April 21, 2009

Tiger baseball sweeps Neosho, opens lead in Jayhawk East

Led by a pair of strong starts on the mound, the Cowley College baseball team swept a doubleheader against Neosho County Monday at City Ball Park. The Tigers won the first game 5-2 before taking the nightcap 5-0.

With the victories, Cowley improves to 34-11 overall and 24-6 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Tigers are now three games ahead of second place Johnson County (18-6 Jayhawk East) in the conference, and four games in front of Neosho County (17-7 Jayhawk East).

In game one, Cowley rallied from an early 2-0 deficit by scoring one run in the bottom of the second inning and four runs in the third. Tyler Hancock had a run scoring double in the second and a RBI single in the third as he went 2-for-3 with two RBI. B.J. Misialek added two hits, while Caleb Bass and Robert Thomas each drove in runs.

Luke Zeller evened his record at 2-2 on the mound as he allowed three hits and no earned runs in five innings pitched. Zeller struck out seven and walked four.

Freshman Trevor Rosenthal relieved Zeller with a runner on first and nobody out in the top of the sixth inning. Rosenthal retired all six batters he faced, three by strikeout, as he recorded his fourth save of the season.

In game two, freshman pitcher Zach Cargill tossed his second shutout of the season. Cargill allowed only four hits in seven innings as he improved to 7-0 on the year. Cargill was in complete control as he struck out nine and walked one.

Hancock had another solid game at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, while Zeller went 3-for-3 with a RBI. Andy Petz also played well and chipped in two hits in the win of game two.
The two teams will square off again Wednesday at Neosho County with a doubleheader slated to begin at 1 p.m.