MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Freshman Breece Hall rushed for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Iowa State to a 38-14 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night. Brock Purdy threw for one TD and ran for another for the Cyclones (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), who held the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) scoreless in the second half.

West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was hit hard while attempting a pass during the Mountaineers’ first series. He did not return and was replaced by backup Jack Allison. Hall scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and also had a 12-yard TD. He might have given the Cyclones the dependable option at running back they’d been looking for ever since star David Montgomery departed.

Hall entered the game fifth on the team with 84 rushing yards on 18 carries. The 205-pound Hall is the third different running back to lead the Cyclones in rushing this season and the first to eclipse 100 yards. Purdy had 102 yards a week ago against TCU. Johnnie Lang started Saturday’s game and had four carries for 11 yards before giving way to Hall.
THE TAKEAWAY
Iowa State: Hall’s performance will help the Cyclones take the running load off of Purdy, who entered the game with the most carries on the team.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers were limited to 190 yards of offense. Allison had one good series but couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up with Purdy. Allison finished 18 of 24 for 140 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception.
UP NEXT
Iowa State travels to Texas Tech next Saturday.
West Virginia plays at No. 6 Oklahoma next Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ian Corwin threw three touchdown passes, Drew Lauer scored three touchdowns and Drake defeated Butler 42-7 on Saturday to remain undefeated in the Pioneer League. Corwin, the current Stats FCS National Freshman Player of the Week, completed 25 of 32 passes for 265 yards. Two of his TD throws went to Devin Cates, who totaled nine receptions for 103 yards.

Drake (3-3, 3-0 PFL), second in the Pioneer League in total defense, held Butler (1-5, 0-2) to 229 total yards. Butler got started on the wrong foot, losing a fumble on the opening kickoff. Lauer capped a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 Drake lead. Butler tied it with its only score, a 34-yard pass from Joey Lindstrom to Johnny O’Shea.

Lauer scored his other TDs on a 22-yard pass from Corwin and a 2-yard run, giving Drake a 21-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Cates caught two short TD passes from Corwin and Jacob Clay added a 1-yard run to cap the scoring. Lauer had 26 carries for 124 yards.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — It turns out Washington’s Big Three is a Big Four.

Don’t forget about Aníbal Sánchez.

The right-hander carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Howie Kendrick had two more big swings and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Friday night in the NL Championship Series opener.

“Tonight was obviously vintage Aníbal,” first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said.

Sánchez had allowed just three runners when he took the mound for the eighth. Zimmerman robbed Tommy Edman with an outstanding diving grab at full stretch for the first out, but pinch-hitter José Martínez cleanly singled to center with two down for the Cardinals’ first hit.

“I just tried to keep focused on every pitch that I’m going to throw,” Sánchez said. “I don’t want to miss any kind of pitch in the middle in the zone against those guys.”

Sánchez thought he was going to finish the no-hitter after the big grab.

“When Zimmerman caught the ball I said, ‘OK, I’ve got it,'” the pitcher recalled.

Sean Doolittle relieved and got four straight outs to finish the one-hitter for his first postseason save in two years.

Sánchez and Doolittle made life easy on manager Dave Martinez after the Nationals placed closer Daniel Hudson on the paternity list before the franchise’s first appearance in the NLCS since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington ahead of the 2005 season.

“I think the mood of the guys in the bullpen, we really wanted to find a way to pick him up and allow him to enjoy a really special moment with his wife and his family,” Doolittle said.

Game 2 is back at Busch Stadium on Saturday. Washington ace Max Scherzer starts in his hometown, and Adam Wainwright gets the ball for St. Louis. Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin will follow when the series moves to Nationals Park.

“People were talking about the Big Three,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said, “but we got a guy tonight that we got to contend with and not overlook him.”

St. Louis wasted a solid performance by Miles Mikolas, who pitched six innings of one-run ball in his second career playoff start.

Washington scored each of its runs with two outs. Kendrick doubled and came home on Yan Gomes’ double in the second. Kendrick then singled in Adam Eaton in the seventh after Eaton reached on a one-out triple against Giovanny Gallegos.

Kendrick also had the big blow in Washington’s Game 5 victory at Los Angeles on Wednesday night, a 10th-inning grand slam.

“It’s going to be a fun series,” Kendrick said. “Hopefully we can continue to play really good baseball and put up runs and get some wins.”

Gomes finished with two hits while subbing for catcher Kurt Suzuki, who left the Nationals’ clinching victory against the Dodgers with a head injury.

Sánchez became the first pitcher to start two postseason games with six hitless innings. Facing Boston for Detroit in the 2013 AL Championship Series opener, he was replaced by Al Alburquerque at the start of the seventh. The Tigers won 1-0, allowing their only hit when Daniel Nava singled off Joaquin Benoit with one out in the ninth.

Sánchez got his first playoff win since he struck out 12 in that game. He threw a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins in his 13th big league start as a rookie in 2006 and also has pitched four one-hitters.

He started this year 0-6 in his first nine starts but went 11-2 in his final 19.

For a while, it looked as if he might be headed to the third no-hitter in postseason history.

“He was good,” Edman said. “He was just hitting his spots and keeping us off balance all night, and we just didn’t execute our plan very well.”

Sánchez retired his first 10 batters before Kolten Wong walked in the fourth on a chilly, breezy evening.

Wong stole second and took third on Gomes’ throwing error, but Marcell Ozuna hit an inning-ending foulout.

Pinch-hitter Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, but the 35-year-old Sánchez retired Dexter Fowler and Wong. He plunked Yadier Molina in the seventh before Matt Carpenter bounced out.

“He was spot on with everything he threw today,” Gomes said.

Sánchez struck out five in his ninth career postseason start. He threw 67 of 103 pitches for strikes.

WORTH REMEMBERING

Mikolas retired Juan Soto on a bouncer to second for the final out of the fifth, leaving the bases loaded. The pitcher then grabbed his crotch briefly in the direction of the slugger.

“To me it’s not good,” Soto said. “I don’t care. He can do whatever he wants. We’re going to keep going.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: Suzuki and OF Victor Robles (strained right hamstring) were out of the starting lineup after they got hurt in the Division Series. Dave Martinez said Robles is about 80 to 85 percent. “To me it’s worth him missing another day or two to get him fully back, hopefully,” he said.

UP NEXT

Scherzer struck out 10 while pitching eight innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers. Wainwright threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Braves.