ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 25, 2019 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced prior to tonight’s game, that they have recalled right-handed pitchers Daniel Ponce de Leon and Dominic Leone from Memphis (AAA).  The team also announced that right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks (right elbow) has been placed on the 10-day Injured List, retroactive to June 23, and that left-handed pitcher Génesis Cabrera was optioned to Memphis.

Ponce de Leon, who worked 6.0 scoreless innings in a start last Wednesday (June 19) vs. Miami, is being recalled for a third time this season.   He’s 0-0 with a 1.20 ERA in three starts (15.0 IP) for St. Louis this season.

Leone, who was optioned to Memphis on May 17, has appeared in 13 games for the triple-A Redbirds, going 0-0 with a 4.19 ERA in 13 games.   He’s had a strong showing in June, posting a 1.64 ERA in seven games while fanning 12 batters in 11.0 innings of work.  Leone appeared in 20 games for the Cardinals earlier this season, allowing 19 runs in 21.1 innings pitched despite 27 strikeouts.

Hicks, who was 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA and 14 saves in his 29 games pitched, was diagnosed with a torn UCL yesterday after exiting Saturday’s (June 22) game in the 9th inning.  Cabrera, a rookie, has appeared in five games (two starts) for the Cardinals this season, going 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA.

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

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Iowa received two commitments and Iowa State three for the football recruiting class of 2020 on Monday.

The Hawkeyes picked up nods from safety Reggie Bracy and defensive end Aaron Witt.  Brace is a 6-foot, 190 pounder from Mobile, Alabama while Witt stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 230 pounds.  Iowa now has 20 recruits committed for the 2020 class.

Iowa State got commitments Monday from offensive tackle Sam Rengert, wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson and defensive end Johnny Wilson.  Rengert is 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds out of Milford Center, Ohio.  Hutchison is 6-foot-3, 190 pounds ouot of Brenham, Texas.  He is a junior college transfer from Blinn College.  Wilson is from Kansas City, Missouri.  The Cyclones now hold 13 commitments for the 2020 recruiting class.

St. Louis and Oakland will play at Busch Stadium tonight (Tuesday night). The Cardinals are 24-16 on their home turf. The first pitch is at 7:15-central time. We’ll have coverage for you on KJAN beginning at 6:20-p.m.

The St. Louis pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.15. Dakota Hudson leads the team with a 3.36 ERA. The Athletics are 17-19 on the road. Oakland has a team on-base percentage of .318, led by Marcus Semien with a mark of .356. This is the first game between these teams in 2019.

Marcell Ozuna leads the Cardinals with 20 home runs and has 62 RBIs. Dexter Fowler is 7-for-30 with three home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis. Matt Chapman leads the Athletics with 40 extra base hits and is batting .264. Ramon Laureano is 11-for-40 with three doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Oakland.

Atlantic 3, Harlan 2
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 10, Whiting 1
CAM, Anita 9, EHK-Exira 6
Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 11, Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 5
Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 2, Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 0
Denison-Schleswig 8, Lewis Central 7
East Union, Afton 2, Murray 0
Fremont-Mills, Tabor 24, Griswold 5
Kingsley-Pierson 10, Woodbury Central, Moville 1
Lamoni 14, Lenox 8
Madrid 11, West Central Valley, Stuart 1 (6 inn)
Martensdale-St. Marys 6, Creston 1
Red Oak 15, Clarinda 5
Sioux Center 4, George-Little Rock 3
Stanton 6, East Mills 4
Treynor 12, IKM-Manning 2 (WIC Tournament)
Underwood 4, AHSTW, Avoca 0 (WIC 1st Round)
West Monona, Onawa 3, River Valley, Correctionville 1

ACGC 6, Panorama 5
Audubon 9, IKM-Manning 8 (9)
CAM 3, Exira-EHK 2
Glenwood 4, Shenandoah 2
Harlan 3, Atlantic 0
Kuemper Catholic 12, St. Albert 0
Lenox 7, Lamoni 0
Melcher-Dallas 11, Orient-Macksburg 1
Murray 13, East Union 2
Panorama 11, ACGC 9 (9)
Stanton 5, East Mills 4
Underwood 12, Council Bluffs Jefferson 1
Van Meter 9, Earlham 1
West Harrison 9, Woodbine 6
West Monona 8, River Valley 4
Winterset 2, ADM 1

