Wednesday/Thursday Sports Roundup

THURSDAY, MARCH 24 SPORTS ROUNDUP

BASEBALL

GILLESPIE 8, MARQUETTE CATHOLIC 6: A four-run fourth and two-run sixth were enough to give visiting Gillespie the win over Marquette at Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.

Both teams traded two runs each in the opening inning, with the Explorers going ahead with a run in the third. The Miners then hit Marquette with four runs in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead, with the Explorers coming back with two in the fifth. Gillespie got those runs back in the top of the sixth, with Marquette countering with a single run in the home half, but couldn't score in the seventh as the Miners came away with the win.

Myles Paniagua had two hits and drove in three runs for the Explorers, while Logan Sternickle had two hits and an RBI, Sean Mitchell had a hit and RBI, Hayden Garner and Kannon Kamp had a hit each and Shaun Ferguson drove in a run.

Garner struck out five in three-and-a-third innings of work on the mound for Marquette.

The Miners are now 2-1, while the Explorers go to 3-3.

Two other games on the docket --- Piasa Southwestern at Alton and Roxana at Red Bud --- were postponed due to rain and wet grounds. Make-up dates for both games are to be announced.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

In the season opener for both schools, CBC defeated Edwardsville 25-15, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24 in a best-of-five set match, as played in Missouri. No statistics were available at press time.

GIRLS SOCCER

CARLINVILLE 6, LINCOLN 0: Marlee Whitler's hat trick, along with Annabelle Hulin's brace (two goals) and Jordyn Loveless' strike were enough as Carlinville won at home over Lincoln.

Hulin, Le'Aira Armentrout, Mia Smith and Jessica Strubbe also had assists on the day, while Alexsis Kalaher made eight saves in recording the Cavaliers' clean sheet.

Carlinville is now 2-0-1 on the season.

GRANITE CITY 1, MASCOUTAH 0: Madison Vasiloff, assisted by Emmi Hogan, had the only goal of the match as Granite took all three points at Mascoutah.

Alivia Upshaw had five saves in recording the clean sheet for the Warriors.

Granite is now 2-1-1, while the Indians fall to 3-3-0.

In other games on Thursday's program, Marquette Catholic slipped past Breese Mater Dei Catholic 2-1, Murphysboro defeated visiting Highland 2-0 and Auburn defeated Staunton 3-1 at Virden North Mac.

SOFTBALL

Two games on Thursday's schedule --- Gillespie at Marquette Catholic and Highland at Granite City --- were postponed due to rain and wet grounds. No make-up dates have been announced.

WORLD SOCCER

FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022 QUALIFYING

CONCACAF (NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)

MEXICO 0, UNITED STATES 0: The United States Men's National Team took a huge step in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year with a 0-0 draw at the Estadio Azteca, one of the world's premier soccer stadiums, in Mexico City on Thursday night.

Christian Pulisic, the Yanks' top player, was stopped on a shot at point-blank range in the 35th minute, while Gio Reyna, one of the top up-and-coming players for the United States, also came close to scoring in the second half, but a mishit shot went wide.

The American defense was solid and sturdy all night, with goalie Zach Steffan, coming up big a few times to hold off El Tri's attacks.

The point earned for a draw kept the Yanks in second place with Mexico on goal differential.

In other matches played on Thursday, 10-man Canada suffered its first loss of qualifying in a 1-0 loss at Costa Rica, Panama saw their qualifying chances take a huge blow in a 1-1 draw at home to Honduras and Jamaica and El Salvador played to a 1-1 draw.

The CONCACAF standings after 11 matches each see Canada on top with 25 points, the United States and Mexico still tied for second on 22 points each, with the Yanks in second on goal differential, plus-9 to plus-6, Costa Rica moved into fourth and a playoff spot with 19 points and Panama in fifth with 18 points. El Salvador, with 10 points, Jamaica, who now have eight points, and Honduras, with four points, have been eliminated.

The top three teams in CONCACAF advance to the World Cup, while the fourth-place finisher goes to a one-game intercontinental playoff against the Oceania champion, most likely New Zealand, in June for another spot.

Also, in a major stunner in the UEFA European playoffs, four-time champion Italy, the defending European champions, were knocked out by North Macedonia 1-0 on a goal in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. North Macedonia will now play Portugal, a 3-1 winner over Turkey, on Tuesday for a spot in the World Cup. Italy, who last won the World Cup in 2006 in a penalty shootout over France, will miss out on the tournament for an unthinkable second consecutive time.

WEDNESDAY

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

BELLEVILLE EAST 25-25, MARQUETTE CATHOLIC 21-19: The Marquette Boys Volleyball team hosted Belleville East on Wednesday and lost 0-2 (21-25, 19-25).

Marquette highlights were as follows:

Brody Hendricks - 5 service points, 6 blocks, 2 kills

Will Schwartz - 4 service points including 2 aces, 7 digs

Ryan DeClue - 12 digs

Max Cogan - 10 digs, 2 blocks

Marquette is now 1-1 and will take part in the Belleville East Boys Volleyball Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Marquette is home again next week March 28 vs Father McGivney, and March 29 vs Collinsville.

BASEBALL

MT. VERNON 3, CIVIC MEMORIAL 2 (8 INNINGS): CM tied the game in the seventh, but Mt. Vernon pushed across the winning run in the eighth to take a close win over the Eagles on the road.

The Eagles scored a single run in the second, while the Rams responded with two runs in the top of the third. The scored remained that way until CM tied it in the seventh, with Mt. Vernon scoring the winning run in the eighth to take the win.

Braden Arview and Nick Brousseau both had two hits for the Eagles, while Tommy Strubhart had a hit and RBI. Peyton Keller struck out six batters while on the mound for CM.

The Eagles are now 0-3 on the young season.

GIRLS SOCCER

WATERLOO GIBAULT CATHOLIC 2, ROXANA 1: Kendall Kamp scored the only goal for Roxana as Gibault came away with the three points at Norman Lewis Field.

Kamp was assisted by Reagan Lynn on the goal, while Kaylyn Dixon had seven saves in goal for the Shells.

The Hawks are now 3-2-0 on the year, while Roxana goes to 3-3-0.

SOFTBALL

The only two games on Wednesday's program - Roxana at Civic Memorial and Belleville East at Highland - were postponed due to rain and wet grounds. Makeup dates for both games are to be announced.

If you have an item for the Sports Roundup, please E-mail the results and statistics to Dan Brannan at dbrannan@riverbender.com, or you may text the results to (618) 623-5930, and it will be used in that day's Riverbender.com/EdGlenToday.com Sports Roundup. We will accept both high school and junior high school results for the Sports Roundup.

More like this: