Tigers 10-0 in Jayhawk East

Tiger baseball team runs record to 10-0 in Jayhawk East

The Cowley College baseball team remained in a three-way tie for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division with a doubleheader sweep at Fort Scott on Thursday. The Tigers won the first game 2-1 before taking the nightcap by a score of 9-2.

Winners of 11 games in a row, Cowley is now 15-3 overall and 10-0 in the Jayhawk East. Johnson County and Coffeyville are also 10-0 in the conference after sweeping doubleheaders on Thursday.

In game one of Thursday's doubleheader at Fort Scott, freshman catcher Chad Reibenspies came off the bench in the top of the sixth inning to deliver a pinch-hit, two-out, RBI single that broke a 1-1 tie and helped lift the Tigers to the 2-1 win.

Prior to Reibenspies' hit, Fort Scott starting pitcher Aaron Mason had allowed only a run scoring single by A.J. Shaw in the top of the third inning.

"That was a big hit by Chad off a tough guy," Cowley assistant coach Darren Burroughs said. "It's good to see the hard work Chad has put in paying off."

Mason took the loss despite going the distance on the mound and striking out seven with no walks.

Sophomore lefthander Austin Sanders (2-0) gave Cowley five strong innings on the mound and allowed only one run on five hits. Sanders struck out six and walked three before handing the ball over to sophomore Ryan Jenkins, who retired the final six batters in order. The save was Jenkins' first of the season.

In game two, Cowley fell behind 1-0 after one inning of play but answered back with three runs in the top of the second inning. Zack Mills and Justin Burba contributed run scoring singles in the inning.

Cowley would add to its lead by scoring a pair of runs in the fifth and seventh innings and solo runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Reibenspies, Mills, and Ryan McBroom each finished with three hits and combined for five runs scored and three runs batted in.

McBroom leads the Tigers in batting with a .419 average, while Mills raised his average to .370.

Cowley had 15 hits off six Fort Scott pitchers. John Lynch took the loss for the Greyhounds as he allowed eight hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Fort Scott is now 10-10 overall and 2-8 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Tiger freshman lefthander Parker Rigler did not allow an earned run in six innings and improved his record to 3-0 on the season. Freshman Maverick Macy pitched the final three innings and allowed only one hit and one run.

Cowley pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and only four walks in the doubleheader.

"Our pitchers threw strikes, challenged hitters and made them put the ball in play," Burroughs said.

The teams will wrap up their four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. in Arkansas City.

"Fort Scott has a quality team, so we have got to continue to play hard and keep improving," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one R H E

Cowley 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 2 6 2

Fort Scott 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 1

Game two R H E

Cowley 0 3 0 0 2 1 2 1 0 - 9 15 3

Fort Scott 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 5 2