Metro Sports Report

Menster nets 12th win for Mustangs

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tawny Menster collected her 12th victory and drove  in three runs Friday as the Mount Mercy softball team split a Heart of  America Conference doubleheader with Evangel.

Menster (12-3) pitched a complete game as the Mustangs won the opener,  6-2. Evangel took the nightcap, 9-3.

The split left Mount Mercy at 29-19 overall and 20-14 in the  conference. Evangel is 21-23 overall and 12-20 in the league.

Jess Heick went 3-for-4 for Mount Mercy in Game 1. Jessica Miller was  2-for-3 and scored twice. Payton Bruner had two doubles and Menster  drove in two runs to help her own cause.

Petersen leaving KCC for Jackrabbits

Bryan Petersen, one of the top young basketball coaches in the country, apparently has decided to leave Kirkwood Community College to become an assistant coach at South Dakota State.

No official announcements have been made by South Dakota State or Kirkwood, but the Metro Sports Report has confirmed from numerous sources that the move will happen.

Petersen has declined comment.

Kirkwood athletic director Doug Wagemester has confirmed that Petersen probably will be leaving and that the Kirkwood players have been informed about the impending move.

Petersen, 31, led the Eagles to the NJCAA Division II national title this season with a 31-4 record. He also led Kirkwood to the national title in 2016, giving him two championships in four years. He was named the NJCAA Division II National Coach of the Year both times.

Doug Wilson, the national Player of the Year at Kirkwood this season, has signed to continue his career at South Dakota State, so Wilson and Petersen will be united again.

The Jackrabbits are an NCAA Division I program that competes in the Summit Conference. Petersen and Eric Henderson, the new head coach at South Dakota State, know each other from their days at Iowa State.

Henderson worked for the ISU program when Petersen played for the Cyclones as a junior and senior from 2007-2009.

Mustang softball wins 8th straight

PERU, Neb. - Some college softball teams would have ducked for cover  after losing straight games in the middle of the season, but not the  Mount Mercy Mustangs.

The Mustangs have followed their seven-game skid with an eight-game  winning streak to resurrect their promising campaign.

Coach Larry Yoder's team swept Peru State, 7-0 and 7-1, in a Heart of  America Conference doubleheader Thursday in Nebraska.

Mount Mercy is now 28-18 overall and 19-13 in the conference. Peru  State fell to 7-37 overall and 6-28 in the league.

Tawny Menster (11-3) pitched a three-hit shutout in the 7-0 victory in  Game 1, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Emily Oler went 2-for-3 with  two RBIs and socked her eighth homer of the season. Payton Bruner was  3-for-4 with three stolen bases. Oler and Bruner scored twice.

Madelyn Irwin (7-4) allowed one run on three hits during her five  innings in the circle in the nightcap. Jayna Witzany pitched two  spotless innings with three strikeouts in relief.

Mustangs take 3rd at Heart golf

LAKE OZARK, Mo. - The Mount Mercy women's golf team dropped one spot  on the final day of the Heart of America Conference tournament and  finished in third place at Osage National Thursday.

William Penn won the tournament by a whopping 76 shots over Grand View  and 81 shots over Mount Mercy.

Casey Noble finished ninth for the Mustangs with rounds of 84, 84 and  82 for 34-over-par 250. Karli Kerrigan of Grand View won the title at  9-over 225.