Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Joey Votto’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Shogo Akiyama with the winning run as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3. Facing Giovanny Gallegos (1-1), Akiyama and Curt Casali walked with one out and Votto delivered a sharp line drive to right and Akiyama slid across the plate with the winning run. The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Raisel Iglesias (2-2) struck Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas to escape. Yadier Molina and Brad Miller homered for the Cardinals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — On the night Patrick Mahomes received his Super Bowl ring, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback gave a ring away. Mahomes and his longtime girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, became engaged Tuesday night. The 24-year-old Mahomes, who won the MVP award by leading the Chiefs past the 49ers at the Super Bowl in February, began dating Matthews while they were attending Whitehouse High School in Texas. Mahomes was a sophomore and Matthews was a junior, and the couple remained together when they headed off to college.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Triston McKenzie tossed six innings of three-hit ball to celebrate his 23rd birthday, and Tyler Naquin hit a pair of homers for the only runs of the game as the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Wednesday night. McKenzie needed just 81 pitches thanks to six strikeouts, no walks and some slick defense behind him. His bullpen went the rest of the way, holding the Royals without a hit over the final three innings. Jakob Junis took the loss after giving up Naquin’s first home run. Junis later left the game after getting hit in the arm by a line drive.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tom Vint, who covered the dominant Nebraska football teams of the 1980s and ’90s as an Associated Press sports writer, has died after a monthlong battle with COVID-19. He was 72. Vint retired in 2005 after 25 years working in multiple roles in the Omaha bureau. Former colleagues remembered Vint for being unflappable under deadline pressure and patient when training new staffers. Family and friends knew Vint for his willingness to help others and his passion for coaching youth sports.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota transfer center Liam Robbins has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. He made the switch in April after two seasons at Drake. The 7-foot, 235-pound Robbins will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Gophers. As a sophomore in 2019-20, the native of Davenport, Iowa, led the Bulldogs with 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. He landed on the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team. His 99 blocks were fifth in the country and a program record. Robbins is a nephew of Gophers assistant coach Ed Conroy and a cousin of reserve guard Hunt Conroy.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota transfer center Liam Robbins has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. He made the switch in April after two seasons at Drake. The 7-foot, 235-pound Robbins will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Gophers. As a sophomore in 2019-20, the native of Davenport, Iowa, led the Bulldogs with 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.

FILE – In this Thursday, March 5, 2020 file photo,Drake’s Liam Robbins, left, heads to the basket as Illinois State’s Matt Chastain defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference men’s tournament in St. Louis. Minnesota transfer center Liam Robbins was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA, the university announced Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020. Robbins made the switch in April after two seasons at Drake.(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

He landed on the All-Missouri Valley Conference second team. His 99 blocks were fifth in the country and a program record. Robbins is a nephew of Gophers assistant coach Ed Conroy and a cousin of reserve guard Hunt Conroy.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University has decided to change its decision regarding fans at the Sept. 12 home football game.

The game against Louisiana will kick-off at 11 a.m. and television coverage will be provided by ESPN.

Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said:

“Our department staff and I have worked very closely with Dr. Wintersteen and her leadership team throughout the summer as we jointly developed plans for this fall’s football season. Over the weekend, Dr. Wintersteen gave our working group the approval to move forward with the plans that were jointly developed. Our department announced those plans on Monday, which included allowing fans, who purchased season tickets, to attend the first game.

President Wintersteen shared with me on Tuesday evening that, after weighing feedback she has received from the community, she has decided to reverse the decision. As a result, we will play the season opener without fans.

Our department has always taken great pride in working hand-in-hand with the university and this situation is no different. We are in this together and will do everything we can to support Dr. Wintersteen and her leadership team in their efforts to lead our institution during very challenging times.

Although it is disappointing there won’t be fans at the opener, our institution’s leadership team is still committed to having spectators at future games, if it can done safely. Weighing how our campus community responds to the recent surge in positive COVID cases will be a significant factor as to whether we can have fans at future games. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make a decision regarding fans for the Oklahoma game (Oct. 3) at a later date.”

Season ticket holders who wish to opt-out of their 2020 football season tickets can login to their account at this link. Once logged in, follow the opt-out instructions displayed on the screen.

(Radio Iowa) – Wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson is expected to have an immediate impact on the Iowa State offense. Ranked as the ninth best junior college receiver coming out of Blinn Community College, Hutchinson chose the Cyclones over schools like Oklahoma and Nebraska. He has been impressed with junior quarterback Brock Purdy.

Hutchinson says with Purdy at the helm the Cyclone offense has high expectations.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says Hutchinson has the qualities it takes to succeed.

Campbell on Hutchinson’s work ethic

The Iowa Association of Track Coaches have released their latest individual cross country rankings. Here are the area ranked runners with a link to the full top 30 for each class below.

