April 7, 2006                    

Tiger baseball team moves back into tie for first

Bouncing back from a pair of losses at Neosho County on Tuesday, the Cowley College baseball team swept a doubleheader from Independence Thursday at City Ball Park, and moved back into a tie with Neosho County for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

The Tigers won the first game 13-5, and then took the nightcap by a score of 4-2. Cowley is now 23-12 overall and 14-6 in the Jayhawk East, while the Pirates fall to 16-21 overall and 7-13 in the conference.

“It is always nice to get a couple of wins,” Cowley assistant coach Darren Burroughs said. “We are just trying to get better every day.”

In the opener, Cowley scored three runs in the first innings and six more in the second as they cruised to the 13-5 win. Freshman Zach Berg went 3-for-4 with six runs batted in, while Catcher Patrick D’Aoust continued his stellar sophomore season by blasting a two-run homer. The home run was D’Aoust’ team-leading sixth on the season.

Freshman Matt Peck picked up the win as he allowed five runs, three earned, in five innings pitched. Peck is now 5-1 on the season. Sophomore Bryce Bartelson pitched two scoreless innings of relief to cap the victory.

Every Tiger in the lineup had at least one hit in the victory.

In game two, Cowley got a strong outing on the mound from freshman Justin Otto as the tall right-hander allowed just one run in six innings, while striking out eight and walking none. The win was Otto’s first as a Tiger as he is now 1-2 on the season.

“Otto was really dominating from the start,” Burroughs said. “He was going right at guys and was outstanding on the mound.”

Kyle Thornton allowed an unearned run in the seventh as he picked up his 10th save of the season.

Berg and fellow freshmen Michael Dabbs swung the bat well in each game of the doubleheader. Berg went 5-for-8 with two doubles and six runs batted in, while Dabbs went 3-for-5 with a triple, three walks, and three runs batted in.

“It was good to see those young guys stepping up and getting better,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “They had big hits when it counted.”

Nick Troilo added a triple in game two, and shortstop Brad Miller went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and two runs scored.

The Tigers will now prepare for a busy weekend as they will host a doubleheader vs. Labette at 1 p.m. Saturday, and then host Highland in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Sunday.

“It will be a big weekend for us,” Darren Burroughs said. “We need to try to get on a roll, come together and start playing well.”

Score by inning:

Game one                              R H E
Independence 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 — 5 9 3
Cowley           3 6 2 1 0 1 x — 13 14 0

Game two                              R H E
Independence 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 — 2 4 3
Cowley            0 0 3 1 0 0 x — 4 7 1