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

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — JJ Schwarz hit a two-run homer and Florida built enough cushion to survive Texas Tech’s six-run outburst over the seventh and eighth innings and eliminate the Red Raiders from the College World Series with a 9-6 win. The Gators have won two straight following a loss to Tech in their CWS opener and moved to the Bracket 2 final against Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brent Suter pitched seven strong innings, Manny Pina homered and the Milwaukee Brewers capitalized on a season-high four errors by St. Louis to beat the Cardinals 11-3. Suter retired 12 straight after Matt Carpenter’s leadoff home run.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Keturah Orji set a meet record in the triple jump at 47 feet, 10 1/2 inches, highlighting the opening session of the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. Mike Rodgers set a world mark for 2018 in the 100 meters at 9.89 seconds in an opening round heat, just 0.04 seconds shy of his personal best.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has announced the Detroit Tigers will play a regular-season game against the Kansas City Royals at TD Ameritrade Park on June 13, 2019. That’s two days before the start of the College World Series. Manfred says Major League Baseball wants to strength its relationship with the NCAA and college baseball and also bring the game to new markets.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals placed right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain and recalled right-hander John Gant from Triple-A Memphis before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

UNDATED (AP) — Calgary Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau is a member of an NHL-laden ownership group that’s purchased an equity stake in the U.S. Hockey League’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. The group includes Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, former Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, and Florida Panthers executive chairman Peter Luukko. Gaudreau and Girgensons were teammates on the Dubuque team that won the USHL championship in 2011.

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – June 21, 2018 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced prior to tonight’s series opener in Milwaukee that they have placed right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha on the 10-day disabled list (left oblique strain) and have recalled right-handed pitcher John Gant from Memphis (AAA).

Wacha, who exited yesterday’s game in the 4th inning, is leading the Cardinals in wins (8) and strikeouts (71) and in his 15 starts this season, he’d posted a 3.20 ERA.

Gant, 25, is being recalled for a third time this season.  He’s 5-1 with a1.65 ERA in eight starts for Memphis this season, striking out 42 in 49.0 innings.

In seven appearances (3 starts) for the Cardinals this year, Gant is 1-2 with a 4.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 24.2 innings pitched.   He made starts on May 7 (vs. MIN), May 19 (vs. PHI) and May 25 (at PIT), striking out 19 in a combined 15.0 innings pitched.

Gant gained a win in his first 2018 appearance for the Cardinals with 3.0 perfect innings of relief on April 26 against the New York Mets in a 13-inning win.   His last start for Memphis came on June 15 against Albuquerque when he went 6.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits and struck out seven.

Gant wears uniform no. 53.

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Zack Johnson has shot a first-round 63 to take an early lead at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. The former Masters and British Open champion birdied six straight holes on the back nine and finished 7 under par, one shot ahead of American Peter Malnati. Brooks Koepka followed his U.S. Open championship with a 2-under 68 on the TPC River Highland’s course, putting him five shots off the pace.

The Travelers was selected by the PGA last year as its “Tournament of the Year” and the “Players Choice.” That has helped attract a 156-player field that includes five of the world’s top 10 ranked golfers and all four reigning major championship winners. Masters winner Patrick Reed, PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, the defending British Open and Travelers champion, all are on the course Thursday afternoon.

Softball

Lenox 10, Fremont-Mills 0
Logan-Magnolia 10, Audubon 0
Murray 12, Essex 0
Nodaway Valley 11, Orient-Macksburg 1

Baseball

Central Decatur 20, Orient-Macksburg 0 (4 inn)
Earlham 11, Mount Ayr 2
Essex 7, Murray 3
Lenox 19, Fremont-Mills 9
Treynor 8, Audubon 2

