Feb. 19, 2004

Tiger baseball players gain experience in season-opening doubleheader

NEOSHO, Mo. -- Looking to get all of its pitchers some work, the ninth-ranked Cowley County Community College baseball team split its season-opening doubleheader at Crowder Community College Wednesday in Neosho, Mo.

Cowley threw seven pitchers in a 5-3 win in game one, and then pitched seven more in a 13-9 loss in the nightcap.

After walking just four batters in the first game, Tiger pitchers combined to walk 14 in the nightcap. Cowley led game two 7-0 before the pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone.

"Offensively, we swung the bats pretty well in the second game, but we don't have anything to show for it because we didn't throw the ball over the plate," assistant coach Darren Burroughs said. "When you don't throw strikes, bad things happen."

The Tigers pounded out 17 hits in the second game. Freshman shortstop Deik Scram from Arkansas City led the hit parade as he went 5-for-5 with a run batted in in just his second collegiate game.

"Deik swung the bat outstanding in the second game," Burroughs said.

Crowder had just eight hits in the nightcap, but took advantage of the 14 walks. Five of Cowley's seven pitchers in game two were making their collegiate debut. Freshman Chase Hart (0-1), who allowed five runs in the fifth, was tagged with the loss.

"It's a marathon, it's not a sprint," Burroughs said. "So, we're trying to let guys have opportunities to succeed. It was an eye opener for a lot of our people."

Sophomore catcher Clay Blevins went 3-for-5 with a run batted in in the defeat.

In the opener, Cowley trailed 2-0 in the top of the sixth before getting on the board on a run-scoring double by Dwayne White. Cowley added two more runs in the top of the seventh on a pair of run-scoring singles by Kellen Linville and White to lead 3-2.

Crowder scratched a run across in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3 and send the game into extra innings.

In the eighth, Hunter Harrigan led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and came around to score on a one-out single by his brother, Brandon Harrigan. Chad Ogden added a run-scoring single in the inning to put Cowley ahead 5-3.

After surrendering the tying run in the bottom of the seventh, Ronnie Phillips (1-0) tossed a scoreless eighth to pick up the win for the Tigers.

Linville, White and Steven Wright each had two hits for the Tigers in the win. Cowley had 10 hits in the opener, and finished with 11 more hits (27-16) than Crowder in the doubleheader.

Cowley, now 1-1 on the season, will travel to Altus, Okla., Saturday to face Western Oklahoma College at noon and Vernon Regional College at 3 p.m.

"We'll be looking for consistency," Burroughs said. "We try to harp to the pitchers that as long as they throw the ball over the plate, they will have a chance to succeed."