Wednesday April 17th Local Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-out single in the seventh inning, delivering the go-ahead hit for the second straight game, as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5 on Tuesday. Justin Smoak had a two-run single, and Aaron Sanchez (2-1) allowed four runs in six innings to earn the win for Toronto. Eddie Rosario hit a three-run home run and Jorge Polanco and Marwin Gonzalez also homered for Minnesota.

MASON CITY — The NIACC baseball team rallied from two runs down to beat Marshalltown Community College 5-3 yesterday afternoon in non-conference play at Roosevelt Field. Fox Leum was 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs batted in, Will Sturek was 2-for-4 for an RBI while Ross Cochran was 2-for-3 to lead the Trojans offensively. Chase Rath pitched the first six innings, striking out six, but it was Jake Christianson who picked up the win, striking out three in working the seventh and eighth. Michael Sturek came in for the ninth inning and picked up his fourth save of the season. NIACC is now 18-18 for the season and will travel to Estherville for a four-game weekend series Friday and Saturday against Iowa Lakes.

MASON CITY — Division I Indian Hills swept 6th-ranked in Division II NIACC in a softball doubleheader in Mason City on Tuesday afternoon. Indian Hills scored 12 times in the sixth inning of the opener to beat NIACC 14-1. Hailee Ausenhus had a homer in the bottom of the sixth for NIACC. Indian Hills scored six in the second on their way to an 11-3 five-inning win in the nightcap. Kaci Sherwood, Kaitlyn Carlson and Ciana Sonberg each had an RBI. NIACC drops to 20-10 overall and will travel to DMACC on Friday followed by a trip to Northeast Community College on Saturday.

MASON CITY — The NIACC softball team is up one spot to #6 in the latest Division II rankings which were released on Tuesday. Jones Community College of Mississippi continues to be the top-ranked team. DMACC is ranked 4th while Iowa Central is 9th in the new rankings.

IOWA CITY — Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs hopes success in the weight room translates to even more improvement on the field. A video went viral of Wirfs setting a new hang-clean record with four reps of 450 pounds. He topped the record of Outland Trophy winner and Washington Redskins guard Brandon Scherff.

For Wirfs it was a big improvement over last year.

Wirfs would like to duplicate the improvement in the weight room with progress on the field.

Spring drills for the Hawkeyes conclude April 26.

AMES — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says quarterback Brock Purdy is ready to step up and become the leader of the Cyclone offense. The Cyclones were 7-2 with Purdy as the starter as a true freshman and he led ISU to the Alamo Bowl.

Campbell expects Purdy to become the team leader.

Iowa State wraps up spring drills later this week.

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley hopes whoever wins the quarterback job will direct an offense that is more efficient next season. The Panthers converted on less than 40 percent on third down in posting a 7-6 record.

The ground game is a big part of that and UNI needs to find a go to running back to replace Marcus Weymiller, who rushed for more than 900 yards last season.