From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
The No. 17-ranked Cowley College baseball team bounced back from a 10-4 loss in its season-opening game against Northeast Texas to defeat the Eagles 8-6 and 4-1 to win two of three games in the series.
On Friday, Cowley never led in the 10-4 loss of game one as the Eagles out-hit the Tigers 10-5. Dereck Martinez homered and drove in four for Northeast Texas. Luke Singleton (0-1) started on the mound for Cowley and allowed two runs in two innings pitched. All four Cowley pitchers used in the opener were scored against.
Kevin Schoneboom started on the mound for Northeast Texas and allowed three hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Cowley freshman Alex Conover homered in the loss, while fellow freshman Cade Baldridge went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in.
Conover was just a double shy of hitting for the cycle in Friday’s second game as he went 3-for-4 with his second home run and two RBI.
Cody Airington started on the mound for Cowley and struck out five while allowing one hit and an unearned run in two innings of work. Iziah Salinas (1-0) followed with 2 1/3 innings of one-run relief, striking out six. Five Tiger pitchers combined to strike out 17 Eagle hitters.
Northeast Texas’ Johnathon Gonzales allowed seven hits and five runs in four innings to take the loss.
In Saturday’s final game, the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and went on to the 4-1 win.
Mitchell Johnson started on the mound for Cowley and allowed one run in two innings pitched. Carson Moore followed with two scoreless innings before Cade Perkins and Ryuji Fukuda combined to allow only three hits and no runs in five innings pitched.
“We saw some good things on the weekend,” Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. “We had some guys throw it really well, and we played pretty good defense. Obviously, we also saw some things to work on.”
Kade Sheldon and Ian Luce had two hits apiece for the Tigers, while Conover walked three times and scored a run out of the leadoff spot. Conover finished the series 4-for-10 with two home runs, five runs scored, and three runs batted in. Baldridge also played well, finishing 4-for-14 with four runs batted in during the three games.
“Alex had a good series, and we had a lot of guys contribute,” Burroughs said.
Dalton Hill took the loss for Northeast Texas as he was chased from the game after only one inning.
Cowley is now 2-1 on the season. The Tigers will play three games at Panola College beginning Friday at 1 p.m. in Carthage, TX.
“We have a young team, so this will be a tough test,” Burroughs said. “I look forward to competing against another quality team.”
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
NE Texas 2 0 0 2 4 2 0 – 10 10 1
Cowley 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 – 4 5 1
Game two R H E
NE Texas 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 – 6 9 0
Cowley 2 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 x – 8 9 2
Game three R H E
NE Texas 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 6 3
Cowley 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 x – 4 7 0
Tiger softball team goes 3-1 at Denison Tourney
The No. 20-ranked Cowley College softball team won a pair of one-run games while going 3-1 at the Denison Tourney held Friday and Saturday in Denison, TX.
The Lady Tigers opened play on Friday with an 8-0 run-rule win over Dodge City before winning in walk-off fashion in the 3-2 victory over Northern Oklahoma College-Enid.
On Saturday, Cowley was run-ruled by No. 11-ranked Murray State by a score of 16-5 before bouncing back to win 5-4 over Eastern Oklahoma.
Cowley is now 6-3 on the season.
“I was pleased with how well we did this weekend in Denison,” Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. “We had two really close games, and it was good to see our players battle and fight hard to win.”
Mikah Vann (2-1) and Kaitlynn Anderson teamed to allow only two hits in the five-inning run-rule win over Dodge City. Cowley had only four hits in the victory, but benefitted from 11 walks. Jamie Molina had two of the Lady Tigers’ four hits.
Cowley managed only five hits and three runs in its next game against NOC-Enid, but Jaiden Swanson made that enough as she did not allow an earned run in the complete game victory. Swanson allowed only three hits while striking out four and walking one.
Paige Scanlon had two of Cowley’s five hits and Emily Louderback drove in a pair of runs. The Lady Tigers won the game when Shayne Roberts walked with the bases loaded.
On Saturday, Cowley starting pitcher Alissa Nuno (1-1) allowed Murray State seven runs in the first inning. The Lady Tigers answered with five runs in the bottom of the second, but Murray State continued to score against Cowley relievers Mikah Vann and Jaiden Swanson as they out-hit the Lady Tigers 16-3.
Louderback had two more runs batted in for Cowley in the defeat.
The Lady Tigers were in another battle in the finale against Eastern Oklahoma State College. Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning Cowley scored a pair of runs to go in front 5-4.
Swanson (3-1) went the first six innings. She struck out nine and allowed seven hits and four runs. Vann came on in relief and tossed a scoreless seventh inning to record the save.
We had some really strong performances in the circle from Jaiden, and then Mikah came in and sealed the win against Eastern,” Hoyt said. “I thought they both did great working together.”
Harper Hancock had two of Cowley’s eight hits, and Lyric Perry went 1-for-2 with a triple and two runs scored.
Cowley will return home to play doubleheaders on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. Each doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m., starting with the Bethany JV on Monday.
“We still need to improve in some areas of the game and continue to get better every day,” Hoyt said.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Dodge 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 2 0
Cowley 4 0 3 0 1 – 8 4 1
Game two R H E
NOC-Enid 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 – 2 3 0
Cowley 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 5 2
Game three R H E
Murray St. 7 0 1 5 3 – 16 16 1
Cowley 0 5 0 0 0 – 5 3 1
Game four R H E
E. Okla. 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 – 4 7 0
Cowley 0 3 0 0 0 2 x – 5 8 1
