April 17, 2009

Dramatic win helps Tigers get back in conference race

Trailing 1-0 and down to its final out Thursday at No. 10-ranked Johnson County, the Cowley College baseball team rallied to score three runs to win the first game of the doubleheader 3-1. The Tigers then won the nightcap 6-2 to sweep the doubleheader.

The victories improved Cowley’s record to 32-11 overall, but more importantly moved them to 22-6 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Johnson County is now 19-5 in the conference as the teams are in a virtual tie for the conference lead.

Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs was proud of the way his players responded with their backs against the wall.

“That was a great test for those guys and a pair of good wins for them,” Burroughs said. “We still have a long way to go, but we made some progress.”

After being held scoreless through the first six inning of game one, Caleb Bass drew a leadoff walk to start the seventh inning. However, Colt Loehrs and Frank Specht then flew out to get the Tigers down to their final out.

Freshman Ryan Hege demonstrated patience at the plate and drew another walk to put runners at first and second. Tyler Hancock, who had grounded out each of his first two times up, came through with a double to left centerfield that scored Bass with the tying run and moved Hege to third.

Luke Zeller followed, and as he has done so many times before, delivered a two-run single to give the Tigers the lead.

Stephen Kohlscheen retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh inning as he went the distance on the mound. Kohlscheen improved to 6-1 as he allowed only six hits and one run. The sophomore struck out four and walked one as he lowered his earned run average to 2.00.

“He was outstanding,” Burroughs said. “Our defense put him in some tough spots, but he was able to pitch out of them.”

Chance Ross had two of the Tigers’ five hits in the first game to raise his average above .300 on the season.

In the second game, Cowley scored four runs in the first two innings of play and were in control throughout the 6-2 win.

Caleb Bass went 3-for-3 with a run batted in and is now hitting an eye-popping .459 as he is 17-of-37 on the season.

“He has been great in batting practice and carrying that over to the game, which is not easy to do,” Burroughs said. “We have got to give him a chance to get in the line up.”

Andy Petz added three hits and a RBI to raise his average to .310, while B.J. Misialek went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs batted in. Misialek is now batting .392 with a team-leading 46 RBI. Zeller added two hits and drove in his 40th run of the season.

Alex Schell overcame control issues to last five innings on the mound for the Tigers. Schell walked six but allowed just four hits and one run as he improved to 4-2 on the season. Chase Webb allowed only one hit and one unearned run in two innings of relief as he notched his fifth save.

Cowley will now prepare for its final road doubleheader in the conference as they will play at Neosho County Sunday at 1 p.m. The Panthers are 15-5 in the Jayhawk East.

“I am happy with what we did yesterday, but now our focus is on Sunday,” Burroughs said.