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Odubel Herrera hit a tiebreaking, solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3. Yadier Molina hit a pair of homers for the Cardinals, who lost starter Michael Wacha to injury. Philadelphia’s beleaguered bullpen tossed three scoreless innings after Jake Arrieta had another so-so outing. Edubray Ramos got five outs and Victor Arano finished for his first career save.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Rougned Odor homered and the Texas Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high five games with a 3-2 victory over the struggling Kansas City Royals. Bibens-Dirkx allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings for his first victory since last Sept. 6 in a relief appearance at Atlanta _ and sent the Royals to their ninth straight loss. Kansas City has dropped 15 of 16 overall.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Brett Daniels walked in the go-ahead run after Adley Rutschman tied it with a three-run double in the eighth inning and Oregon State went on to knock North Carolina out of the College World Series with an 11-6 win. It was a stunning turnabout after the Tar Heels had wiped out a 3-0 deficit to go up 6-3 in the sixth. Oregon State will play Mississippi State on Friday in a bracket final.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dominic Fletcher went 4 for 4 with a homer and four RBIs and Arkansas pitchers struck out 14 in a 7-4 win over Texas Tech in the College World Series. Fletcher doubled in two runs in the first inning, homered in the fourth, had a bunt single in the sixth and singled in a run in the eighth as the Razorbacks won their second game to take control of Bracket 1.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A regular-season game between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals will be played in Omaha, Nebraska, the week before the 2019 College World Series. The Associated Press has learned the desire is to have it serve as a kickoff to the CWS. The game is similar to the regular-season games being played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the Little League World Series.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The USATF Outdoor Championships in Iowa will be the pinnacle of the 2018 season in track and field for a number of standouts. Sprinter Ronnie Baker, hurdler Keni Harrison and emerging star Sydney McLaughlin are among a host of past Olympic medalists and champions aiming for domestic titles.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa wrestler Sam Stoll has been released from the hospital after being accidentally shot in the knee. Iowa coach Tom Brands said Wednesday that Stoll had surgery Tuesday and that he is “doing well.”

Iowa City police said that a preliminary investigation found that the All-America wrestler Stoll was shot by mistake in a residence early Tuesday morning and that several other people were present.

Authorities say the investigation is ongoing. Iowa athletic officials were gathering information, and Brands says the school will follow its code of conduct policies once the police conclude their investigation.

Stoll placed fifth as a heavyweight at the NCAA Championships in March. He has one more season of eligibility remaining.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals will play a regular-season game in Omaha the week the 2019 College World Series opens, The Associated Press has learned.

Major League Baseball and the NCAA have been working to arrange a game as a kickoff event to the CWS, two people close to the situation told the AP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details.

A news conference with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was scheduled for Thursday at TD Ameritrade Park, the host site for the CWS.

The move would be similar to the regular-season games played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the Little League World Series.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Odubel Herrera hit a tiebreaking, solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Wednesday.

Yadier Molina hit a pair of homers for the Cardinals, who lost starter Michael Wacha to injury. Both came off Phillies starter Jake Arrieta.

Philadelphia’s beleaguered bullpen tossed three scoreless innings after Arrieta had another so-so outing. Edubray Ramos (2-0) got five outs and Adam Morgan retired the last two batters with the tying run on second for his first career save.

The Phillies took two of three to win a series against the Cardinals for the first time since August 2014.

Arrieta gave up three runs and four hits in six innings to remain winless in June after posting a 0.90 ERA in five starts in May. Arrieta, who is earning $30 million this season as part of a three-year, $75 million contract, has a 6.97 ERA in four starts this month.

Wacha left in the fourth with a left oblique strain. The right-hander allowed three runs — one earned — and six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Herrera ripped a 91 mph slider from Sam Tuivailala (1-3) off the scoreboard on the facing of the second deck in right field to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Herrera has a homer in four straight games.

Pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko hit a one-out double off Victor Arano in the ninth. Morgan entered to get Matt Carpenter on a foul pop and Tommy Pham on a grounder.

Molina drove a 3-2 pitch the opposite-way into the seats in right-center for his fifth career multihomer game in the sixth to tie it at 3.

A throwing error by Carpenter led to a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Jorge Alfaro reached with one out when Carpenter’s throw pulled first baseman Jose Martinez off the bag. With two outs, Hernandez lined a 1-2 change-up to the seats in right for a 3-1 lead.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first after Rhys Hoskins hit a single, advanced to third on Herrera’s double and scored on Carlos Santana’s sacrifice fly.

Molina crushed Arrieta’s first pitch in the second inning to left to tie it at 1.

Wacha worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third by striking out Scott Kingery and retiring Nick Williams on a bouncer.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (3-3, 2.73 ERA) takes the mound for the start of a four-game set at Milwaukee. He’s 6-4, 1.95 vs. the Brewers.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of the man convicted of killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas. Mark Becker shot and killed Thomas in the high school weight room in front of several witnesses on June 24th of 2009. Becker’s lawyer used an insanity defense, but he was found guilty of murder. Becker appealed his conviction saying his lawyer was ineffective for failing to seek a change of venue and failing to present evidence of pre-trial publicity.

The Court of Appeals ruled the lawyer’s decision to forgo a change of venue was sound trial strategy given the available information. The ruling says pre-trial publicity was widespread but many accounts favored the defense’s claim of insanity. The ruling also says the positive interactions between the families and the Thomas family’s plea for understanding could have also positively influenced jurors toward the defense.

Becker is now 33-years-old and is being held at the Corrections Department Oakdale facility.

(Radio Iowa)