SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A wild throw by reliever Randy Choate on a bunt allowed Brandon Crawford to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Tuesday for a 2-1 lead in the NL Championship Series.

Crawford drew an eight-pitch walk from Choate to begin the inning, ending a stretch of 16 straight Giants retired since Tim Hudson’s two-out single in the fourth. After failing on two sacrifice attempts, Juan Perez singled to bring up Gregor Blanco.

Blanco’s bunt went to the left side of the mound and the left-handed Choate’s sidearmed throw sailed past lunging second baseman Kolten Wong, who was covering first base.

Randal Grichuk tied it with a solo homer in the seventh that chased Hudson.

Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night, with Ryan Vogelsong pitching for the Giants against fellow righty Shelby Miller.

 

The Saint Xavier High School volleyball team split a pair of matches with Flint Hill Christian on Tuesday.

Saint X lost the opener 25-16, 29-27 but then came back to win the second match 25-17, 25-14.

The Kansas State Wildcats will face an Oklahoma team Saturday that can throw the ball deep, but also features a good runningback.

Bill Snyder said Tuesday the Sooners are balanced. “Most of the situational work that they do is balanced, and by that I mean down and distance. ”  Snyder added on passing downs the Wildcats had better be able to defend the run, and vice versa.

“But when you add the capabilities of Trevor Knight ( OU quarterback ) to run the ball. He had 87 yards against us last year rushing the ball, said Snyder.  K-State did not defend the run very well in a loss to Oklahoma a year ago, and Trevor Knight completed more than 60 percent of his passes in that Sooner victory in Manhattan.  Snyder stated that provides “a great deal of balance in your offense, and they have that capacity.”

Led by Knight, the Sooners rank 16th natonally in scoring offense at 40.5 points per game.

At runningback for Oklahoma, Samaje Perine ranks second in the Big 12 with 94.7 yards per game rushing, and he has league-high nine touchdowns.

Oklahoma is ranked 11th in the nation while Kansas State is ranked 14th. The Wildcats are 2-0 in Big 12 play, while the Sooners are 1-1 in the conference.  Kickoff is scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday in Norman.

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – During a practice shortly after he was appointed interim coach at Kansas, Clint Bowen lined up next to his players on the sideline and took off at the first whistle.

He was running sprints with them. And not just one or two players, all of them.

Imagine Charlie Weis doing that.

It was the first of many instances in which Bowen bridged a disconnect that developed between the players and Weis, who was fired four games into the season. Bowen runs onto the field at full speed when the Jayhawks emerge from the locker room and leaps to bump chests with players after a big play.

“We can relate to him more,” said running back Tony Pierson, a senior now on his third head coach. “He played ball. He’s from Lawrence. He brings a lot of energy to this team.”

In other words, Bowen couldn’t be more different from his predecessor.

Weis may have been a successful NFL assistant, but he failed as a college head coach at Notre Dame and Kansas. He was born and raised in New Jersey, about as far as one can get from the Heartland, and went to school at Notre Dame, where he did not play football. He was an offense-minded coach whose pro style seemed woefully outdated.

Meanwhile, Bowen was born and raised just down the street from Kansas’ campus. He played for the Jayhawks before beginning his career as a KU assistant in 2000. The defensive-minded coach has never worked in the pros, instead working brief stints at Western Kentucky and North Texas before returning to Kansas two years ago.

Following a recent NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommendation to drop the intercollegiate sport of equestrian as an emerging Division I women’s program, K-State Athletics Director John Currie has announced that Kansas State will discontinue its sponsorship fo equestrian at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season.

Currie has also announced that Kansas State will add the school’s first-ever intercollegiate women’s soccer program, allowing the Wildcat athletics program to maintain its sponsorship of 16 varsity sports as required by NCAA bylaw 20.9.6. Currie’s recommendations were approved by K-State Athletics, Inc. Board of Directors and President Kirk Schulz.

In a letter to the equestrian community last month, the Committee on Women’s Athletics detailed its decision on equestrian based on a lack of sponsorship in all three NCAA divisions, including a 10-year period in which the sport failed to reach the 40-program target set by the NCAA as well as the significant costs of maintaining such programs. K-State is just one of 19 Division I equestrian programs in the nation.

