Tiger baseball team comes back to split conference opening doubleheader
March 8, 2019
Opening conference play Thursday in Coffeyville, the Cowley College baseball team came back from a 9-4 loss of game one to split the doubleheader with a 10-6 win of the nightcap.
Cowley is now 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, while Coffeyville is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
"The only thing we are good at right now is being inconsistent," Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said.
In Thursday's opener, Cowley got on the board first as Blaze Brothers was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Steenstra, and scored on a one-out single by Grady Davenport.
However, Coffeyville's Zach Freeman rudely greeted Tiger starting pitcher Andrew Roach (2-1) with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1.
Brothers was again involved in the action in the second inning as he hit a two-out double to score Tyler Halstead and came around to score on a single by Steenstra that put the Tigers in front by a score of 3-1.
However, Coffeyville scored two runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 3-3.
The Red Ravens went ahead 4-3 on a RBI double by Noah Wallace in the bottom of the fourth inning and chased Roach from the game one batter later when Radford Beasley walked to put runners at first and second with one out.
Tiger sophomore Jared Wilson came on in relief and allowed both inherited runners to score as Cowley fell behind 6-3.
Coffeyville would score two more runs off Wilson in the fifth inning as its lead grew to 8-3.
Cowley would strand the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, while the Red Ravens tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning en route to the 9-4 win.
Brothers was a bright spot in the defeat as he went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in while batting leadoff.
"Blaze did a good job of setting the table for us," Burroughs said.
In game two, Cowley got a two-run double from first baseman Daniel DeSimone in a four-run first inning. However, a pair of Tiger errors helped Coffeyville score five runs in the bottom of the second inning.
The score would remain 5-4 until the top of the seventh inning when the Tigers scored three runs on only two hits to lead 7-5. DeSimone would add his second two-run double of the game in a three-run eighth inning that increased Cowley's lead to 10-5.
"He put us on his back in that second game," Burroughs said.
After Kaid Karnes went the first four innings on the mound for Cowley, freshman Miguel Obeso was dominant on the mound over the final five innings to help preserve the win. Obeso (3-0) allowed only an unearned run on two hits, while striking out nine.
"He stabilized the game and really took the game over for us," Burroughs said.
Sophomore catcher Cody Milligan and Isaac Muncy joined DeSimone with two hits apiece in the victory.
"Our one through five guys in the lineup had a good day, but our six on down in the lineup has got to be better," Burroughs said.
Coffeyville's Jackson Blancarte did not allow a run over his final four innings of work as he went the first five innings on the mound for the Red Ravens. Coffeyville's Nicolas Sloan took the loss in relief.
The teams will wrap up their four-game series by playing a doubleheader in Arkansas City Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
Box score:
Game one R H E
Cowley 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 0
Coffeyville 1 2 0 3 2 1 x 9 10 0
Game two R H E
Cowley 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 10 9 3
Coffeyville 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 6 2
Cowley is now 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, while Coffeyville is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
"The only thing we are good at right now is being inconsistent," Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said.
In Thursday's opener, Cowley got on the board first as Blaze Brothers was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Steenstra, and scored on a one-out single by Grady Davenport.
However, Coffeyville's Zach Freeman rudely greeted Tiger starting pitcher Andrew Roach (2-1) with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1.
Brothers was again involved in the action in the second inning as he hit a two-out double to score Tyler Halstead and came around to score on a single by Steenstra that put the Tigers in front by a score of 3-1.
However, Coffeyville scored two runs on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 3-3.
The Red Ravens went ahead 4-3 on a RBI double by Noah Wallace in the bottom of the fourth inning and chased Roach from the game one batter later when Radford Beasley walked to put runners at first and second with one out.
Tiger sophomore Jared Wilson came on in relief and allowed both inherited runners to score as Cowley fell behind 6-3.
Coffeyville would score two more runs off Wilson in the fifth inning as its lead grew to 8-3.
Cowley would strand the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, while the Red Ravens tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning en route to the 9-4 win.
Brothers was a bright spot in the defeat as he went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in while batting leadoff.
"Blaze did a good job of setting the table for us," Burroughs said.
In game two, Cowley got a two-run double from first baseman Daniel DeSimone in a four-run first inning. However, a pair of Tiger errors helped Coffeyville score five runs in the bottom of the second inning.
The score would remain 5-4 until the top of the seventh inning when the Tigers scored three runs on only two hits to lead 7-5. DeSimone would add his second two-run double of the game in a three-run eighth inning that increased Cowley's lead to 10-5.
"He put us on his back in that second game," Burroughs said.
After Kaid Karnes went the first four innings on the mound for Cowley, freshman Miguel Obeso was dominant on the mound over the final five innings to help preserve the win. Obeso (3-0) allowed only an unearned run on two hits, while striking out nine.
"He stabilized the game and really took the game over for us," Burroughs said.
Sophomore catcher Cody Milligan and Isaac Muncy joined DeSimone with two hits apiece in the victory.
"Our one through five guys in the lineup had a good day, but our six on down in the lineup has got to be better," Burroughs said.
Coffeyville's Jackson Blancarte did not allow a run over his final four innings of work as he went the first five innings on the mound for the Red Ravens. Coffeyville's Nicolas Sloan took the loss in relief.
The teams will wrap up their four-game series by playing a doubleheader in Arkansas City Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
Box score:
Game one R H E
Cowley 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 10 0
Coffeyville 1 2 0 3 2 1 x 9 10 0
Game two R H E
Cowley 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 10 9 3
Coffeyville 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 6 2