February 26, 2010

Pitching leads Lady Tigers to sweep of Hesston

After allowing an average of nearly seven runs per game through its first six contests, the Cowley College softball team’s pitching showed signs of dominance in a doubleheader sweep of Hesston College Thursday at Lady Tiger Field.
Cowley sophomore Ashley Spencer struck out 13 in a 8-1 win of the opener and freshman Starr McLeod pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win of game two. Spencer pitched the final 1 2/3 innings of the nightcap and finished with 17 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.
“Pitching has always been what we have built our teams around,” Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove said. “It was good to see our pitching help us win two games when our offense was not at its best.”
The victories help even Cowley’s record at 4-4 on the season and put them at 2-0 in the region standings. Hesston is now 1-2 overall.
In game one, Spencer ran into trouble in the first inning and allowed her only run on the day. Spencer would settle down and allow just three hits in seven innings as she improved to 3-2 on the season.
After falling behind 1-0, Cowley responded with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman second baseman Alyssa Allison’s two-run single capped the first inning outburst by the Lady Tigers.
Spencer would help her cause at the plate as her single in the third inning scored Alysha Poteat with Cowley’s fifth run of the game. Sophomore outfielder Taylor Cantillon’s three-run homer in the fifth inning provided the rest of the scoring. The homer by Cantillon was her second of the season.
Poteat had two hits and scored three times and is now batting .519 on the season. Freshman first baseman Nichole Cuthbertson also added two hits and is hitting .423 through the first eight games.
In game two, both teams would find base runners hard to come by as each team had only four hits in the game. With the game scoreless in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cowley freshman Bri Akers belted her first home run in a Lady Tiger uniform to provide the game’s only run.
“Her first one came at a big time for us,” Hargrove said. “I hope this propels her on to hit more out of the park.”
McLeod (1-2) retired the first batter she faced in the top of the sixth inning before letting the next two batters reach base. With runners at first and second and one out, Hargrove summoned Spencer in to pitch. Spencer struck out the only two batters she faced in the sixth inning to end the threat, and then struck out two of the three batters she faced in the seventh to preserve the win.
McLeod allowed four hits in 5 1/3 innings as she earned her first collegiate victory. McLeod struck out four and walked four in the win.
After a rough start to the season, Hargrove is hoping McLeod is beginning to turn the corner.
“I really think she will be a different pitcher from here on out,” Hargrove said. “This should give her the confidence to throw her pitches and get people out.”
Allison finished with two of Cowley’s four hits in the nightcap. On the season, Cowley’s 1-through-7 hitters are batting a combined .379, while its No. 8 and No. 9 hitters are batting just .146.
“We are having trouble at the end of our lineup right now,” Hargrove said.
Cowley will open conference play on Tuesday when they play at Pratt at 2 p.m.
“They will be a tough opponent, obviously we will have to pitch well,” Hargrove said.
Score by inning:
Game one                     R H E
Hesston 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 3 1
Cowley  4 0 1 0 3 0 x — 8 8 0
Game two                     R H E
Hesston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 4 0
Cowley  0 0 0 0 1 0 x — 1 4 0