BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- Chandler Burks threw two touchdowns
and Chaston Bennett scored twice on the ground as Kennesaw State held
off Gardner-Webb 47-39 on Saturday.The teams combined for 991 yards in
total offense.The Bulldogs led just once, when Tyrell Maxwell threw a
38-yard touchdown to Jacob Henderson to finish a seven-play, 75-yard
drive with 10:40 left in the first quarter.Kennesaw State (5-2, 1-1)
responded with 26-0 run in an 11-minute span to seize control of the
game. Bennett scored on runs of 25 and 28 yards during the run.Burks
19-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Walker put the Owls on top 40-21 at
halftime.Maxwell connected with Willie Jackson IV with 12:12 remaining
on a 70-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 47-39. Maxwell threw three
TDs and had an interception.Khalil Lewis rushed 18 times for 138 yards
with two scores for Gardner Webb (3-5, 1-1).
CLEVELAND --?Indians?ace pitcher Corey Kluber will take the
mound in Game 7 on Wednesday with a chance to become the first pitcher
to win three starts in one World Series since Detroits Mickey Lolich in
1968.The game has changed, the 76-year-old Lolich said Tuesday. Its a
totally different game than what we played back in our days. It just
doesnt happen.Cleveland is hoping for its first title since
1948.Meanwhile, Kyle Hendricks -- who led the majors in earned run
average this season -- can pitch the Chicago Cubs to their first
championship since 1908. Climbing back from a 3-1 World Series deficit,
Chicago won 9-3 on Tuesday to force a deciding Game 7.Kluber is 4-1 with
a miserly 0.89 ERA in five starts during this postseason, starting with
16 consecutive scoreless innings against Boston in the American League
Division Series and Toronto in the AL Championship Series.He started on
only three days rest for the first time in his big league career in Game
4 against the Blue Jays; he left after five innings with the Indians
trailing 2-1 in a 5-1 defeat.Kluber then threw 88 pitches over six
innings to beat the Cubs 6-0 on Oct. 25 in the World Series opener.He
came back on three days rest in Game 4, throwing 81 pitches over six
innings and giving up only one run, as the Indians took a 3-1 World
Series lead.Hes a special guy, Hendricks said of his Game 7 opponent.
You can just see it, the way he takes to the mound. Hes always locked
in.Nine pitchers have won three starts in a single World Series, but
none since Lolich went 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 21 strikeouts while
tossing three complete games against St. Louis.Good players, good
pitchers, can do special things. Hes in that category, Indians manager
Terry Francona said of Kluber. It was kind of an easy decision after
talking to him.The 2014 Cy Young Award winner as the ALs top pitcher,
Kluber was 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA this season, as Cleveland won the AL
Central for the first time since 2007. His win in the All-Star Game in
July gavee the American League home-field advantage in this World
Series.ddddddddddddI never connected those dots at that point in time,
Kluber said.After Lolich had a pair of complete-game victories for
Detroit in the 1968 World Series, he remembered manager Mayo Smith
turning to him during the Tigers 10-run third inning in Game 6.Can you
start Game 7? I only want you to pitch five innings, Lolich recalled
Smith asking.Sure, that wouldnt bother me at all, the pitcher remembered
responding.The only others to win three World Series starts were
Charles Deacon Phillippe of Pittsburgh and Bill Dinneen of the Boston
Americans in 1903; the New York Giants Christy Mathewson (1905); the
Philadelphia Athletics Jack Coombs (1910); Pittsburghs Babe Adams
(1909); Clevelands Stan Coveleski (1920); Milwaukees Lew Burdette
(1957); and Cincinnatis Bob Gibson (1967).Arizonas Randy Johnson beat
the New York Yankees in a pair of World Series starts in 2011, then won
Game 7 with 1? innings of relief, a day after throwing 104 pitches over
seven innings to win Game 6. Bostons Smoky Joe Wood (1912), Urban Faber
of the Chicago White Sox?(1917) and the Cardinals Harry Brecheen (1946)
each also won a pair of starts and once in relief in a World
Series.Giants ace Madison Bumgarner won two starts in the 2014 World
Series, before throwing five scoreless innings in relief in Game 7 for a
save at Kansas City.During this World Series, Hendricks didnt get a
decision in his Game 3 start, when he went 4? scoreless innings in a 1-0
loss.But hes looking forward to Game 7 on Wednesday at Clevelands
Progressive Field.This is the ultimate dream, Hendricks said. When youre
out in your backyard as a kid, playing Little League at the field with
your friends, this is the moment you dream about: Game 7, 3-2, two outs,
something like that, bottom of the ninth. But its always Game 7 of the
World Series.
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