Lady Tigers make it eight wins in a row with a sweep of Highland
Getting home runs from Emily Louderback in each game of its doubleheader at Highland Community College on Saturday, the No. 20-ranked Cowley College softball team cruised to a pair of wins by scores of 11-3 and 10-3.
Cowley, winners of eight games in a row, is now 29-10 overall and alone atop the Jayhawk East standings with a record of 6-0. Johnson County, Neosho County, and Fort Scott are tied for second with records of 5-1.
"I was proud of our players for competing the way they did at Highland," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "Highland had times during the doubleheader when they could have had the momentum turn for them, but I really thought our players locked down on defense, and we pitched well to get out of it."
In Saturday's opener, Cowley got home runs from Louderback and Karleigh Bell and never trailed in the 11-3 victory. Bell and Jamie Molina had three hits apiece for the Tigers.
Cowley starting pitcher Mikah Vann (14-3) did not allow an earned run in her six innings of work.
In the nightcap, Louderback hit her team-leading 11th home run of the season and freshman Lyric Perry went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
"Lyric had a great offensive doubleheader for us and could be one player that really brings a lot to our lineup," Hoyt said. "We need to keep progressing with her."
Freshman pitcher Jaiden Swanson (13-6) allowed just one earned run while going the distance on the mound. Swanson was able to work around her six walks, by striking out eight.
"Jaiden had a really good outing, and it was good to see her work out of some pressure," Hoyt said.
Highland is now 18-14 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Cowley will return home to play a doubleheader against Cloud County (15-13) on Thursday at 2 p.m. before hosting Allen (11-19) for a pair of games on Saturday beginning at 1.
"Cloud will be competitive and will put up a fight for us; we have to use the next couple of days to prepare for them and work on some things we need to adjust," Hoyt said.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cowley 0 2 5 2 1 1 0 – 11 13 1
Highland 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 – 3 11 1
Game two R H E
Cowley 1 3 0 0 4 0 2 – 10 11 4
Highland 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 – 3 7 1