Tigers get well against last-place Highland

Coming off a tough series against top-ranked Johnson County, the Cowley College baseball team let out some frustrations against last-place Highland Community College as they defeated the Scotties 8-4 and 23-1 Wednesday at the Tiger Ball Park in Arkansas City.

"It was good to get back in the win column," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

Cowley (37-16) improves its record to 25-5 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, while Highland (17-36) falls to 5-25. The Tigers remain in second place behind conference-leading Johnson County (25-3).

On Wednesday, Cowley trailed Highland 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning of game one when the contest was halted due to a weather delay. Once the game re-started, the Tigers tied the game on a run-scoring single by Seth Dandridge in the fourth inning and then got a three-run double from catcher Cole Martin in a four-run fifth to lead 8-3.

Delton Roberts (2-1), who came in for Cowley starting pitcher Iziah Salinas after the weather delay, allowed only one run in four innings of relief as the Tigers went on to the 8-4 victory.

"We got started a little slower than we would have liked, but Delton came into the game and solidified things for us on the mound," Burroughs said.

Kyle Snider (1-5) took the loss for Highland, allowing five hits and four runs in four innings pitched.

Alex Conover went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored for the Tigers, while Kade Sheldon reached base all four times at bat.

In game two, five Highland pitchers combined to walk 16 batters and hit eight more as Cowley scored 23 runs on just 11 hits.

Sheldon had another big game, going 2-for-5 with a grand slam in the Tigers' seven-run fifth inning. Sheldon's home run was Cowley's only hit in the inning.

Cody Airington (6-2) started on the mound for Cowley and allowed only four hits and one run in five innings pitched. Brett McComas and Carson Moore finished the win of game two by tossing scoreless innings of relief.

The teams will conclude the regular season by playing a doubleheader in St. Joseph, MO, on Friday at 1 p.m.

"We want to wrap up the regular season on a positive note and get on a roll before the playoffs start," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                       R H E

Highland 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 4 8 2

Cowley    2 0 0 1 4 1 x – 8 7 0

Game two                       R H E

Highland 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 5 1

Cowley    4 4 2 1 7 5 x – 23 11 1