Tigers complete sweep of Highland, finish second in the Jayhawk East

With an eye on the upcoming region tournament, the Cowley College baseball team finished the regular season by completing a four-game sweep of Highland Community College. With 3-2 and 9-6 wins Friday in Highland, Cowley finishes second in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

The Tigers (39-16) finished 27-5 in the conference, one game behind Johnson County (28-4). This marks the second straight season the Cavaliers have claimed the conference title.

In Sunday's opener, Cowley rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. Three Tiger pitchers combined to scatter seven hits and two runs. Tallen Bagwelll (3-1) tossed three scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

Cade Baldridge had a two-run single that put Cowley in front for good in the top of the fourth inning. The Tigers won despite being out-hit 7-4.

In game two, Cowley found its offense as Keaton Campbell, Jadyn McNealy, and Alex Conover combined for 10 of the Tigers' 14 hits. Campbell went 4-for-4 with a triple and a pair of runs batted in, while Conovre had two doubles.

Cade Perkins gave the Tigers four scoreless innings of relief as he improved his record to 4-1.

"It was good to finish up on a winning note," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.  

Cowley will have to wait to learn who they will host in the best-of-three sub-regional starting Thursday at 2 p.m. in Arkansas City.

"We are looking forward to starting the playoffs," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                       R H E

Cowley    0 0 1 2 0 0 0 – 3 4 1

Highland 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 7 0

Game two                             R H E

Cowley    1 2 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 – 9 14 3

Highland 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 6 10 3