Class 4A Boys

9th- Aidan Booton, CB Thomas Jefferson
15th- Ethan Eichhorn, Lewis Central

Class 3A Boys

11th- Craig Alan Becker, Atlantic
17th- Trey Gross, Harlan

Class 3A Girls

11th- Braelyn Baker, Creston
17th- Emma Hughes, Glenwood
27th- Taylor McCreedy, Atlantic
30th- Brecken VanBaale, Harlan

Class 2A Boys

11th- Baylor Bergren, Red Oak
18th- Cole Dooley, Treynor

Class 2A Girls

2nd- Ella Waddle, Panorama
14th- Mayson Hartley, Clarinda
21st- Gwen Steffen, Panorama
26th- Olivia Steffen, Panorama

Class 1A Boys

10th- Brett McGee, Tri-Center
14th- Toby Bower, Nodaway Valley
16th- Ben Breheny, Nodaway Valley
17th Trevin Suhr, ACGC
19th- Quentin Dreyer, IKM-Manning
23rd- Tarick Rowe, Logan-Magnolia
27th- Colin Lillie, St. Albert
29th- Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley

Class 1A Girls

1st- Peyton Pogge, Tri-Center
6th- Rylee Sloss, ACGC
12th- Sophia Broers, Nodaway Valley
14th- Grace Slater, Audubon
15th- Chloe Falkena, AHSTW
22nd- Kiersten Knobbe, ACGC
25th- Courtney Sporrer, Logan-Magnolia
27th- Kyla Corrin, Tri-Center

Full Rankings HERE

Aug. 24-29
Total Tests         Athletes             Staff      Total Positive    Athlete Pos.      Staff Pos.       %Pos.
289                      207                      82          8                           8                           0                             2.77

June 8-Aug. 29
Total Tests         Athletes             Staff      Total Positive    Athlete Pos.      Staff Pos.       %Pos.
1,652                   1,203                   449        51                        49                        2                             3.09

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Brad Miller homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs, and the Cardinals pounded Sonny Gray and the Cincinnati Reds 16-2. Miller sparked St. Louis’ six-run first inning against Gray with a two-run double that glanced off the glove of diving first baseman Joey Votto and bounced down the line. He hit a two-run shot in the second, an RBI single in the fifth and another two-run homer in the eighth, clanging a drive off the foul pole in right. Kolten Wong went 4 for 4 and scored four times as the Cardinals set season highs for runs and hits with 23.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Reports began to filter out late Monday that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid had agreed to six-year contract extensions that would tie them to Kansas City through the 2025 season. In typical fashion, Reid downplayed the talks Tuesday — he alluded to the fact that nothing had been signed, even if an agreement had been reached. But he did acknowledge the importance of continuity on the roster, among his coaching staff and within the front office as the Chiefs seek to turn their Super Bowl title last year into the makings of a dynasty.

UNDATED (AP) — The Big Ten Conference, already in court and under pressure from players and parents over its decision to cancel fall football, is now hearing from President Donald Trump. Trump tweeted he has spoken with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren about reinstating the fall season. The Big Ten had no immediate comment. The league announced Aug. 11 it would move its football season to the spring semester because of health risks associated with the pandemic. Trump has framed the debate over player and fan safety as a political one.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Zach Plesac returned to the Indians with six solid innings after being punished for breaking coronavirus protocols, and Cleveland beat the Kansas City Royals 10-1. The right-handed Plesac allowed a run and four hits, striking out six and walking none. The 25-year-old has a 1.33 ERA in three starts this season. Plesac hadn’t pitched since Aug. 8 after being caught breaking curfew with rotation-mate Mike Clevinger. Plesac and Clevinger were placed on the restricted list and later demoted to the alternate site as punishment. Clevinger returned and made one start last week before being traded to San Diego on Monday, opening a spot for Plesac.

UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State enters this season coming off its second-best three-year stretch in program history. It has its sights set on making the Big 12 championship game for the first time. The Cyclones bring back nine starters on offense and seven on defense from a team that finished 7-6. Brock Purdy is poised to go down as the best quarterback to play at Iowa State. They also bring back high-profile players in running back Breece Hall, tight end Charlie Kolar, defensive end JaQuan Bailey and defensive back Greg Eisworth. The Cyclones open Sept. 12 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

(3-0) Stanton 25-25-25, Clarinda 21-11-18
(3-2) Ar-We-Va 25-18-25-20-15, Audubon 21-25-18-25-10
(3-1) CAM 25-25-14-25, East Union 15-16-25-17
(3-0) Gilbert 25-25-25, Carroll 20-14-17
(3-0) Panorama 25-25-26, Ogden 6-18-24
(3-2) Earlham 21-25-16-28-15, West Central Valley 25-21-25-26-9
(3-1) East Mills 23-25-25-25, Lenox 25-15-7-21
(3-0) Southwest Valley 25-25-25, Central Decatur 7-11-23
(3-0) Westwood 25-25-25, West Monona 15-20-19
(3-1) Harlan 23-25-25-25, Denison-Schleswig 25-15-18-21
(2-0) Nodaway Valley 25-25, Griswold 17-12
(2-0) Nodaway Valley 25-25, AHSTW 14-20
(2-1) Griswold 20-25-15, AHSTW 25-16-9
(3-2) Sidney 25-21-22-25-18, Johnson-Brock 18-25-25-21-16
(3-0) East Sac County 25-25-25, IKM-Manning 13-18-9