From staff reports

Eagles blank Van Buren 4-0 for Neosho Tournament title

NEOSHO, Mo. — Joplin High School took control with two goals late in the first half and defeated Van Buren (Ark.) 4-0 Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Neosho Tournament.

Lauren Copple and Stephanie Loden scored three minutes apart, assisted by Lauren Schwab and Chelsea Damer, to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Rachel Lazenby scored 17 minutes into the second half, assisted by Kelsey Sanders, and Sanders scored 18 minutes later on a free kick.

Randi Russell stopped four shots and notched her fourth consecutive shutout. Joplin owned a 19-4 advantagein shots on goal.

The Eagles (4-1) reached the title round with victories over two Neosho squads — 10-0 over the junior varsity team on Friday night and 3-0 over the Wildcats’ varsity on Saturday.

Joplin plays at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Glendale.

Nummela’s eighth-place finish leads Lions at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Southern freshman Aki Nummela placed eighth in the elite 1,500-meter run Saturday at the University of Missouri Invitational.

Nummela’s time of 3 minutes, 56.0 seconds was three seconds shy of an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark for the spring nationals.

Southern sophomore Brennan Benkert was 12th in the 5,000 in 15:07.77. Teammates Ryan Arthur, Jarkko Jarvenpaa and Anthony Reed were 15th, 31st and 59th, respectively.

The Lions return to action in the MSSU Invitational on Friday at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

OCC’s 32 hits lead to sweep of St. Louis Christian

Ozark Christian College pounded out 32 hits en route to sweeping a pair of five-inning baseball games from St. Louis Christian on Saturday at Joe Becker Stadium.

The Ambassadors won 13-3 and 11-0 to hike their record to 4-7. The visitors dropped to 0-4.