Baseball sweeps Independence, opens lead in Jayhawk East

Getting strong starting pitching from Curt Simpson (pictured) and Chase Roten, the No. 10-ranked Cowley College baseball team swept a doubleheader from Independence Thursday at City Ball Park.

Simpson struck out 10 in a complete game 5-0 win of the opener, while Roten allowed no earned runs in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-4 win of the nightcap.

“They both threw well, threw strikes and challenged guys,” Cowley assistant coach Darren Burroughs said.

Simpson’s complete game was the Tigers’ first of the season. In his last two starts, Simpson (3-0) has allowed just one run in 12 innings.

“He is really starting to feel comfortable on the mound,” Burroughs said.

Cowley gave Simpson an early lead as they scored a pair of runs in the first inning and got a run scoring sacrifice fly by Travis Carney to lead 3-0 in the second inning. The Tigers would score two more runs in the fifth to cap the win.

Heath Wall and Tyson Parks each went 2-for-3 with a run batted in.

Cowley got off to another fast start in game two as they scored four runs in the second inning. A pair of errors allowed the Pirates to score two runs in the top of the third inning, but Cowley got the runs back on a two-run homer by Frank Specht in the bottom half of the inning.

Independence scored two more unearned runs in the fifth inning to cut Cowley’s lead to 6-4. The Tigers would score one more run in the sixth inning as Kenny Hitchcock’s ground out scored Carney, who led off the inning with a walk.

Zack Potter recorded the final out in the top of the sixth inning, and Michael Flanagin struck out the side in the seventh to record the save.

Specht went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI’s in the win, while Wall and Luke Zeller added two hits apiece.

Cowley is now two games ahead of second place Johnson County in the conference as they are 16-11 overall and 13-3 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Independence is now 14-12 on the season and 9-7 in the conference.

The Tigers will host Fort Scott in another key doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. The Greyhounds are 16-11 overall and 8-4 in the Jayhawk East.

“We have just got to try to put a whole game together,” Burroughs said. “We will just keep going and try to get on a roll.