March 5, 2010

Tigers lose sloppy game at NOC 18-17

In a game that featured 15 walks, 13 errors and nine hit batsmen, the Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Mavericks outscored the No. 18-ranked Cowley College baseball team by a score of 18-17 Thursday in Tonkawa, OK.

After falling behind 11-3 through the game’s first five innings of play, Cowley scored nine runs in the top of the sixth inning to grab a 12-11 lead. Five of the Tigers’ nine hits in the game came in the inning as they capitalized on four walks, three balks, and a hit batsmen by NOC pitchers.

The lead would be short lived as the Mavericks answered with six runs in the bottom of the sixth to go back on top 17-12. Cowley would get a run scoring single from Ronnie Melendez in the top of the seventh and two more runs would score on a pair of errors by the Mavericks, making the score 17-15.

NOC would increase its lead to 18-15 with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but tried to give the lead back as Cowley scored two runs on three Maverick errors in the top of the eighth inning. However, freshman Robbie Rea flied out with the bases loaded to end the inning and keep the score at 18-17.

Cowley sophomore Chase Webb pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning, the Mavericks’ first scoreless inning since the first inning, but the Tigers were retired in order in the ninth to end the game.

Quinton Bane started on the mound for Cowley and allowed three hits and three runs in three innings. Bane walked two and hit a batter, but was charged with only one earned run.

Eric Faust (0-1) took the loss as he was charged with four runs, while failing to record an out in the bottom of the sixth.

Cowley freshman Phillip Wilson hit his first home run of the season in the defeat, while Grant Glasser went just 1-for-6 but hit a three-run triple and finished with four runs batted in.

Cowley has now dropped four games in a row to fall to 3-5 on the season. The Tigers will look to get back on track when they host Maplewoods in a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.