March 9, 2009

Cowley softball improves to 6-0 in Jayhawk East

Sweeping a doubleheader against Fort Scott Saturday in Arkansas City, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College softball team ran its winning streak to 10 games and improved to 6-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Cowley won the first game 9-4, and then took the nightcap by a score of 9-1.
Cowley has opened conference play with sweeps over Pratt, Johnson County, and Fort Scott, three teams picked to finish in the top half of the conference.

“Sweeping those doubleheaders was huge,” Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove said.

On Saturday, Cowley had the luxury of having starting pitcher Jacey Juden return to the rotation after missing her last two starts due to injury. Juden struck out nine in Cowley’s 9-4 win of game one.

Juden (2-1) allowed seven hits and four runs in seven innings of work. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate.
“I thought she threw well,” Hargrove said. ‘She may not have been 100 percent sharp, but the nine strikeouts were nice to see.”

Trailing 2-1 after two and a half innings of play, Cowley got a run scoring single by Alysha Poteat to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Cowley got three-run homers from Kashilia Young and Poteat as they broke the game open.

The homer by Young was her eighth of the season, while Poteat has hit three homers in the past five games. Kristen Janway’s RBI single in the sixth inning capped the scoring.

In game two, Cowley run-ruled Fort Scott 9-1 in six innings. The Lady Tigers scored in every inning but one as they improved to 13-1 on the season.

Cowley got two hits and two runs batted in from second baseman Sarah Smith, while sophomore first baseman Breayle Tackett went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Tackett had five hits in the doubleheader and is batting .540 on the season.

Young added two more hits in game two and is batting .551 on the year. Freshman Sarah Hocker also played well as she contributed two doubles and a run batted in.

“Our hitters are really focusing in, we seem to be getting production throughout the lineup,” Hargrove said.
Freshman pitcher Ashley Spencer improved to 6-0 on the season as she allowed only four hits and one run in six innings pitched. Spencer struck out four and walked none.

Cowley will look to continue its winning ways when they host Dodge City in a doubleheader Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Score by inning:           

Game one                        R H E
Fort Scott 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 — 4 7 0
Cowley     1 0 1 6 0 1 x — 9 15 0
Game two                     R H E
Fort Scott 0 0 0 1 0 0 — 1 4 4
Cowley     2 1 0 1 3 2 — 9 12 1