Tiger baseball team sweeps Fort Scott to set up showdown with Johnson County

By sweeping a four-game series against Fort Scott Community College, the No. 12-ranked Cowley College baseball team finally caught No. 10-ranked Johnson County atop the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division standings with a conference mark of 24-4. Cowley and Johnson will face each other Thursday in Arkansas City before finishing the regular season with a doubleheader Saturday in Overland Park to determine the conference champion.

Cowley defeated Fort Scott 18-8 and 15-6 Friday in Arkansas City, before taking a pair of games from the Greyhounds by scores of 5-3 and 18-8 Saturday in Fort Scott.

"It was important for us to play well and gain momentum heading into the series with Johnson County," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

The Tigers are now 37-7 overall and 24-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, while Fort Scott falls to 24-22 overall and 11-17 in the Jayhawk East.

In Thursday's opener, Fort Scott scored three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to an error and three hits. The Tigers answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning and then went in front 5-3 when Bryce Madron came through with a three-run double off the Greyhounds' Cole White in the bottom of the second inning.

Miguel Obeso started on the mound for Cowley and allowed a grand slam homer to Jacob Machuca in the top of the third inning as the Tigers fell behind 7-5.

Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Janson Reeder belted a two-run homer to straight away centerfield to pull the Tigers within 8-7.

Cowley would benefit from seven walks in the bottom of the fifth inning as they scored nine runs to lead 16-8. The inning featured a three-run double by Gus Freeman and a two-run homer by Felix Chenier-Rondeau.

Freeman's two-run triple in the bottom of the sixth inning capped the 18-8 run-rule win. Freeman went 3-for-3 with five runs batted in.

Miguel Fulgencio (4-1) did not allow a baserunner in 1 1/3 innings as he earned the win in relief.

In Friday's second game, Cowley rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to win 15-6. Michelle Artzberger hit a three-run homer and finished 3-for-6 with four RBI, while Reeder went 2-for-4 with four RBI.

J'Briell Easley remained undefeated on the season as he allowed eight hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Easley struck out nine and walked two as he is now 7-0 on the season.

On Saturday, Cowley trailed 3-2 before scoring three times in the top of the sixth inning to win 5-3. Artzberger had three more hits and David Herring hit his seventh home run of the season.

Cowley freshman Grant Adler went the first 3 2/3 innings on the mound and allowed only one run while striking out four. Isaac Stebens (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to earn the win.

In the final game of the series, Cowley starting pitcher Logan Kimbro (3-0) gave up five runs in the bottom of the first inning before settling down to go five innings on the mound and leave with the Tigers in front 6-5.

Former Cowley pitcher Austin Neal, who now plays for the Greyhounds, started for Fort Scott and allowed four hits and two runs in three innings of work.

Reeder hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh to make the score 8-5, before Cowley erupted for six runs in the eighth inning and four more in the ninth. Chenier-Rondeau and Madron hit a pair of two-run homers to finish off the 18-8 win and sweep of the four-game series.

"We showed a lot of resilience in the series," Burroughs said.

Reeder drove in four more runs and now leads Cowley with 10 home runs and 62 runs batted in.

"Janson is really locked in at the plate and had a really good series," Burroughs said.

With a fourth straight conference title at stake, Cowley will host a doubleheader against Johnson County (41-5) Thursday beginning at 1 p.m. before the teams wrap up the regular season by playing a pair of games in Overland Park Saturday starting at 1.

"It ought to be fun. This is what you play for," Burroughs said. "We hope to play well and see where the chips may fall."

Friday score by inning:

Game one                     R H E

Fort Scott 3 0 4 1 0 0 – 8 6 1

Cowley     2 3 0 2 9 2 – 18 9 1

Game two                              R H E

Fort Scott 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 – 6 9 1

Cowley     0 0 3 3 0 0 5 4 x – 15 19 0

Saturday score by inning: 

Game one                        R H E

Cowley     0 2 0 0 0 3 0 – 5 9 0

Fort Scott 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 – 3 6 1

Game two                                R H E

Cowley     1 0 1 4 0 0 2 6 4 – 18 16 3

Fort Scott 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 – 8 10 2