KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Gio Gonzalez and the Washington bullpen combined on a five-hitter, Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy drove in first-inning runs and the Nationals beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 on Monday night.

Gonzalez (2-1) scattered four hits and a pair of walks over six innings in his latest smooth start. He’s only allowed four earned runs combined in his first five outings.

Sammy Solis needed eight pitches for a spotless seventh, and Shawn Kelley and Oliver Perez combined to strike out three straight after a leadoff double in the eighth.

Jonathan Papelbon breezed through a perfect ninth as the Nationals followed up a sweep of the Cardinals with their fourth straight win.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs have exercised their fifth-year option on left tackle Eric Fisher, which means the former No. 1 overall draft pick is scheduled to make $11.9 million during the 2017 season.

The Chiefs had until Monday to decide on the option, which becomes fully guaranteed next March.

Chiefs general manager John Dorsey has said he would like to sign Fisher to a long-term deal, and the decision to pick up the pricey option may simply be part of the negotiation process.

Fisher had a disappointing first two seasons in the NFL, and some were quick to label the Central Michigan product a bust. But the 6-foot-7, 305-pound lineman appeared to break through last season, even shutting down Texans star pass rusher J.J. Watt during their playoff game.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – After five hard-fought races in blustery conditions, the Kansas State women’s rowing team fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 22-0 on the Wyandotte County Lake in Kansas City, Kansas on Saturday. The victory marks the second-straight year that the Jayhawks have taken home the Kansas Cup.

 

“It was disappointing because we did not show up to race,” head coach Patrick Sweeney said. “Kansas did and they deservedly beat us. Their crews were going over two to three beats higher than us. Our kids did not come sharp enough and now they have two weeks to get their minds in gear before Big 12s.”

 

In the first race of the day, Kansas’ third varsity eight earned the first two points of the race, winning with a time of 7:52.9 to take an early 2-0 lead.

 

The boat, coxswained by Allie Kleinsmith and rowed by Maggie Burg, Kelsey Eagleman, Kaylin Edwards, Molly Ross, Grace Reilly, Nikole Cain, Samantha Samskey and Taylor DeWeese, finished in second place in the race with a final time of 7:57.9.

 

KU added another three points in the 1V4 race, winning with a time of 8:54.93 to go ahead 5-0 with three races remaining. K-State’s 1V4, coxed by Sam Scott and rowed by Nicole Catloth, Regan Simpson, Laura Clement andJessica Kuhlman, took second with a time of 9:02.28.

 

Despite taking an early lead in the 2V4 race, the Wildcats’ 2V4, which was coxswained by Aimee Farrell and rowed by Maddie Petersen, Kelsey Dighans, Emily Stec and Hannah Culbertson, finished in third place with a time of 9:39.42.

 

The Jayhawks’ top boat in the race earned the races two points, winning with a time of 8:53.67 to extend the lead to 7-0. KU’s ‘B’ boat took second, posting a time of 9:33.47.

 

Kansas sealed the victory in the 2V8 race as its top boat finished in first with a time of 7:51.62 to earn six points to go up 13-0. K-State’s boat, which consisted of coxswain Courtney Faucett and rowers Chelsea Goble, Ashley Houser, Courtney Cooke, Ariana Thompson, Selena Wapelhorst, Jordan Lund, Kennedy Felice and Elaina Grantham took second with a time of 8:08.47.

 

In the final race of the afternoon, the 1V8, coxed by Meaghan Kuzmich and rowed by Marissa Butrum, Noelle Dykmann, Mary Rose Eakes, Kayla Brock, Samantha Bendrick, Courtney Winkley, Erin Roeser and Madi Haney, finished just behind KU’s boat with a time of 7:50.75. KU won the race’s nine points with a time of 7:40.32.

 

K-State now turns its attention the Big 12 Championships, which will be held on May 14-15 on Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This will be the second time the team has raced on the lake, the first coming at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship (SIRA) on April 16^th and 17^th.

 

Sweeney is confident that the team will be able to turn its performance around before the conference meet in a similar fashion to what the team showed last season.

