Tigers keep pace in Jayhawk East

Tiger baseball team keeps pace in Jayhawk East with wins over Fort Scott

One third of the way through the conference season, the Cowley College baseball team is in a three-way tie for first place with a record of 12-0 after sweeping a doubleheader against Fort Scott Saturday in Arkansas City.

The Tigers defeated Fort Scott by scores of 3-2 and 11-7 as they kept pace with Johnson County and Coffeyville in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Trailing Saturday's first game 2-1 entering its final at bat, freshman Matt Elliot led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk off Fort Scott relief pitcher Matt Peterson and advanced to second when Zack Mills reached first base safely on a bunt. A balk called on Peterson moved the runners to second and third with nobody out.

Justin Burba's sacrifice fly to left field scored Elliot with the game-tying run. A.J. Shaw followed with a walk and Butch Rea reached base on an error by Greyhound third baseman Kaden Shaffer.

With the bases loaded and one out, sophomore Gage Grant singled home Mills with the winning run.

Levi Skinner started for the Tigers and allowed two hits and one earned run in four innings pitched. Tyler Day followed Skinner on the mound and retired all nine batters he faced, while striking out two in three innings of relief. Day earned the win and is now 1-1 on the season.

Cowley out-hit Fort Scott 8-2 in the victory.

Peterson took the loss for Fort Scott as he allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Cody Tolbert started on the mound and allowed four hits and one run in four innings pitched.

In game two, Dillon White hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning and Cowley would break a 6-6 tie with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers had only two hits in the sixth inning, but took advantage of three walks and two errors by the Greyhounds.

Ryan McBroom, Butch Rea, and Kris Molter had two hits a piece for the Tigers. Zach Taylor went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in for Fort Scott as the Greyhounds out-hit Cowley 14-10.

Storm Rynard lasted only 3 1/3 innings on the mound for the Tigers and allowed eight hits and two runs. Nathan Gieber relieved Rynard and allowed five hits and two runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Sophomore Seth Holman came on to record the final out of the fifth inning and went the final four innings on the mound. Holman, who improved to 3-0 on the season, allowed only one hit and no runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched as he ran his scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings to start the year.

Cowley, winners of 13 games in a row, is now 17-3 on the season. Fort Scott drops to 10-12 overall and 2-10 in the Jayhawk East.

The Tigers will remain home to face Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa in a single, nine-inning game Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Score by inning:

Game one R H E

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

Cowley 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 - 3 8 1

Game two R H E

Fort Scott 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 - 7 14 3

Cowley 1 0 3 2 0 5 0 0 x - 11 10 0