Tiger baseball team shows signs of growth against second-ranked McLennan

Making a step up in competition, the No. 20-ranked Cowley College baseball team played a three-game series at second-ranked McLennan Community College on Friday and Saturday in Waco, TX. The Tigers lost both games on Friday by scores of 1-0 and 10-6 before winning Saturday's finale 10-6.

Cowley is now 4-2 on the season, while McLennan goes to 5-1.

In Friday's opener, Russ Smith started on the mound for the Tigers and allowed only one hit and no runs in three innings pitched. The right-hander from Burden, KS, has yet to allow a run over five innings and two starts.

"Russ was good," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. "He was not quite as sharp as the weekend before but still did a good job of pitching to both sides of the plate."

Barrett Morgan followed Smith on the mound with two scoreless innings of relief to go along with three strikeouts before handing the ball over to Blake DeLong (0-1), who pitched a scoreless sixth inning and nearly had the game headed to extra innings before hitting McLennan's Owen Smith with the bases loaded, forcing home McClane Helton with the winning run.

Sophomore shortstop Cade Baldridge had two of Cowley's four hits in the loss.

Highlander starting pitcher Alex Wallace struck out seven over four scoreless innings, and Cade Waibel, the third McLennan pitcher used, earned the win by tossing a scoreless top of the seventh inning.

McLennan would go on to score six runs in the bottom of the first inning of game two and chased Tiger starting pitcher Kyler Zagar (1-1) from the game after only two innings pitched. Five Tiger relievers combined to allow just three earned runs in six innings of relief as Cowley pulled within 7-6 after a four-run top of the seventh.

However, Walker Freeman hit a pinch-hit three-run double off Ethan Horton in the bottom of the seventh to finish the 10-6 win for the Highlanders. Stone McCaughey, the fifth pitcher used by McLennan, earned the win.

Cowley third baseman Logan Smith had two of Cowley's seven hits and drove in three runs.

In Saturday's finale, Cowley scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to rally for the 10-6 victory.

Freshman right fielder Dax McCaskill, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a solo homer in the third, hit a three-run triple off McLennan reliever Steve Doty in the Tigers' five-run eighth to help Cowley salvage the final game of the series.

McCaskill finished 3-for-7 with two home runs, a triple, three runs scored, and seven runs batted in.

"Dax is a talented young man who is working hard to become a more complete hitter," Burroughs said.

First baseman Dawson Williams added three hits as Cowley managed 13 hits in the finale.

"I thought we improved in a lot of areas as the weekend went on," Burroughs said.

Weather permitting, Cowley will host a four-game series against Southeast Community College beginning Friday at 1 p.m.

"We saw them in the fall, and they have a good club," Burroughs said. "We will need to play well and hope to see continued improvement."

Score by inning:

Game one                         R H E

Cowley      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 4 0

McLennan 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 3 0

Game two                               R H E

Cowley      1 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 – 6 7 5

McLennan 6 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 x – 10 8 3

Game three                              R H E

Cowley      3 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 – 10 13 1

McLennan 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 – 6 10 2