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

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jason Kipnis homered leading off the 10th inning and the Cleveland Indians continued their impressive June surge with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals in a game delayed 2 hours, 23 minutes by rain. Kipnis connected on a 1-0 pitch from Wily Peralta, driving it into the right-field seats for his sixth homer. The Indians have won 14 of 19 and improved to an AL-best 15-6 this month.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs says right-handed closer Craig Kimbrel could be activated later this week. Kimbrel signed a three-year, $43 million contract on June 7. He is set to pitch in another game at Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Monday the team will evaluate his progress.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks has a torn elbow ligament and the team says it’s determining what to do with the hardest-throwing pitcher in the majors. The Cardinals say the right-hander has a torn ulnar collateral ligament, an injury that usually leads to Tommy John surgery. Hicks has hit 105 mph with fastballs this season and routinely reaches triple digits with his heater.

Morgan Schaben came up huge on Senior Night for the Harlan Cyclones softball team and led them to a 3-0 win over the Atlantic Trojans on Monday night. Schaben was phenomenal in the circle with 10 strikeouts on the night and then led the way at the plate as well driving in all three Cyclone runs.

The Trojans struggled at the plate all night against Schaben and couldn’t generate many chances. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann said Schaben was really tough.

The Trojans made a couple of costly errors as well. In the third a poor connection to first base allowed Kate Heithoff to get on base, as Kennedy Goergen couldn’t keep her foot on the bag for the out. Two batters later Schaben drove Heithoff in with an RBI single to put Harlan up 1-0. Then in the 5th Madison Botos misplayed a ball in left field from Tianna Kasperbauer and it dropped off her glove for a double. Heithoff reached on a walk and two batters later Schaben smacked a double into right field to bring home 2 more runs. Coach Hinzmann said those mistakes can’t happen to be successful against good teams.

Harlan improves to 20-5 on the season with the victory. Atlantic falls to 21-6 and get right back after it tomorrow at Lewis Central.

Olivia Engler took the loss for Atlantic in the circle going all 6 innings with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 and Southeastern conferences have announced the matchups for their women’s basketball challenge for the 2019-20 season. Iowa State will take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Every team from the Big 12 will participate, while 10 teams from the SEC will take part. The format features five home games on campus sites for each conference per year.

In 2019, games will begin on Wednesday, December 4 and conclude on Sunday, December 8. Exact times and television designations will be released when available.

The inaugural challenge was held in 2014. The 10-team format began in 2016. For the past two seasons, the two conferences split the challenge with a 5-5 mark. In last year’s matchup, Iowa State defeated Arkansas 91-82 last season in Hilton Coliseum.

2019 Big 12/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge Matchups

Wednesday, December 4
Georgia at Baylor
Ole Miss at Texas Tech

Thursday, December 5
Iowa State at Alabama

Saturday, December 7
K-State at Arkansas
LSU at Oklahoma
Oklahoma State at Texas A&M
Auburn at TCU

Sunday, December 8
Florida at Kansas
Texas at Tennessee
West Virginia at Mississippi State

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Defending national champion Baylor will host Georgia on Dec. 4 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge women’s basketball event. The Southeastern Conference and Big 12 released the pairings for the event on Monday. Texas Tech hosts Mississippi in the other Dec. 4 Big 12/SEC Challenge game. Iowa State visits Alabama on Dec. 5.

The Dec. 7 schedule includes Kansas State at Arkansas, LSU at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State at Texas A&M and Auburn at TCU. Florida visits Kansas, Tennessee hosts Texas and Mississippi State hosts West Virginia on Dec. 8.

Game times will be announced later. This event has been held since 2014. The two conferences have split the 10 matchups each of the last two seasons.