Kickoff for the Kansas State – Texas football game Oct. 25 in Manhattan has been scheduled at 11 a.m.  It will be televised nationally by either ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU.

The contest will be K-State’s fourth 11 a.m. kickoff this season following the Iowa State, UTEP, and Oklahoma games.

Standing-room only tickets are available for the game against the Longhorns.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Resilience and perseverance are two traits that have come to epitomize the Kansas City Royals, who’ve turned into a playoff force with their run of late-inning wins.

They’re two qualities that the Baltimore Orioles had better embrace.

After taking the first two games of the AL Championship Series at the bandbox known as Camden Yards, the Royals return to spacious Kauffman Stadium needing two more wins to reach the World Series in their first playoff appearance since winning it all in 1985.

Game 3 is Monday night, with two more games on deck in Kansas City – the second only if needed. And make no mistake the Orioles are desperate to play all of them.

“You’ve got to win four games,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “You’ve got to keep from losing three. And that’s obviously oversimplifying it. But you look at teams that compete during the course of the season, they compete on the road, too.”

The Orioles were 46-35 on the road this season, a decent mark but by no means the same level of dominance that they exhibited at home. And now their power-hitting lineup has to try to punch balls over the outfield fence at one of the least homer-friendly ballparks in the game, a stadium that lends itself to the Royals’ strong suits: pitching and defense.

The Orioles will also have to overcome a daunting bit of history. Since the best-of-seven format was adopted 29 years ago, none of the previous 11 teams that dropped the first two games of a league championship series at home rallied to reach the World Series.

“We’re grown men. We’re not little kids who need to sit in a circle and play ‘Duck, Duck, Goose,”‘ Orioles outfielder Adam Jones said, when asked whether there would be any special pep talks before the game. “We’re just going to approach it as we’ve approached every game all season, and do what we do best.”

Wei-Yin Chen starts for the Orioles against former Baltimore pitcher Jeremy Guthrie.

While the Orioles are trying to buck history, the Royals have been making some.

The same club that languished below .500 in late July has seemingly become invincible when the game is on the line. The Royals became the first team in major league history to win four playoff games in extra innings with their 8-6, 10-inning triumph in Game 1 on Friday night, and then added another chapter to their memorable postseason in Game 2 on Saturday.

After the Orioles kept rallying to tie the game, Alcides Escobar delivered a go-ahead double in the ninth inning that propelled Kansas City to a 6-4 victory.

“Over the past few years we’ve played a lot of close games,” Royals closer Greg Holland said. “The reason we’re here now is we’ve learned how to win those games. When you learn how to win those games, it kind of builds on itself and you know you can.”

The Royals have certainly embraced a flair for the dramatic.

Beginning with their rally from a four-run deficit in the eighth inning of their wild-card game against Oakland, and right through a pair of extra-inning wins over the Angels in the divisional round, the Royals have thrived when the game is in the balance.

It helps that they have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Holland have been just as dynamic in the playoffs as they were in the regular season. And considering that neither the Royals nor Orioles have had a starter go deep in a game yet, the play of both bullpens already has proven pivotal.

“We just want to get the ball to our bullpen with the lead,” Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson said. “If we can do that, we know we got it.”

Getting the ball to the bullpen will be the job of Guthrie. He’ll be starting Monday night for the first time since Sept. 26, though he’s thrown simulated games and bullpen sessions to keep sharp.

“I’ve never had this much time between starts aside from being on the DL,” Guthrie said, “so I don’t view it one way or another. I was able to throw a simulated game, which at least gave me the opportunity to go out there and face hitters.

The Orioles will counter with Chen, who pitched well in two games against the Royals earlier this season.

The 2014 season for the Junction City Lady Jay tennis team ended in a Class 6A Regional Tournament at Wichita East High School on Saturday.

The Lady Jays went 0-1 in all categories of play.

Kira Ford competed for Junction City in No. one singles, Mercedes Stunkel in No. 2 singles, Ally McKenzie and Danielle Shane in No. 1 doubles, and Abby Khoury and Alyson Burleigh in No. 2 doubles.

The Junction City Lady Jays found themselves competing Saturday in the toughest tournament they have been in all season, with multiple ranked teams in the field at the Manhattan Invitational.

The Lady Jays fell to Bishop Miege 25-17, 25-14, Olathe East 25-17, 25-12, Topeka High 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, Manhattan 25-18, 25-10, and Topeka High in a second match 18-25, 25-15, 25-10.

