Seminole State scores four runs in its final at-bat to defeat the Tigers 10-9
Facing another tough mid-week test Tuesday afternoon at Seminole State College, the No. 19-ranked Cowley College baseball team rallied to force extra innings before losing 10-9.
Cowley is now 26-12, while Seminole improved its record to 26-13.
Tuesday's game started with a bang as Cowley's Alex Conover hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning before Seminole's Caden Powell did the same in the bottom of the first.
The Trojans' Daniel Restrepo added a three-run homer in a four-run second inning, which saw Seminole jump out to a 5-1 lead.
Tiger starting pitcher Ethan Horton would bounce back to retire seven of the final eight batters he faced and left with Cowley trailing 5-1.
Cowley began to chip away at its deficit and rallied to take a 6-5 lead with a three-run eighth inning. Dawson Williams had an RBI double in the inning, while Cade Baldridge and Jadyn McNealy added run-scoring singles.
A bright spot in the defeat was Tiger relief pitcher Ryuji Fukuda, who tossed two scoreless innings, while Drew Duckhorn tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Restrepo led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single before Tiger reliever Brett McComas retired the next two batters. Needing one more out to finish off the victory, McComas walked three straight batters to force in the tying run. McComas would get Seminole's Grayson Childers to foul out with the bases loaded as the game went to extra innings tied at 6-6.
The Tigers would go back in front as they scored three runs in the top of the 10th inning to lead 9-6. Keaton Campbell and Williams had RBI singles in the three-run 10th.
After two more walks by McComas to start the bottom of the 10th inning, Cole Abbott (2-1) came on to try and preserve the win. However, Seminole would rally to tie the game at 9-9 before Caden Powell singled home Tarris Murray with the winning run.
"I thought after the second inning our guys did a good job on the mound," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. "I thought Brett (McComas) got squeezed by the home plate umpire on a 3-2 pitch, resulting in a walk. Overall, I was glad about the way the guys came back; we just did not do a good job of closing it out."
Cowley outhit Seminole 14-10 but walked eight batters in the defeat.
Cade Baldridge and McNealy had three hits apiece, while Williams went 2-for-2 with two runs batted in and is now batting .438 in 41 at-bats.
"Dawson has been doing a good job of taking advantage of the opportunities he has been getting," Burroughs said.
Cowley will now prepare to open a four-game series against Neosho County (28-11), which is 14-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Tigers (14-2) are one game behind conference-leading Johnson County (15-1). Cowley and Neosho will play a doubleheader in Chanute on Thursday at 1 p.m. before the teams play a pair of games in Arkansas City on Saturday at 1.
"It should be a fun series," Burroughs said. "Neosho is playing well, and we hope to start playing better."
Score by inning: R H E
Cowley 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 – 9 14 1