Labette softball team pounds Cowley pitching in doubleheader sweep

The No. 9-ranked Cowley College softball team continued to find wins hard to come by away from home as they suffered a pair of losses against No. 12-ranked Labette Community College Wednesday in Parsons, KS. The Lady Tigers lost game one 8-6 before falling 11-5 in the nightcap.

Cowley has dropped five of its past eight games to fall to 29-13 overall and 17-7 in the Jayhawk Conference Division B. The Lady Tigers are four games in back of conference-leading Highland in the loss column, but are solidly positioned in second place in the conference.

Labette (26-12) leads the Jayhawk Conference Division A with a conference record of 17-3.

Cowley sophomore Brooke Mason (13-6) had a rough outing in game one as she allowed 10 hits and six walks in 5 1/3 innings. Cowley led 5-2 before Labette chased Mason from the game after scoring three times in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth.

"We didn't keep the pressure on when we had our chances," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "We let Labette respond when we pulled ahead in the game and we need to stay focused and finish the job."

Cierah Jones went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the defeat.

Cowley again led 4-2 after three and a half innings of play in game two before the Cardinals rallied by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and four more in the fifth.

Labette's Hallee Boyd went 1-for-3 with a home run and four runs batted in. While, Cowley's Kayla McClellan went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. The homer was McClellan's team-leading seventh of the season.

Ashlynn Mercer (13-4) allowed eight runs on 10 hits and four walks in four innings pitched, while Labette's Kate Kotlarz struck out nine in the complete-game victory.

The Lady Tigers are now 8-10 on the road this season.

Cowley will return home to play a doubleheader against Hesston College Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. The Lady Tiger sophomores will be honored at the games. Hesston (19-15) split a home doubleheader against Cowley back on March 28.

Score by inning:

Game one                   R H E

Cowley 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 – 6 7 2

Labette 1 1 0 0 3 3 x – 8 10 3

Game two                    R H E

Cowley 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 – 5 7 0

Labette 0 1 1 5 4 0 x – 11 13 3