Tigers get dominant starting pitching in home wins over Fort Scott

With starting pitchers Kyler Zager and Russ Smith combining for 13 shutout innings, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College baseball team swept a doubleheader against Fort Scott on Sunday in Arkansas City. The Tigers won the opener 5-0 before taking game two by a score of 13-1.

Cowley is 25-7 overall and 14-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Tigers enter Monday's doubleheader at Fort Scott in second place in the conference behind Johnson County (16-4). Fort Scott is now 27-11 and 7-7 in the Jayhawk East.

Zager (5-1) allowed only a third-inning single to Fort Scott's Josh Polubinski while tossing a one-hit shutout in game one. The lefthander struck out nine and walked one.

Fellow freshman Russ Smith (4-1) was equally as impressive in game two, allowing only three hits in six shutout innings.

"Both guys commanded the zone and worked ahead in the count," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said.

Cowley had 11 hits in the opener and was led by designated hitter Weston Thomas, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Dawson Williams also did well, going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

Thomas continued to swing a hot bat in game two as he went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Thomas hit his third home run of the season in the 13-1 victory.

"It was good to see Weston do well," Burroughs said. "He has been working hard, so it was good to see that pay off."

Williams also carried over his success from game one by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three runs batted in as he raised his average to .397.

Cowley outhit Fort Scott 24-5 in the doubleheader.

The teams will wrap up the four-game series by playing a doubleheader at Fort Scott on Monday at 1 p.m.

"It's important that we go there and have the same effort as Sunday," Burroughs said.

Score by inning:

Game one                     R H E

Ft. Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 0

Cowley   3 1 0 0 1 0 x – 5 11 2

Game two                     R H E

Ft. Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 4 0

Cowley  0 3 3 4 2 1 x – 13 13 0