Cowley ventures out of conference for pair of wins over Coyotes

Pounding out 28 hits in a doubleheader against the Kansas Wesleyan University JV, the Cowley College softball team cruised to a sweep of the two games. Cowley won game one 6-0 before taking the nightcap 10-3 Monday at Ed Hargrove Field.

The Lady Tigers, winners of 11 of its past 12 games, are now 17-7 on the season and 13-3 at home.

In Monday's opener, sophomore Ashlynn Mercer struck out a career-high 17 batters in the complete game shutout. Mercer walked four and allowed three hits as she improved her record to 11-3 on the season.

"Facing 28 batters and striking out 17 is impressive," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "Our catcher, Aaliyah Ahmed, does a great job with helping her control the hitters and works hard to get her those strikeouts. When Ashlynn is on she is one of the toughest to beat and I am glad we are on this side of her game."

Freshman shortstop Maci Cole had three of Cowley's 11 hits in the win, while Tatyana Curry, Kayla McClellan, and Alivia Lange accounted for all of the Tigers' runs by driving in two runs apiece.

Curry, McClellan, and Lange continued to swing a hot bat in the nightcap as the trio combined to go 10-of-14. Curry went 4-for-5 with a run scored, while McClellan and Lange had three hits apiece and each homered in the win. McClellan also drove in four as she now leads the team with 26 runs batted in.

"Kayla is on a roll right now and is a big leader for us in the lineup," Hoyt said. "She needs to continue being a tough out that her opponents have to work for." 

Sydney Price started on the mound for Cowley and allowed eight hits and one earned run in six innings as she improved her record to 4-1 on the season. Taylor Mercer finished off the victory by pitching a scoreless seventh inning.

Cowley will return to conference play when they play a doubleheader at Fort Scott Thursday beginning at 2 p.m. The Lady Greyhounds are 5-15 on the season.

"We have to go in focused and know we are there to get the job done," Hoyt said.  

Score by inning:

Game one                   R H E

KWU   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 3

Cowley 0 0 3 2 0 1 x – 6 11 1

Game two                    R H E

KWU   0 0 0 1 1 1 0 – 3 9 1

Cowley 0 0 4 2 2 2 x – 10 17 3