Thursday September 7th Local Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Guardians avoided the sweep and finally slowed down Minnesota’s offense. Rookie Gavin Williams and four relievers combined on a two-hitter and the Guardians beat the Twins 2-1 on Wednesday. Minnesota still leads second-place Cleveland by six games in the AL Central with 22 games left. The Twins won the first two games of the series against the defending division champs by a combined 28-9 score. Cleveland won the season series 7-6. Will Brennan drove in both runs for Cleveland. Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his 38th save.

 

 

 

IOWA CITY — Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara will get his first taste of the Cy-Hawk series when the Hawkeyes visit Iowa State in their 70th meeting on Saturday. Two years ago McNamara was the starting quarterback for Michigan when the Wolverines played Michigan State.

McNamara says in-state games include added emotion.

McNamara was limited by a quad strain in a season opening win over Utah State and feels it is making progress.

The injury has limited McNamra’s mobility in the pocket.

Iowa needs to find a way to solve Iowa State’s 3-3-5 defense that has smothered the run game the past couple of years. The Hawkeyes have only averaged 62 and-a-half yards on the ground in the last two meetings and the run game did not look promising against Utah State.

McNamara was 17-of-30 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns against Utah State.

 

 

 

AMES — Iowa State linebacker Caleb Bacon had a breakout game against Northern Iowa. The walk-on from Lake Mills had five tackles and two sacks in a 30-9 win over the Panthers.

On Saturday, Bacon and his Cyclone teammates will try to beat Iowa for the second straight season.

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht is ready for the challenge of the Cy-Hawk Series. The redshirt freshman from Florida took the majority of the snaps in a 30-9 win over Northern Iowa. He will be the starter in Saturday’s 70th meeting against Iowa. Becht was 10-of-13 for 113 yards and two touchdowns against the Panthers. The Hawkeye defense figures to be an even tougher challenge.

The Cyclones look to make it two in a row over the Hawkeyes after a 10-7 win in Kinnick Stadium last season.

Becht has learned from the Iowa natives on the team how important this game is.

Kickoff at Jack Trice Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 with the pre-game at 12:30 on AM-1300 KGLO.

 

 

 

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa wide receiver Sam Schnee says the offense had a disappointing performance against Iowa State and they want to turn that around at home against 9th-ranked Weber State. The redshirt senior from Dubuque had four catches for 34 yards in a 30-9 loss at Iowa State.

Quarterback Theo Day was a part of the offensive woes, and Schnee believes he will bounce back.

Kickoff at the UNI-Dome on Saturday is scheduled for 4 o’clock

 

 

SIOUX CITY — The NIACC volleyball team was swept at Western Iowa Technical Community College in Sioux City Wednesday night in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference play. Western Iowa Tech won 25-18, 25-15 and 25-18. NIACC was led by sophomore Jaida Hansen with 10 kills, five digs, and four blocks. Freshman Emily Opstvedt had eight digs and seven assists while sophomore Alyssa Wickersheim had four kills, seven digs and one block. NIACC drops to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in the conference and will travel to Rochester to play in the Rochester Community and Technical College Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

 

 

MASON CITY — The NIACC soccer teams were swept by Iowa Lakes on Wednesday in Mason City. The NIACC men dropped a 3-1 decision to 4th-ranked Iowa Lakes. Carlos Cuellar had the Trojans’ lone goal in the contest. NIACC drops to 1-2 on the season. In the women’s contest, 19th-ranked Iowa Lakes scored three goals in the first half and six more in the second half in a 9-0 win. NIACC drops to 0-3 on the season. Both NIACC teams travel to Marshalltown Community College on Saturday afternoon.