 

“We saw the same thing happen last year after the Sunflower Showdown,” Sweeney added. “We will have to do that again this year if we want to be competitive at Big 12s.”

 

For the latest on K-State women’s rowing, follow @kstatesports and @KStateROW on Twitter using the hashtag #KStateROW or on the team’s Facebook page.

 

Dillon’s Sunflower Showdown

Wyandotte County Lake

Kansas City, Kan.

 

3V8 Finals (2 pts.)

1. KU ‘A’ – 7:52.9; 2. KSU ‘A’ – 7:57.9; 3. KU ‘B’ – 8:14.18

 

1V4 Finals (3 pts.)

1. KU ‘A’ – 8:54.93; 2. KSU ‘A’ – 9:02.28

 

2V4 Finals (2pts.)

1. KU ‘A’ – 8:53.67; 2. KU ‘B’ – 9:33.47; 3. KSU ‘A’ – 9:39.42

 

2V8 Finals (6 pts.)

1. KU ‘A’ – 7:51.62; 2. KSU ‘A’ – 8:08.47

 

1V8 Finals (9 pts.)

1. KU ‘A’ – 7:40.32; 2. KSU ‘A’ – 7:50.75

 

Lineups

1V8

C Meaghan Kuzmich

8 Marissa Butrum

7 Noelle Dykmann

6 Mary Rose Eakes

5 Kayla Brock

4 Samantha Bendrick

3 Courtney Winkley

2 Erin Roeser

1 Madi Haney

 

2V8

C Courtney Faucett

8 Chelsea Goble

7 Ashley Houser

6 Courtney Cooke

5 Ariana Thompson

4 Selena Wapelhorst

3 Jordan Lund

2 Kennedy Felice

1 Elaina Grantham

 

1V4

C Sam Scott

4 Nicole Catloth

3 Regan Simpson

2 Laura Clement

1 Jessica Kuhlman

 

2V4

C Aimee Farrell

4 Maddie Petersen

3 Kelsey Dighans

2 Emily Stec

1 Hannah Culbertson

 

3V8

C Allie Kleinsmith

8 Maggie Burg

7 Kelsey Eagleman

6 Kaylin Edwards

5 Molly Ross

4 Grace Reilly

3 Nikole Cain

2 Samantha Samskey

1 Taylor DeWeese

 

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

 

 

————
Josh Brunner
Graduate Assistant | Athletics Communications

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State fullbackGlenn Gronkowski signed a rookie free agent deal with his hometown team, the Buffalo Bills, following the conclusion of the 2016 NFL Draft on Saturday night.

 

Gronkowski, a native of Amherst, New York, becomes the fourth member of his immediate family to play in the NFL, joining four-time Pro Bowl tight endRob (Patriots), another tight end inDan (Lions, Broncos, Patriots, Browns) and a fullback in Chris (Cowboys, Colts, Broncos).

 

A three-year All-Big 12 performer, Gronkowski played in 39 career games with 20 starts during his three-year career. He hauled in 15 passes for 369 yards and five touchdowns as his 24.6-yard career reception average ranks first in school history among players with at least 15 catches. He also rushed 16 times for 51 yards and one touchdown.

 

Gronkowski’s best season on the receiving end came as a redshirt freshman in 2013 when he caught five passes for 194 yards – an astonishing 38.8 yards per reception – with touchdowns against UMass (50 yards), Oklahoma State (67 yards) and Kansas (29 yards). He took on more of a load running the ball as a junior last season when he rushed 11 times for 45 yards, including an eight-yard touchdown at Kansas.

 

Other Kansas State players who have signed free agent deals will be released once announced by their respective teams.

 

K-State opens its 2016 season on Friday, September 2, as the Wildcats face Stanford in Palo Alto, California, in a nationally-televised matchup. Following an off week in which Bill Snyder Family Stadium will host the Wildcat Kickoff music festival featuring Zac Brown Band and Train, the Wildcats open their home slate on September 17, against Florida Atlantic.

Ryan Lackey, Asst. Director/Communications

SEATTLE (AP) – Eric Hosmer homered, Ian Kennedy took a shutout into the sixth inning, and the Kansas City Royals ended a long scoreless streak and a five-game skid with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

Lorenzo Cain had an RBI single and scored a run, Alex Escobar had three hits and also scored for the Royals, who had been shut out in the first two games of this series.

