PITTSBURGH (AP) – Josh Bell hit a three-run homer off Seung Hwan Oh with one out in the ninth inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Adam Frazier led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and Oh intentionally walked Andrew McCutchen with one out. Bell, a rookie, stepped in and sent a pitch from Oh (1-5) into the seats in left field for the first game-ending hit of his career. The Pirates have won six of seven.

Bell finished 2 for 3 with four RBIs. His 17 home runs lead the Pirates.

Felipe Rivero (4-2) earned the win after retiring the Cardinals on seven pitches in the top of the ninth.

Frazier added three hits for Pittsburgh, and Gregory Polanco had two hits and an RBI.

Jedd Gyorko hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Cardinals.

Class 3A District Semifinals

Substate 8, District 16

Atlantic vs. Creston (@ Glenwood) 5:00pm (ON KJAN w/ Chris Parks)
Denison-Schleswig @ Glenwood

Substate 8, District 15

Greene County vs. ADM (@ Harlan) 5:00pm
Carroll @ Harlan 7:00pm

Class 4A Substate First Round

Substate 8

Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson @ Waukee 7:00pm
Ames @ Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 7:00pm
Lewis Central @ Urbandale 7:00pm

Junior Thomas Hensley shined on the mound for the CAM Cougars on Thursday night leading them to a 6-0 win over the Nodaway Valley Wolverines.  Hensley struck out 11 on his way to a one-hit shutout.

The bats warmed up early for the Cougars as well as they scored three runs on two hits in the second inning. Nick Holste, Kolby Nelsen, and Ben Tibken all crossed the plate with the help of two errors from Nodaway Valley in the inning as well.

The Cougars tacked on two more runs in the 3rd with Mitchell Williamson and DeShawn Carr getting hits and the Wolverines committing two more errors. Williamson drove in Hensley on a base hit in the 4th to complete the scoring.

Corbin Bond took the loss for Nodaway Valley allowing 6 runs on 6 hits through 4 innings pitched. The Wolverines end their season 8-17.

CAM improved to 20-7 and moves on to the District 13 Final on Saturday night at home against Lenox.  The Tigers beat Earlham 3-2 in the first game of the night in Anita.  We’ll have that match-up for you Saturday on KJAN with a 6:50pm Pregame and 7:00pm first pitch.

District 13

Lenox 3, Earlham 2
CAM 6, Nodaway Valley 0

District 14

Stanton 3, Logan-Magnolia 0
St. Albert 10, Fremont-Mills 0 (5 innings)

District 15

Ar-We-Va 9, Audubon 4  (8 innings) (@ Coon Rapids-Bayard)
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5, Exira-EHK 3

District 16

Kingsley-Pierson 6, Woodbury Central 5
Akron-Westfield 18, River Valley 0 (4 innings)

The Oklahoma Sooners have been tabbed as the favorite to win the Big 12 football title in the preseason poll voted on by media members.  The poll, released on Thursday, also predicts the Iowa State Cyclones to finish 9th in the conference, ahead of only the Kansas Jayhawks.

Oklahoma has won the past two league titles and bring back 16 starters from last season, including Heisman Trophy Finalist quarterback Baker Mayfield.  The Sooners will have a new man in charge with Lincoln Reilly being promoted after the surprise off-season retirement of Bob Stoops.  OU got 19 of 32 first place votes in the poll. Oklahoma State received 12 first-place votes to finish 2nd in the poll.

Iowa State is coming off a 3-9 season under first year Head Coach Matt Campbell. The Cyclones return a number of key starters this season including preseason first-team all-conference selection wide receiver Allen Lazard. Iowa State opens up the season on Saturday, September 2nd at home against UNI at 7:00pm.

The Big 12 Championship game will return this season after a six-year absence. The top two finishers in the final regular season league standings will play in the title game on December 2nd.

2017 Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll

Class 1A Baseball District Semifinals will be played around the state tonight. We’ll have a game in Class 1A District 13 for you as CAM hosts Nodaway Valley for a 7:00pm game. Join Chris Parks for the call with Pregame around 6:50pm.  Here’s a look at the schedule for area teams tonight:

District 13

Lenox vs. Earlham (@ CAM) 5:00pm
Nodaway Valley @ CAM 7:00pm (ON KJAN w/ Chris Parks)

District 14

Stanton vs. Logan-Magnolia (@ St. Albert) 5:00pm
Fremont-Mills @ St. Albert 7:00pm

District 15

Audubon vs. Ar-We-Va (@ Coon Rapids-Bayard) 5:00pm
Exira-EHK @ Coon Rapids-Bayard 7:00pm

District 16

Kingsley-Pierson vs. Woodbury Central (@ Akron-Westfield) 5:00pm
River Valley @ Akron-Westfield 7:00pm

The Rolling Valley Conference has released it’s All-Conference Softball team selections for the 2017 season.

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

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Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 10 , Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 9 (completion of earlier suspended game)
Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 15 , Council Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln 2 (5 innings)
Denison-Schleswig 7 , Storm Lake 5
Harlan 15 , Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson 3 (5 innings)