April 14, 2006                    

Tiger baseball team moves back into tie for first

Coming off a disappointing doubleheader loss at Highland Tuesday, the Cowley College baseball team got back on track with a pair of wins against Coffeyville Thursday at City Ball Park.

The Tigers rallied to win the first game 10-8, and then run-ruled the Red Ravens 13-3 in six innings in game two. The victories, coupled with Neosho County’s split at Allen County Thursday, moves Cowley back into a tie for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Cowley is now 28-15 overall and 19-9 in the Jayhawk East, while Coffeyville drops to 21-17 overall and 15-13 in the conference.

In the first game, Coffeyville scored four runs in the first inning and four in the second inning to lead 8-5. Three Tiger errors contributed to the Red Ravens’ four-run second inning.

However, Cowley’s Jeremy Sheehan allowed just two baserunners over the next four innings as he kept the Tigers in the game.

Trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Cowley regained the lead on a two-run double by Zach Berg. Berg would add an insurance run as he scored on a ground out by Brett Becker to put Cowley on top 10-8.

Kyle Thornton pitched a scoreless seventh inning to notch his 11th save, while Sheehan picked up the win and improved to 5-2.

Brad Miller went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Ryan McMillan went 1-for-2 with three RBI’s.

Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs was pleased with the way his team battled back.
“That was big for us, it showed a lot of character,” Burroughs said.

The Tigers had a much easier time in the second game as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings of play, and ended the game with a six-run sixth inning.

Mitch McCuistion had a big game in the nightcap as he went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, and three RBI’s. Ryan McMillan also homered and went 3-for-3 with four RBI’s.

After getting 13 hits in the opener, Cowley had 14 hits in game two.

“I think our approach at the plate has been better of late,” Burroughs said.

Kent Williamson remained unbeaten on the mound for the Tigers as he improved to 5-0. Williamson allowed just four hits in six innings, while striking out five and walking three.

The Tigers will host a doubleheader against Kansas City Saturday at 2 p.m. Sunday’s home game vs. Butler has been rescheduled to April 26 at 4 p.m.

Score by inning:

Game one                            R H E
Coffeyville 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 7 1
Cowley       5 0 0 0 1 3 x — 10 13 4

Game two                         R H E
Coffeyville 0 0 0 2 1 0 — 3 4 0
Cowley       2 3 0 0 2 6 — 13 14 1