Kennedy gave up four hits and struck out six in five-plus innings. He loading the bases in the sixth on two singles and a walk. Danny Duffy got two quick outs before Chris Iannetta hit a run-scoring single. However, Jarrod Dyson easily threw out Robinson Cano at home trying to score a second run.

Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his eighth save.

Taijuan Walker (2-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings for Seattle.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder announced prior toSaturday’s Purple/White Spring Game that safety Dante Barnett, quarterbackJesse Ertz, defensive end Jordan Willis and center Dalton Risner have been chosen by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2016 season. It marks the third-straight season Barnett has been elected a team captain, while the other three will serve for the first time.   A 2014 All-Big 12 performer who missed virtually the entire 2015 season due to injury, Barnett is the sixth three-time team captain in school history, joining Brooks Barta (1990-92), B.J. Finney (2012-14), Alex Hrebec (2009-11), Collin Klein(2010-12) and Mark Simoneau (1997-99). The Tulsa, Oklahoma, product has 181 career tackles and seven career interceptions. He saw a 27-game starting streak snap due to his injury in last year’s season opener, but he earned a medical hardship for the 2016 season.   Ertz earned the starting quarterback job out of fall camp in 2015 but was lost for the year due to an injury on the first play of scrimmage in last year’s season opener. Entering his fourth year in the program, Ertz has played in five games, rushing eight times for 51 yards.   A senior from Kansas City, Missouri, Willis has started every game over the last two seasons, including the 2015 campaign when he played at an All-Big 12 level. Willis totaled 36 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks last season, ranking second in the Big 12 in sacks and fourth in TFLs. He also ranked 13th nationally and tied for first in the league with four forced fumbles and blocked a field goal at Oklahoma State.   Risner, a sophomore from Wiggins, Colorado, is the second sophomore center to serve as team captain in the last five years as he follows in the steps of Finney. Risner started all 13 games in 2015, earning First Team Freshman All-America accolades from Campus Insiders and second-team honors from Athlon and Scout. He was also a Second Team Academic All-Big 12 performer.   K-State, which returns 38 letterwinners and 16 starters from last year’s squad, opens the 2016 season on Friday, September 2, with a trip to Palo Alto, California, to take on Stanford. Following a bye week, the Wildcats open their home slate by hosting Florida Atlantic on September 17, which serves as the eighth-annual K-State Family Reunion and debut of Phase IIIB of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium Master Plan.   The 2016 home schedule features matchups against a pair of teams that earned bowl berths in 2015 in Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, while two other Big 12 rivals – Texas and Kansas – also come calling to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.     – k-statesports.com –     RYAN LACKEY Assistant Director | Athletics Communications

KSU Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State’s quarterbacks combined for 582 yards through the air on 46-of-64 attempts, as the Purple topped the White, 35-21, at the annual Spring Game held Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The trio of signal callers alternated between the two teams with senior Joe Hubener leading the way with a combined 319 yards on 21-of-25 attempts and two touchdowns. Junior Jesse Ertz also tossed a touchdown on 12-of-18 passing, while redshirt freshman Alex Delton posted strong numbers, finishing 13-of-21 for 139 yards.

Sophomore wide receiver Byron Pringle had an outstanding debut for the Wildcats, hauling in nine passes for 163 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter for the Purple team. Freshman wideout Corey Sutton also posted a strong debut, catching three passes for 85 yards and a touchdown reception.

The Wildcats’ ground game was led by sophomore Justin Silmon, who posted 85 yards on 14 attempts and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Tyler Burns also scored two touchdowns, finishing with 23 yards on eight carries.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior back Brogan Barry led all Wildcats with 11 total tackles, 10 of which were solo tackles, for the White team, while sophomore Duke Shelley, junior Elijah Lee and senior Charmeachealle Moore each combined for six total tackles for the Purple squad.

