Tiger baseball team splits four-game series against No. 10-ranked Iowa Western

In a matchup of teams in the national baseball rankings, the No. 17-ranked Cowley College Tigers and No. 10-ranked Iowa Western Reivers split a four-game series played Friday through Sunday at the Tiger Ballpark in Arkansas City.

Cowley is now 5-5 overall, while Iowa Western moves to 8-4.

"I thought we grew as a team, and we were able to find out a lot about our guys," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

In game one, Cowley pounded out 19 hits and got home runs from first baseman Jarrett Flaggert and third baseman Keaton Campbell. The duo of Flaggert and Campbell combined to go 5-for-10 with two home runs, six runs batted in, and five runs scored.

Centerfielder Kade Sheldon also played well, going 4-for-5 with three RBI, while right-fielder Seth Dandridge went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Sophomore Luke Singleton went the first three innings on the mound for Cowley and allowed seven hits and five runs. Ryuji Fukuda (1-0), the fourth Tiger pitcher used, tossed a scoreless seventh inning to earn the win. Barrett Morgan did not allow a run while pitching the eighth and the ninth.

Brendan Strenke (0-1), the fourth Reiver pitcher used, allowed four runs in one inning of relief.

Iowa Western's Luke Broderick pitched Friday's second game and did not make it out of the first inning as he allowed Cowley to score five runs in the bottom of the first. Broderick walked four and allowed a pair of singles.

Cowley would maintain an 8-4 lead after four innings of play and led the Reivers 8-7 heading into the seventh inning. Needing three outs to win, Tiger reliever Alex Conover (0-1) retired the first two batters in the top of the seventh before Iowa Western rallied for four runs to win 11-8.

Conover, who started the game in rightfield, went 3-for-4 with a run batted in, while Dane Harvey went 3-for-4 with a triple and a pair of runs driven in.

On Saturday, Cowley got a two-run single from Campbell in the bottom of the first inning and never trailed in the 7-4 victory.

A Dane Harvey home run in the bottom of the third inning increased the Tigers' lead to 4-1.

Cowley's starting pitcher, Iziah Salinas (2-0), gave Cowley a good outing on the mound as he allowed only two hits and two runs in four innings while striking out eight. Mark Hoffman and Delton Roberts pitched the final three innings to secure the win.

Leftfielder William Rogers had two of Cowley's seven hits.

Iowa Western starting pitcher Virot Siharath allowed three runs in his only inning of work and was tagged with the loss.

Sunday's final game started close, with the score tied at 2-2 after three innings of play. However, Cowley ran out of pitching as seven Tigers combined to allow 16 hits and seven walks in eight innings of work.

Cowley starter Mitchell Johnson did not figure in the decision. Carson Moore (0-1) took the loss in relief.

Conover and catcher Cole Martin each went 1-for-3 with a double and a run batted in.

Logan Wilson earned the win for Iowa Western after allowing only three hits and two runs in four innings pitched.

Overall, Cowley had 41 hits in the series. Harvey went 6-for-14 with three runs batted in, while Conover went 5-for-9 with three runs batted in. Campbell also played well as he went 5-for-14 with five runs batted, and Jadyn McNealy went 5-for-10 with four runs batted in and four runs scored.

"I was pleased with our offensive effort," Burroughs said. "We have some guys that are starting to learn the college approach."

The Tigers will remain home to play another four-game series against Indian Hills Community College (8-0) on Friday through Sunday in Arkansas City. Game times each day begin at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader played on Saturday.

"Indian Hills has another really good team," Burroughs said. "Matt (Matthew Torrez) does a good job with his team. Indian Hills will be a good test for us prior to conference play."

Score by inning:

Game one                                      R H E

Iowa Western 2 1 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 – 10 15 0

Cowley           3 3 2 0 0 1 4 1 x – 14 19 0

Game two                                R H E

Iowa Western 0 0 1 3 3 0 4 – 11 12 1

Cowley           5 0 0 3 0 0 0 – 8 11 1

Game three                            R H E

Iowa Western 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 – 4 5 2

Cowley           2 1 1 2 0 1 x – 7 7 0

Game four                                   R H E

Iowa Western 0 0 2 1 3 2 1 8 – 17 16 0

Cowley           0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 4 0