Cowley baseball blasts Fort Scott in conference opening doubleheader

Winners of 11 of the past 13 Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division titles, the Cowley College baseball team opened conference play with a pair of wins over Fort Scott Saturday at City Ball Park.

Cowley pitchers held the Greyhounds to just four hits in the two games as the Tigers won game one 3-1 and then took the nightcap by a score of 17-1.

“We pitched it well and played good defense, which is a combination for winning,” Cowley assistant coach Darren Burroughs said.

In game one, Stephen Kohlscheen allowed just two hits and one run in five innings as he improved to 1-1 on the season. Alex Schell pitched the final two innings to record his first save.

Frank Specht had two of Cowley’s six hits and drove in a run in the victory.

In game two, Cowley led 7-0 after five innings of play. Freshman Calvin Drinnen allowed just one hit in five innings to even his record at 1-1 on the season. Zach Potter allowed an unearned run while pitching the sixth inning.

Cowley sent 16 batters to the plate and scored 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to run-rule the Greyhounds.

Tyson Parks went 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored for the Tigers, while Heath Wall went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Colt Loehrs also played well as he went 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored.

Fort Scott is now 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Cowley improves to 4-8 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk East.

After a rough start to the season, Cowley is glad to have the conference slate underway.

“This is a confidence booster for us,” Burroughs said. “Hopefully, we can carry it on.”

The Tigers will host Highland in a doubleheader Tuesday at 1 p.m. Highland is 0-11-1 overall and 0-4 in the conference.