Tiger baseball team wins three of four against Indian Hills

Continuing its challenging early season schedule, the Cowley College baseball team won three of four games against Indian Hills in a series played Friday through Sunday in Arkansas City.

The Tigers run-ruled Indian Hills 14-4 in Friday's opener. The two teams then split a pair of games on Saturday, with Indian Hills winning 9-7 before Cowley won the nightcap 9-4. In Sunday's finale, Cowley defeated the Warriors 5-2 to improve its record to 8-6 on the season.

Indian Hills, which was 8-0 entering the four-game series is now 9-3.

"We keep playing good people to show us what we need to continue to work on," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. "It was a long weekend. We saw some good things, but also things we can improve at."

On Friday, Cowley pounded out 14 hits and scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to run-rule Indian Hills 14-4. Shortstop Jadyn McNealy led the way by going 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored. Third baseman Keaton Campbell and designated hitter Jarrett Flaggert drove in three runs apiece.

Iziah Salinas (3-0) started on the mound for Cowley and allowed three hits and three runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Sophomore Brett McComas tossed the final 2 1/3 innings to close out the win.

Indian Hill's starting pitcher Kurtis Smith (2-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing six hits and seven runs in two innings pitched.

Cowley led game two by a score of 3-0 before the Warriors chased Tiger starting pitcher Cody Airington (0-2) with a six-run second inning.

The Tigers rallied to within 8-7 thanks to a three-run homer from Alex Conover in the fourth and a solo home run by Keaton Campbell in the fifth. However, Indian Hills scratched across a run in the top of the sixth inning and held on to win 9-7.

Carlos Valenzuela (10) earned the win in relief, while Nathan Smithsburg picked up his second save.

In Saturday's nightcap, Cowley got a two-run single from Cole Martin and a two-run double by Conover in a five-run second inning, and the Tigers went on to the 9-4 victory.

Conover drove in three runs, while Cade Baldridge and Rytoro Tanabe had two hits apiece.

Luke Singleton (2-1) earned the win after allowing six hits and four runs in four innings pitched. Singleton struck out three and did not walk a batter. Delton Roberts followed with three scoreless innings of relief.

Andrei Gordeev (2-1) lasted only two innings on the mound for Indian Hills and was tagged with the loss.

In Sunday's finale, Cowley's Jarrett Flaggert homered, and Cowley took advantage of three Warriors' errors to win 5-2. Freshman left fielder Ian Luce went 2-for-2 with a triple and two runs batted in.

Mitchell Johnson (2-0) pitched into the fifth inning for the Tigers, allowing only two hits and one run in 4 1/3 innings. Ryuji Fukuda followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before sophomore Drew Duckhorn closed out the victory.

"Our pitching is starting to come around," Burroughs said.

Cole Huebner took the loss for Indian Hills, allowing three hits and one earned run in four innings pitched.

Cowley will now prepare to open conference play by hosting a doubleheader against Coffeyville on Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. The Red Ravens are 6-7 on the season.

"We found out a lot about our club over the past couple of weeks and are excited to open conference play and get back to where we need to be," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                           R H E

Indian Hills 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 – 4 6 2

Cowley        1 2 5 0 1 2 3 – 14 9 1

Game two                           R H E

Indian Hills 0 6 2 0 0 1 0 – 9 10 1

Cowley        3 0 0 3 1 0 0 – 7 7 1

Game three                         R H E

Indian Hills 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 – 4 9 0

Cowley        0 5 1 2 1 0 x – 9 11 0

Game four                                R H E

Indian Hills 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 2 5 3

Cowley        0 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 x – 5 7 0