Tigers win rain suspended game at Independence

Having already beaten Independence 5-4 in the first game of a doubleheader played last Thursday, rain forced the Cowley College baseball team to wait for its shot at sweeping the doubleheader.

Despite trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning when rain forced last Thursday’s game to be suspended, the Tigers rallied to win the suspended game 8-7 Monday in Independence.

The game resumed play with the Tigers batting with the bases loaded and two outs. It did not take long for Cowley to get on the board as the Tigers’ Andy Petz was hit by the first pitch thrown by the Pirates’ Shay Colburn. The play forced in Tom O’Gorman from third base with Cowley’s first run of the game.

Cowley went on top in the sixth inning thanks to a three-run homer by Heath Wall, his fourth home run in the last four games. O’Gorman added a solo homer later in the inning to increase the Tigers’ lead to 5-2. O’Gorman now has a team-high seven home runs, while Wall has hit six out of the park.

Independence got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Andrew Gray.

Cowley appeared to gain control of the game as they scored three runs in the top of the seventh to lead 8-3. However, after Independence scored a run on an error in the bottom of the seventh, Sam McGill hit a three-run homer off Calvin Drinnen to cut the Tigers’ lead to 8-7.

Drinnen regrouped on the mound and struck out the next batter, Derek Erb-Woods, to end the game. Drinnen pitched the first three innings last Thursday and the final four innings on Monday as he allowed 10 hits and three earned runs. He also struck out seven and walked one.

Along with the home runs by Wall and O’Gorman, sophomore Brice Cole went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

Cowley is now 30-16 overall and 25-7 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The loss drops Independence’s record to 20-21 overall and 14-15 in the conference.

The Tigers hold a two and a half game lead over Fort Scott with four conference games remaining. Cowley will be back in action Thursday when they play at Neosho County at 2 p.m.