February 14, 2006

Tigers open season with 12-10 win at Crowder

Neosho, Mo. — Rallying from a four-run deficit, the Cowley College baseball team opened its season with a 12-10 win Monday at Crowder College.

Trailing 8-4 in the top of the seventh inning, Cowley rallied to take a 9-8 lead by scoring five runs in the inning. The Tigers’ lead would grow to 12-8 in the top of the ninth as Mitch McCuistion hit a two-run triple, and scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Brett Becker.

Crowder scored two unearned runs off Kyle Thornton in the bottom of the ninth, but Cowley held on for the 12-10 win.

It’s always pleasant to come away with a win,” Cowley assistant coach Darren Burroughs said. “You expect a few mistakes, but you try to minimize them and come back the next day and fix them.”

Jeremy Sheehan (1-0) started on the mound for the Tigers and allowed one hit and one unearned run in two innings. Sheehan struck out three and walked one in picking up his first win of the season. Thornton pitched 1 2/3 innings to record the save.

Sophomore shortstop Brad Miller led Cowley with three hits, while freshman Blake Mitchell hit a three-run triple in a four-run second inning. Sophomore catcher Patrick D’Aoust and freshman outfielder Zach Berg had two hits a piece in the win.

Cowley will now prepare for another tough road contest as they will play at Seminole State College Wednesday at 2 p.m.

“Our guys will be battle tested a little bit,” Burroughs said.  “Seminole has a great program and they have played four or five games already, so we will have to overcome some obstacles.”

Score by innings:                    R  H  E
Cowley   0 4 0 0 0 0 5 0 3 — 12 12 3
Crowder 1 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 2 — 10 10 3