Tiger baseball team splits games with Allen during Burroughs’ jersey retirement

With former Cowley College head baseball coach Dave Burroughs honored by having his jersey retired and permanently displayed on the City Ball Park left-centerfield fence prior to Saturday's home doubleheader against Allen Community College, the No. 9-ranked Tigers fed off the energy in the stadium to defeat the Red Devils 9-3 in the opener. Cowley was two outs away from sweeping the doubleheader before Allen scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning of game two to win 4-3 and earn a split of the two games.

"It was nice to see the guys come back and honor Dave," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. "It shows the impact he has had on those players' lives."

After starting the season 8-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, Cowley has now split its past two conference doubleheaders to drop to 19-4 overall and 10-2 in the Jayhawk East. The Tigers are currently in second place in the conference, one game behind Johnson County (11-1).

With many former Tiger baseball players in attendance, freshman J'Briell Easley started Saturday's opener and struck out six batters and allowed only four hits and one run in three innings pitched. Easley is now 5-0 on the season.

Michelle Artzberger hit a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning and Janson Reeder added a two-run single in a five-run third inning as Cowley led 7-1. Bryce Madron capped the scoring by hitting a run-scoring triple in the bottom of the fifth inning and later scoring on a passed ball.

Artzberger and Elijah Jackson had two hits apiece in the victory.

In game two, Tiger freshman Dalton Smith belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to give Cowley an early 2-0 lead. The Tigers would tack on a third run in the bottom of the fourth inning and led 3-0 after four innings of play.

After tossing four scoreless innings, Tiger starting pitcher Grant Adler was relieved by Miguel Obeso after allowing the first two runners to reach base to start the top of the fifth inning. After getting the Red Devils' Levi Bennett to hit into a double play, Lucas Rich cut Cowley's lead to 3-2 with a two-run homer.

The score would remain 3-2 until the top of the ninth. After tossing two scoreless innings of relief, Miguel Fulgencio (3-1) was pulled after a pair of one-out walks. Isaac Stebens relieved Fulgencio and allowed the game-tying single to Lucas Rich and then with two outs, the Red Devils' Levi Bennett scored the go-ahead run on an error.

Attempting to rally, Gus Freeman doubled with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and advanced to third on a ground out, but would be stranded there as Levi Bennett struck out Bryce Madron to end the game.

"We pitched pretty good both games of the doubleheader, except for that ninth inning of game two," Burroughs said. "We just had a hard time getting the big hit when we needed it."

Dalton Smith had two of Cowley's six hits in the loss.

Allen, which is coached by former Tiger baseball player Clint Stoy, is 17-5 overall and 4-2 in the Jayhawk East.

Cowley will play a doubleheader at Kansas City Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils are 10-8 overall and 5-5 in the Jayhawk East and split a doubleheader against the Tigers March 30 in Arkansas City.

"It will be another dog fight," Burroughs said. "We have to continue to play better and win the games we have a chance to."

Score by inning:

Game one                   R H E

Allen    1 0 0 1 0 1 0 – 3 7 2

Cowley 2 0 5 0 2 0 x – 9 10 0

Game two                         R H E

Allen    0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 – 4 7 1

Cowley 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 3 6 2