Despite the difficult day on Saturday, the Lady Jays are 10-16 on the season.

Despite being idle this past weekend the Kansas State Wildcats moved up in the college football polls.

They are now ranked 14th in the Associated Press and the Amway Top 25 coaches poll.

Kansas State, 4-1, plays at Oklahoma ( No. 11 ) on Saturday.

Mississippi State is the new number one in both of those polls. The Bulldogs are 6-0 on the season. They were jumped over the previous top ranked team Florida State, who fell to No. 2. Mississippi is ranked third followed by Baylor and Notre Dame.

 

Brianna Pace led the Junction City Lady Jays in the El Dorado Invitational on Saturday. Pace finished 7th in 15:41 while teammate Myrissa Humphreys was 11th in 15:48. Freshman Briona Jensen finished 21st in 16:10.  All three of those Lady Jay runners medaled in the race.

Junction City finished sixth out of 16 teams in the girls varsity race.

In the boys competition some of the squad’s junior varsity runners moved up to the varsity boys race since four of the regular varsity members did not race this weekend.  Junior Chris Foley led Junction City with a 17th place finish in 16:51. He medaled and led the boys team to a ninth place finish out of 16 teams.

In the junior varsity girls race three Lady Jays earned medals. They included Kailey Kooman, 17:58, 12th;  Nesha Rand, 18:06, 16th;  and Desarea Clark, 18:12, 8th. In the junior varsity boys race two Blue Jays medaled. They included Jacob Lovell, 18:13, 7th; and Jabari Jackson, 18:30, 16th.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Tyreek Hill returned a kickoff 99 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, and No. 16 Oklahoma State held on to beat upset-minded Kansas 27-20 on Saturday.

Daxx Garman threw for 161 yards with a touchdown an interception, and Desmond Roland ran for 87 yards and another score as the Cowboys (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) were nearly caught looking ahead to next week’s showdown with ninth-ranked TCU.

Michael Cummings threw for 288 yards and ran for a touchdown in his first start for Kansas (2-4, 0-3) since 2012. Corey Avery also ran for a score for the Jayhawks.

Oklahoma State led 20-7 at halftime, but the Jayhawks rallied to tie the game 20-all late in the fourth quarter in their first home game under interim coach Clint Bowen.

 

BALTIMORE (AP) – Alcides Escobar doubled in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, Mike Moustakas extended his home run-binge and the Kansas City Royals remained perfect in the playoffs, beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 Saturday for a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series.

Lorenzo Cain had four hits, scored twice and drove in a run for the wild-card Royals, who are 6-0 in the playoffs this year, including 4-0 on the road.

Moustakas hit his fourth home run of the playoffs. Overall, Kansas City has won nine straight postseason games, a string dating way back to the 1985 World Series.

The best-of-seven series shifts to Kansas City on Monday for Game 3 with the Royals halfway toward reaching the World Series once again. Former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie will start for the Royals against either Wei-Yin Chen or Miguel Gonzalez.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Alex Gordon hit a tiebreaking homer in the 10th inning, Mike Moustakas added a two-run shot and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 Friday night in the opener of the AL Championship Series.

Earlier, Gordon doubled in three runs, was picked off first base, made a great catch in left field and got hit in the neck with a pitch. His homer off Darren O’Day sent the Royals toward their fourth extra-inning victory in five games this postseason.

The Orioles tried to rally in the 10th. Pinch-hitter Delmon Young hit an RBI single with two outs, but closer Greg Holland retired Nick Markakis on a grounder with two runners on for the final out in the rain shortly before 1 a.m.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is proposing a wager to the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri as the Orioles face the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series.

Rawlings-Blake predicted Friday the Orioles will win the series. When that happens, she wants Kansas City Mayor Sly James to record a video in full Orioles gear to congratulate Baltimore.

Rawlings-Blake is also calling for Kansas City to light its city hall in orange, rename its Baltimore Avenue to “Baltimore Orioles Avenue” and donate fitness equipment to Baltimore recreation centers.

If the Kansas City Royals win, James has asked Rawlings-Blake to rename Baltimore’s blue crabcakes to “Royal blue crabcakes,” travel to Kansas City to read to local students and post a video of her singing Lorde’s hit single “Royals.”