of-52 (35 percent). It was 5-for-17 (29.4 percent), but was 22-of-26 (85 percent) at the charity stripe. Meyer led the way with 12 while Kemp and Knar had 11 each.

The Lady Miners head to Kansas City next Thursday for 5:30 p.m. game at Rockhurst.

The Dexter fifth grade girls basketball team came out victorious Saturday at a tournament in Delta. Team members include Anna Bishop, Maycie Martin, Maci McBride, Rylee Allen, Natalie Sitze, Keirsten Keirsey, Brooke Hessling and Chaley Mosby. The team is coached by Kevin Bishop. The fifth grade team has an incredible season record of 15-3. Congratulations, girls! (Photo courtesy Kevin Bishop; thanks, Kevin!)