Tigers obliterate Neosho County, move into tie for first in the conference

The No. 19-ranked Cowley College baseball flexed its muscle in a pair of wins at Neosho County on Thursday. The Tigers won the opener 5-0 before taking game two 21-1. The victories, which coincided with Johnson's County's split of a home doubleheader against Allen County, move Cowley into a tie with the Cavaliers for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Cowley is now 28-12 overall and 16-2 in the Jayhawk East. Neosho County (28-13) falls to 14-8 in the conference.

"It is always a bonus when you can go on the road and get a pair of wins," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

In Thursday's opener, Cowley freshman Iziah Salinas ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings by striking out 10 in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Salinas allowed only one hit, a one-out double by Brenden Fry in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he improved his record to 5-0.

Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning, Cowley got a two-run homer from Keaton Campbell to give the team some breathing room. The home run by Campbell was his fourth of the season.

Cowley would tack on two more runs in the seventh inning as they took game one 5-0. Cole Martin had two of the Tigers' eight hits in the victory.

Neosho starting pitcher Chayse Gruber (7-2) went the distance for the Panthers, allowing eight hits and five runs. Tiger reliever Barrett Morgan came on in relief of Salinas and retired all four batters he faced to go along with three strikeouts.

In game two, Cowley got a pair of grand slam home runs from catcher Breck Romero and first baseman Jarrett Flaggert and cruised to the 21-1 win.

Romero went 2-for-5 with six runs batted in, while Dane Harvey added his seventh home run of the season as he and Flaggert drove in five runs apiece.

Eight of the Tigers' 15 hits in game two went for extra bases.

"We were able to get a lot of guys into the game, and it was good to see them swing the bats the way they did," Burroughs said.

Cody Airington (4-2) started on the mound for Cowley and allowed five hits and one run in four innings. Cade Perkins followed Airington on the mound and struck out six in three scoreless innings of relief.

Neosho starting pitcher Cooper Hayden (2-3) took the loss after allowing nine runs in three innings.

The Tigers and Panthers will conclude their four-game series by playing a doubleheader in Arkansas City on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"Now the goal for us is to win the next two games and sweep the series," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                    R H E

Cowley 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 – 5 8 0

Neosho 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 0

Game two                     R H E

Cowley 3 0 4 6 6 2 0 – 21 15 1

Neosho 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 – 1 7 3