Harvey leads Tigers to sweep of Fort Scott

The No. 15-ranked Cowley College baseball team kept pace with Johnson County for first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division by completing a four-game sweep of Fort Scott. With designated hitter Dane Harvey going 6-for-11 with two home runs and seven runs batted in, the Tigers routed the Greyhounds 10-2 and 12-3 on Saturday in Fort Scott.

Cowley (34-13) remains tied for first place in the Jayhawk East with Johnson County with a record of 22-2. The teams will open a four-game series on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Overland Park.

After opening the season with a record of 35-7, Fort Scott has dropped six games in a row and is now 15-9 in the conference.

On Saturday, Harvey homered in a four-run first inning that gave the Tigers the early lead in the first game of the doubleheader. Harvey would add a three-run homer in the second inning to increase Cowley's lead to 7-0, and the Tigers would cruise to the 10-2 win.

"Dane started us going, and our hitters did a good job of staying within their approach," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

Given plenty of run support, Tiger sophomore Luke Singleton (5-1) pitched into the fourth inning and allowed only two hits and one run in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Cade Perkins followed Singleton on the mound and allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and no walks.

In the series finale, Harvey again came through with a two-run double in the top of the first inning, and Cowley never trailed in the 12-3 win.

Harvey went 4-for-6 with a double and three runs batted in, while Alex Conover and Kade Sheldon hit back-to-back home runs in the win. Harvey now has 10 home runs, while Conover's home run was his team-leading 12^th of the season. Sheldon's homer was his second of the year, as he is now batting .404.

Mitchell Johnson was the beneficiary of the run support as he went six innings on the mound, allowing only three hits and three runs as he improved his record to 4-0.

"Mitchell was a little shaky at the start, but I was proud of how he kept making pitches and took some pressure off our bullpen by going six innings on the mound," Burroughs said.

Tallen Bagwell and Cole Abbott followed Johnson with three innings of scoreless relief.

Sheldon joined Harvey with four hits in the nightcap, and the Tigers outhit Fort Scott 18-4.

"This was a big sweep for us," Burroughs said. "Both sides of the ball were really good on Saturday."

Cowley will host Seminole State College (OK) in a single, nine-inning game on Tuesday at 1 p.m. before turning its attention to facing No. 3-ranked Johnson County.

"It is imperative that we play well on Tuesday and try to carry this momentum into the series with Johnson County, which will be a big test but also one we are looking forward to," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                       R H E

Cowley  4 3 0 0 0 1 2 – 10 11 1

Ft. Scott 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 – 2 3 1

Game two                       R H E

Cowley  2 0 2 4 0 3 1 – 12 18 1

Ft. Scott 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 – 3 4 1