Tiger baseball team goes 5-0 over spring break

On Tuesday, the Cowley College baseball team opened spring break with a wild 23-22 road win over Hutchinson Community College before sweeping a four-game series against Allen Community College. The Tigers won a pair of games over Allen on Thursday in Ark City by scores of 7-5 and 10-0 before winning the series' final two games by scores of 14-3 and 7-4 on Saturday in Iola, KS.

On Tuesday at Hutchinson, Cowley led 14-2 and 23-14 before holding on for the one-run win.

Tiger third baseman Keaton Campbell led Cowley's 20-hit attack by going 5-for-7 with two doubles and six runs batted in. Leadoff batter Cade Baldridge homered and scored four times, while Jadyn McNealy also scored four runs.

"We have some guys that are starting to show signs of being more consistent at the plate," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

Cole Abbott, the second of nine pitchers used by the Tigers, earned the win by tossing two scoreless innings of relief. Hutchinson's Cody Gunderson homered and drove in five runs in the defeat.

On Thursday in Arkansas City, Cowley scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally and defeat Allen County 7-5 in the opener. Baldridge homered for the second straight game and drove in four runs. Cowley managed only five hits in the win but took advantage of eight walks.

Alex Conover (1-1), the fourth Tiger pitcher used against Allen, earned the win by retiring all four batters he faced.

In Thursday's second game, Cowley starting pitcher Cody Airington (2-1) did not allow a hit in six scoreless innings on the mound. Airington struck out four and walked one before Cade Perkins came on to finish off the one-hit shutout.

Tiger left-fielder Ian Luce had three of Cowley's 12 hits as he finished 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Campbell and Seth Dandridge also played well and drove in two runs apiece.

Wrapping up the four-game series against Allen by playing a doubleheader Saturday in Iola, Baldridge homered for the third time in four games and drove in four runs, while Campbell drove in another four runs in the 14-3 win. Campbell now leads the Tigers with 25 runs batted in.

Luke Singleton allowed four hits and two runs in four innings pitched, while Cole Abbott (2-0) allowed one run in the fifth inning before Barrett Morgan struck out three batters in two scoreless innings of relief.

With the final game of the series tied at 2-2, Cowley scored four runs without the benefit of a hit in the top of the fifth inning. Allen County pitching walked six batters and hit a batter in the four-run fifth inning.

Dawson Williams and Seth Dandridge each went 2-for-4, and Mitchell Johnson (2-0) allowed only two hits and two runs in five innings pitched.

"Mitchell and Cody (Airington) pitched really well," Burroughs said.

Allen is now 15-12 overall and 3-5 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Cowley is now 16-7 overall and tied for first in the Jayhawk East with Kansas City and Johnson County at 7-1.

The Tigers will host Barton (18-6) in a single game Tuesday at 2 pm.

"Barton has got a good club and will be another test for us," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:                  R H E

Cowley 2 0 5 0 7 2 7 0 0 – 23 20 0

Hutch  2 0 0 0 2 10 8 0 0 – 22 21 6

Score by inning:

Game one                   R H E

Allen    0 0 0 3 1 1 0 – 5 6 1

Cowley 0 3 0 0 1 3 x – 7 5 0

Game two                       R H E

Allen    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 5

Cowley 1 0 1 0 0 5 0 3 – 10 12 0

Score by inning:

Game three                  R H E

Cowley 2 1 0 0 0 5 6 – 14 14 0-

Allen    1 0 1 0 1 0 0 – 3 9 2

Game four                         R H E

Cowley 0 0 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 – 7 8 2

Allen    1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 – 4 6 0