The Purple team opened the scoring at the 9:11 mark of the first quarter, as Ertz connected with sophomore receiver Zach Reuter, who made an impressive catch from 10 yards out to give his team an early 7-0 lead. Ertz also completed a 36-yard pass to Pringle on the drive to set up the touchdown.

Pringle then helped double the Purple’s advantage to 14-0, hauling in a 73-yard toss from Hubener with just over three minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Hubener went a perfect 4-of-4 on the drive for 83 yards before hitting the freshman for the long score.

The White squad responded in the early moments of the second quarter, as Burns scored on the ground from one yard out to cut the lead to 14-7 at the 11:54 mark. Redshirt freshman Denzel Goolsby’s incredible catch at the 1-yard line from Hubener would set up the rushing touchdown.

Senior Charles Jones scored the only points of the third quarter, punching the ball in from one yard out to give the Purple team a 21-7 lead at the 6:15 mark. The score capped a 17-play, 93-yard drive that took 7:27 off the clock, the longest drive of the game.

Six seconds into the fourth quarter, the White pulled within 21-14 as Hubener threw his second touchdown of the game, this time connecting with Sutton for a 33-yard strike.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the final quarter, as Silmon tacked on seven more points for the Purple team after a 5-yard rush to push the score to 28-14. Pringle’s two catches for 32 yards helped spark the drive.

The Purple team tacked on the final score of the game with 13 seconds left, as Silmon scored his second touchdown from one yard out to give his team a 35-21 advantage to end the game.

K-State opens the 2016 football season with a nationally-televised match-up at Stanford on Friday, September 2. Following an off week, the Wildcats kick off their 2016 home slate on Saturday, September 17, against Florida Atlantic and will debut Phase IIIB of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium Master Plan. The remaining five home games feature match-ups against a pair of teams that earned bowl berths in 2015 in Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, while two other Big 12 rivals – Texas and Kansas – also come calling to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The priority deadline for season-ticket purchases is this Friday. A limited number of single-game tickets go on sale online only on June 20. All six home games are anticipated to sell out quickly and extend the Bill Snyder Family Stadium sellout streak to 33 games.

 