“While this was an extremely difficult and complex decision, we are proud of the effort of our equestrian coaches and student-athletes and the first class way they have represented K-State since the program’s inception in 2000,” Currie said. “Unfortunately with equestrian no longer projected to count toward the minimumNCAA requirement of 16 sponsored varsity programs as detailed in NCAA Bylaw 20.9.6, we must move our resources to another sport to continue our ability to operate as a Division I FBS member of the NCAA.

Currie said the school will fully honor the scholarships of its current equestrian student-athletes for the remainder of their eligibility as well as the contract of Head Coach Casie Maxwell, who is currently in the second year of a five-year contract.

“We have worked hard to support our team with a current annual operating budget of $1.2 million and facility expenditures and improvements of $700,000 over the last five years, ” Currie said. “But, the fact is that the sport simply hasn’t grown as was hoped and nearly one of our border state peer institutions, and every Big 12 institution, sponsors soccer. ”

Wildcat intercollegiate soccer will launch in the fall of 2016.

The Big 12 Conference has made it to midterm of the regular season with No. 4 Baylor as its only undefeated team.

The Big 12 also has four one-loss teams jammed together in the latest AP poll – No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 12 TCU, No. 14 Kansas State and No. 15 Oklahoma State.

Two of those teams will have their second loss by this weekend and likely fall out of the mix for the first four-team playoff in major college football. Kansas State plays Saturday at Oklahoma, and TCU is home against Oklahoma State.

Baylor coach Art Briles says the Bears are concerned about whether they win. They play Saturday at West Virginia, which is also coming off a big comeback victory.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Game 3 of the AL Championship Series has been postponed because of rain.

The game was pushed back from Monday to Tuesday at 8:07 p.m. EDT. Game 4 was rescheduled Wednesday at 4:07 p.m. EDT and Game 5, if needed for Thursday at 4:07 p.m. EDT.

Kansas City leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.

Major League Baseball Senior Vice President Peter Woodfork says: “We want a game we know we can get through nine innings, hopefully play dry baseball, not risk player safety or uncomfortable fans.”

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Two Wildcats, Katie Brand and Katie Reininger, each earned a Big 12 player of the week award on Monday as Brand was named the conference’s top defensive player while Reininger was tabbed as the top offensive player.

The pair of redshirt sophomores played a key role in K-State’s 3-1 win over Iowa State last week, with Reininger tallying 14 kills on a .522 hitting percentage and Brand notching a team-high 13 digs along with seven blocks, which matched Reininger for the team-lead.

The award is Reininger’s first career honor from the Big 12 while it is Brand’s second career Big 12 weekly award. Brand was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week on Sept. 16, 2013.

Brand was the only Big 12 player last week to average more than three digs per set and 1.75 blocks per set as she ranked tied for second in blocks and sixth in digs. Reininger, meanwhile, was the sole Big 12 player to be ranked in the conference’s top 10 in each hitting percentage (second), points per set (fifth), kills per set (ninth) and blocks per set (tied for second).

There will be a JCHS Cheer Clinic for fourth through eighth grade students Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 6-8 p.m.

The cost of the clinic is $25. It covers the cost of a t-shirt and entrance for the participant.

Participants can learn cheers and chants from the Junction City High School cheerleaders, and play games. Participants will also cheer at an Oct. 24 varsity football game in the stands and on the track during the first half.

Make checks payable to JCHS Cheerleading.

Send registration to Rachel Kelly, JCHS Cheerleading, 900 N. Eisenhower. Return your registration by mail by Monday, Oct. 20. If you have questions call Yvonne Warren at 785-375-0276.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Chiefs hope to have Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry back for Sunday’s game in San Diego after a bye week allowed him to rest his sprained right ankle.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said that Berry would participate in Monday’s workout. He’s been out since Sept. 14, when he hurt his ankle in a loss at Denver.

Ron Parker has filled in admirably for Berry in his absence.

Defensive back Chris Owens was expected to miss the practice with a knee injury, and wide receiver Donnie Avery remains sidelined after surgery for a sports hernia.

The Chiefs are 2-3 and coming off a 22-17 loss in San Francisco before their bye.