The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa • 17

What to watch the Courier CI What: NL Championship Series Teams: L.A. Dodgers at Philadelphia Time: Today, 7:07 p.m. pores Channel: TBS Why: The NLCS shifts to Philadelphia for a pivotal Game 3 SUNDAY OCTOBER 18,2009 WATERLOO CEDAR FALLS SPORTS EDITOR: DOUG NEWHOFF sportsdoorwcfcourier.com (319) 291 -1467 www.wcfcourier.comsports BASEBALL IOWA STATE 24 TrF OA (jffa NO. 11 iowa 20 fiM WISCONSIN 10 Hawks skin Badgers in final 30 minutes BAYLOR 1 0 Cy of relief: ISU gets Big 12 victory '-'li'kA By MARC MOREHOUSE marc.morehousegazcomm.com MADISON, Wis. Kirk Ferentz is a stoic's stoic.

He's seen all the whining about the flu around the Big Ten this season. He's not about to let his team fly that up the excuse flagpole. The only thing that gave him away Saturday was cornerback Amari Spievey. Every time he coughed, reporters moved a few steps back. Flu, schmu.

"It's reflective of our team," Ferentz said. "We keep pushing forward." Eventually, they did. After falling behind 10-0, the No. 11 Hawkeyes (7-0, 3-0 BigTen) blanked Wisconsin (5-2, 2-2) in the second half, 20-10, before 81,043 fans at Camp Randall Stadium. See HAWKEYES, page C2 handing the Bears a 24-10 defeat.

"I talked to our team about resiliency," said Rhoads, "and I don't know if I've been around a football team that prepares like ours does. "That was really close to our (best) game." With the win, Iowa State rid itself of its last, ugly losing skid, ending an 11-game Big 12 losing streak. See CYCLONES, page C2 By KELLY BEATON kelly.beatonwcfcourler.com AMES Last year, the Baylor Bears looked carnivorous as they picked apart Iowa State, dealing the Cyclones a four-touchdown beatdown. In 2009, the tables turned. Iowa State continued to show incremental improvement under first-year coach Paul Rhoads Saturday as it preyed upon Baylor, AP PHOTO Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira falls to the ground after stretching for a throw to get Toril Hunter of the Angels out Saturday night In Game 2 of the ALCS in New York.

Yankees, Angels tied in extra innings NEW YORK (AP) The Yankees and Angels escaped late-inning jams, and New York and Los Angeles were tied at 3-3 after 1 1 innings Saturday on another bitterly raw night in the AL championship series. Coming oft a 4-1 victory in Friday night's opener, the Yankees were trying to take a two-game lead as the best-of-seven series heads to the warmth of Southern California. NO. 5 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NO. 2 NORTHERN IOWA 27 120 AUTO RACING i Panthers piddle away chances to beat Salukis 1983, the Salukis whipped the Panthers, 52-9.

Against all Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents, UNI owned a 16 -game regular-season winning streak under its roof. That run came to a halt Saturday, thanks to the Panthers' first Dome loss since Western Illinois won here, 24-13, on Oct. 28, 2006. To Mark Farley, it felt like his team had lost twice once to Southern Illinois and once to its own failings. See PANTHERS, page C3 By JIM SULLIVAN jim.sullivanwcfcourier.com CEDAR FALLS Northern Iowa's ability to beat Southern Illinois in the UNI-Dome always seemed set in cement.

Saturday, the Salukis cracked the case. The second-ranked Panthers lost at home to No. 5 SIU for the first time in 26 years, dropping a 27-20 decision before a record crowd of 17,190. You have to fade back to early in the Darrell Mudra era to find UNI's last Dome defeat at the hands of Southern Illinois. On Sept.

24, i i UHllllu Pep) 'r AA AP PHOTO Jimmie Johnson comes out of turn four during Saturday night's Banking 500 race. Johnson wins, takes control of Chase CONCORD, N.C. (AP) Jimmie Johnson raced to his third victory In the Chase for the Sprint Cup to take control of the championship standings. Johnson held off teammate Jeff Gordon on a handful of late restarts Saturday night for his sixth career victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Although he's long dominated at the track, the win was the Lowe's-sponsored driver's first since 2005.

It came at the perfect time for Johnson, who extended his lead over Hen-drick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin as they head next week to Martinsville Speedway. FULL STORY, page C4 i .4 i GYMNASTICS Ws A i in i I I "1 1 if A mi iiniiiiinaiiiiiiM imiiMMM Mahal 1 RICK TIBBOTT Courier Staff Photographer Above, UNI defenders Elijah Hodge, left, Chuck Kinney, center and Josh Mahoney converge on Southern Illinois quarterback Chris Dieker. At right, Kinney bulldogs Salukis standout Deji Karim to the turf. MATTHEW PUTNEY Courier Photo Editor COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL UNI completes perfect first-half Valley run 5 -f 1 AP PHOTO Kayla Williams competes in the vault at the World Gymnastics Championships in London. Williams, 16, wins World gold in vault LONDON (AP) Kayla Williams probably ruins the curve in her classes at school, too.

The 1 6-year-old American, who was still competing at the level below elite five months ago, looked like an old pro Saturday in winning the vault title at the World Gymnastics Championships. "This past five months, or however long it's been, has been the most hectic and crazy," Williams said, wide-eyed. "But I've learned a lot and I finished it off as best I could. China, meanwhile, finished things off in its usual fashion, winning three of the five titles Saturday. He Kexin added a world title to her Olympic gold on uneven bars, Zhang Hongtao won pommel horse and Yan Mingyong closed the day with a win on still rings.

By NICK PETAROS nick.petaroswcfcourier.com CEDAR FALLS The question surfaced this preseason. Could a youthful Northern Iowa volleyball team projected to finish third contend for a Missouri Valley Conference title? Turns out the kids are alright. The Panthers completed a perfect run through the first half of their league schedule Saturday night at the McLeod Center, defeating Missouri State 25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 25-20 in a battle of MVC unbeatens. The win, combined with a dramatic 33-31, 25-20, 18-25, 22-25, 18-16 victory over Wichita State on Friday, has UNI in the driver's seat See MSU-UNI, page C5 MVC standings Conf. Overall Northern Iowa 9 0 17 2 Missouri State 8 1 16 4 Wichita State 6 3 14 4 Drake 5 4 15 7 Evansville 4 5 11 10 Illinois State 4 5 9 11 Creighton 4 5 7 12 Southern Illinois 3 6 13 6 Indiana State 2 7 6 16 Bradley 0 9 9 14 tS RICK TIBBOTT Courier Staff Photographer Amy Braun (10) leads the celebration after a Northern Iowa point Saturday during the Panthers' 3-1 victory over Missouri State..