Senior wide receiver and Garden Plain product Kendall Fisher scored touchdowns on each of his first three receptions on his way to a record-setting day in Pittsburg State's 44-14 rout of Emporia State on Saturday in Pittsburg.

Fisher scored from 60, 92 and 23 yards out — all in the first half — and finished with a school record 238 yards receiving on six receptions.

Emporia State (1-6, 0-5) 0 7 0 7 — 14 Pittsburg State (4-3, 2-3) 17 13 7 7 — 44

Dario Franchitti's return to IndyCar racing couldn't have gone better. He's the IRL champion once again.

Franchitti successfully emerged from one of the closest points races in series history Saturday, winning the season-ending Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the first caution-free IRL race ever.

The 2007 champion — who skipped 2008 to explore NASCAR — held off Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon and Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe.

ST. LOUIS — Unemployed in August, Vicente Padilla kept the Los Angeles Dodgers going in October.

The second-chance pitcher shut down Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals, putting the Dodgers back in the National League championship series with a 5-1 victory on Saturday night.

Andre Ethier missed the cycle by a single, Manny Ramirez had three hits and two RBIs and the Dodgers didn't need help this time from another St. Louis fielding blunder to sweep their division series opponent for a second straight season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Dave Pear can't remember the sweetness or the relief. He can't picture the anxious final moments on the field or the party in the locker room. Time and his flickering memory won't let him.

Pear was a Tampa Bay defensive tackle 32 years ago, when the Buccaneers beat New Orleans and snapped what is still the NFL's longest losing streak. It was the first of two consecutive wins for the Bucs. Too bad Pear can't recall much about the day his team's luck changed.

"I just remember that our record was oh-and-26," he says now.

LUBBOCK, Texas — Remember, Kansas State football players said they wanted this challenge.

The Wildcats entered Saturday night's game at Texas Tech sporting a defense that was statistically one of the best in the country and an offense that was coming off its most promising game of the season.

Going up against a respected Big 12 South team, this was their shot at validating their recent play.

LAWRENCE — Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud overthrew a wide-open Darius Darks in the end zone on fourth-and-9 from the Kansas 31-yard line with a minute left, and the Jayhawks held on for a narrow 41-36 homecoming victory this afternoon.

The KU defense gave up 512 yards of offense to the Cyclones, who couldn't put the finishing touches on an upset of No. 16 KU.

The Jayhawks offense, led by quarterback Todd Reesing's 449 passing yards and four touchdown passes, did just enough. Wide receiver Kerry Meier had 16 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns, setting a school record for receptions in a game. Dezmon Briscoe wasn't far behind with 12 catches for 175 yards and two scores.

The spotlight never appears to bother Bishop Carroll quarterback Blake Bell, who has played with the poise of a veteran since his first start in 2008. Even he admitted, though, to feeling pressure Friday night when the Eagles played Kapaun Mount Carmel in a game televised nationally by ESPNU.

The hype, the crowd of around 5,000 fans, the national TV audience, a huge rivalry, the scrutiny on Bell, who is one of the country’s top-ranked quarterbacks — it was a lot to handle.

“This was crazy,” Bell said. “I felt the pressure, but I tried to let it all go.”

There is no point to downplaying this season for the Wichita State men's bowling team. Senior Josh Blanchard won't bother.

"I think this could be the best team ever assembled in college bowling history," Blanchard said. "Talent-wise, this is the most credentials of any team we've ever had and the best work ethic I've ever seen in any group of guys in my entire life."

WSU's women's team is in the same place. Both teams are defending national champions and both return most of their lineups. Both added talent with international credentials. The Shockers open their season this weekend in the Mid-States Tournament at Northrock Lanes. When the season ends at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships in April, both expect to be No. 1.

Wichita State volleyball coach Chris Lamb isn't sure why the Shockers struggled to handle Evansville's serving early in Friday's match.

The whole serve-and-receive thing might be in his team's head. The Shockers are trying to avoid service errors, so they aren't serving as aggressively in practice.

"When you're pressing on the service line, you don't serve as tough," Lamb said. "So maybe we're not facing the same kind of heat in practice that we need to be."

Wichita State's 25th-ranked volleyball team lost its second consecutive conference match, falling to Creighton 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-20) on Friday in Omaha.

Two hitting errors in the final five points cost the Shockers the opening set. Creighton jumped to an 18-8 lead in the second match on the way to a two-set lead.

WSU controlled the third set from the start, but couldn't carry the momentum over to the fourth set. After trading leads for the first half of the set, Creighton won consecutive points to take a 17-15 edge and WSU never led again.

The volleyball floats into the net and the crowd groans.

Service error. Missed opportunity.

Or is it the cost of doing business?

Shortstop Dayne Parker of Roff (Okla.) High School has given Wichita State baseball coaches an oral commitment to become a Shocker in 2010-11, Parker said.

"The facilities are really nice, and they have a crowd every game," Parker said in a telephone interview. "I really like playing in front of fans."

Parker hit .480 with 11 home runs for his summer team, the Elk City Travelers, last summer. He visited WSU last weekend, including the intrasquad scrimmage that drew about 1,000 fans for the baseball and a first look at new artificial turf.

Two planes carrying Wichita State University football players, coaches, administrators and fans refueled on Oct. 2, 1970, in Denver. The team was headed to Logan, Utah, for a game the next day against Utah State.

The pilots of the "Gold" plane changed their flight plan, deciding to give their passengers a scenic view of the Rocky Mountains. But they could not pull the overweight plane out of a box canyon. It crashed around 1 p.m. about 40 miles west of Denver on Mount Trelease.

The crash site is about a 575-mile drive from Wichita and is above I-70 on the north side of the highway, sitting on public land in the Arapaho National Forest.

When Wichita State assistant coach Tori Breithaupt goes to recruit rowers, she often isn't recruiting rowers.

Some coaches must project how an athlete will do at a different position. Crew coaches often must project how an athlete will perform on water instead of dry land. The high school volleyball or football player who wants to stay active in college is a prime target.

"There are not a lot of rowing teams in Wichita or Kansas," she said. "The main area that we recruit from is going to high schools and talking to kids that are now athletes and saying, "Hey, do you want to come to Wichita State... why don't you try rowing?"

College Women

Sunflower Invitational

At Colbert Hills, Manhattan