Wakefield Coach Ladd Braden  Teams attending:  Bennington, Chase, Ell-Saline, Lincoln, Salina Christian Academy, Sylvan-Lucas Unified, Tescott, Wilson, and Wakefield.   For the Boys:   High Jump                  4th Place                Hayden Bruner              5’-04” 5th Place                Kaleb White                  5’-04” 7th Place                Kevin Jackson               5’-02”   Javelin                          5th Place              Zack Melius                  122’-07”   Discus                          1st Place               Jacob Judy                  125’-00”   Pole Vault                     4th Place              Cody Pollman               10’-00”                                    5th Place              Kaleb White                  8’-00”   Long Jump                   4th Place              Nathan Jackson            18’-01”   Triple Jump                  5th Place              Chris Hardin                 37’-00 ½”                   100 M. Dash                 1st Place               Zack Melius                 11.41                                   4th Place              Andrew Rothfuss           11.77   110 M. Hurdles             2nd Place              Nathan Jackson            18.78                            200 M. Dash                 2nd Place              Brock Barrett                24.22                                    6th Place              Justin Carver                24.60   300 M. I. Hurdles          5th Place              Nathan Jackson            46.90   400 M. Dash                 2nd Place              Brock Barrett                53.17                                   5th Place               Kirk Iseli                       57.68   800 M. Run                   4th Place              Jeffrey Thompson         2:14.64                                    7th Place              Hayden Bruner             2:22.03   1600 M. Run                4th Place              Johnathan Bowen         5:12.83   3200 M. Run                7th Place              Jordan Colglazier         12:03.48   4 x 100 M. Relay          4th Place              Andrew Rothfuss          47.64                                                              Justin Carver                                                              Nathan Jackson                                                              Chris Hardin   4 x 400 M. Relay          2nd Place              Brock Barrett                3:48.40                                                              Justin Carver                                                              Chris Hardin                                                              Kirk Iseli   4 x 800 M. Relay          2nd Place              Andrew Rothfuss          9:06.43                                                              Brock Barrett                                                              Justin Carver                                                              Kirk Iseli   Boy’s Team Scores:         1st Place              Bennington          157 Points                                     2nd Place              Ell-Saline             112 Points                                     3rd Place             Wakefield            102 Points                                     4th Place             Wilson                  79 Points                                     5th Place             Lincoln                 43 Points                                     6th Place             Tescott                 28 Points                                       7th Place             Chase                    9 Points                                        8th Place              Salina Christian       2 Points                                     For the Girls:   Long Jump                   1st Place               Sara Casaus                  14’-10 ¼”   100 M. Dash                 2nd Place              Sara Casaus                  3.26                                    7th Place              Joanna Wright              13.80   100 M. H. Hurdles         7th Place              Sierra Otto                   19.46   200 M. Dash                 3rd Place              Sara Casaus                 27.69                                    5th Place              Kenzy Barrett               28.11                                    7th Place             Joanna Wright              28.93                              400 M. Run                   3rd Place             Kenzy Barrett               1:07.84                                    7th Place             Joanna Wright              1:12.64   800 M. Run                  5th Place              Sydney Barker              3:01.51                                     4 x 100 M. Relay          1st Place               Kenzy Barrett               53.93                                                              Dani Sanders                                                              Sara Casaus                                                              Joanna Wright   4 x 400 M. Relay          5th Place              Sydney Barker              5:20.03                                                             Shawna Trumpp                                                             Sierra Otto   Louisa Casaus                                                                Girl’s Team Scores:         1st Place              Bennington           146 Points                                     1st Place              Lincoln                 118 Points                                     3rd Place              Sylvan                   74 Points                                     4th Place               Ell-Saline                65 Points                                     5th Place              Wakefield               46 Points                                     6th Place              Tescott                   35 Points                                     7th Place              Chase                    31 Points                                     8th Place              Wilson                   30 Points   Coach Braden, “We had a really good meet today with many personal best performances.  Several of those performances today came from freshmen. Michael Stephens ran his best 400 of the year, Kaleb White high jumped to a personal best height today, and Kevin Jackson high jumped, long jumped, and ran the 800; all personal best marks.  One of the more exciting races of the day was the open 800 where sophomore Jeffrey Thompson finished in fourth place with a new PR for him in that event. Sophomore Nathan Jackson also PRed in the long jump and in the 110 meter hurdles.  Several juniors had an exceptional day as well.  Chris Hardin PRed in the triple jump and ran a great leg on the silver medal winning 4 x 400 meter relay.  Kirk Iseli also ran his fastest split on the 4 x 400 meter relay and Jacob Judy continued to pull down the gold in his best event, the discus.  Probably the most rewarding race of the day was the gold medal performance from senior Zack Melius.  This was Zack’s first race of the year after pulling his hamstring just before spring break this season.  It was great to see Zack healthy again and competing at a high level.  Senior Brock Barrett had another great race in the open 400 pulling down the gold in that event today as well. For the girls, all the coaches were pleased with the effort of the 4 x 400 meter relay team of freshman Sydney Barker, freshman Shawna Trumpp, sophomore Louisa Casaus, and junior Sierra Otto. These four girls ran hard and competed well for us today.  The 4 x 100 meter relay team of junior Kenzy Barrett, junior Joanna Wright, senior Dani Sanders, and senior Sara Casaus, ran their fastest time of the year along the way to a gold medal performance.”   Wakefield’s next meet will be this coming Tuesday April 26th when the Bombers travel to Clay Center for the Clay Center Junior Varsity meet and then on Thursday April 28th the Bombers travel to Manhattan for the Manhattan Small School Invitational Meet which will be held at Cico Park.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chris Young struck out 10 in six innings, Mike Moustakas homered, doubled twice and drove in three runs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 Friday night.

Young (1-3), who came in with a 7.90 ERA and had allowed 20 hits in 13 2/3 innings, baffled the Orioles. Young recorded his sixth-career double-figure strikeout game and his first since April 24, 2008, when he struck out 10 against San Francisco while with San Diego.

Young gave up two runs and four hits, including a sixth inning leadoff home run to Manny Machado, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.

Wade Davis pitched a spotless ninth to log his seventh save in as many chances.