Cowley sweeps Allen to move into second place in the Jayhawk East
Continuing its climb up the conference standings, the Cowley College baseball team swept the final two games of a four-game doubleheader against Allen Community College by scores of 10-2 and 8-3 on Saturday in Arkansas City. The Tigers have won 19 of their past 20 conference games to move past Kansas City into second place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.
After starting 1-3 in conference play, Cowley (30-15) is now 20-4. The Tigers trail only conference-leading Johnson County (24-0), whom they will open a four-game series against beginning on Thursday in Ark City.
In Saturday's opener, Holden Groebl got the scoring started with a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning.
The Tigers would then bust the game open by scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. Drake Fittro and Hudson Roberts had two-run doubles in the inning, and Logan Smith added a two-run homer. The home run for Smith was his team-leading 14th of the season.
Grady Hoke was throwing strikes on the mound, allowing only four hits and an earned run in six innings while striking out four and walking none. Hoke improves to 5-3 on the season.
After Cameron Mock allowed a walk and a single to the two batters he faced leading off the seventh inning, Lucas Weaver came on to strand the runners while striking out a pair of batters in the 10-2 win.
Batting out of the leadoff spot, Cowley centerfielder Drake Fittro went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and two runs batted in.
Allen starting pitcher Andrew Smith allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched.
In game two, sophomore Chance Acord (4-3) struck out a career-high 13 while winning his third straight start.
"Chance and Grady set the tone with their starts on the mound," Cowley head coach Darren Burroughs said. "Those guys were efficient with their pitches."
After Allen scored two runs in the top of the first inning, Cowley responded with five runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Easton Green's three-run homer capped the five-run first. The home run was the sixth of the season for Green.
Sophomore third baseman Logan Smith added a two-run single in a three-run second inning that increased Cowley's lead to 8-2.
Neither team would score again until Allen scratched across an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning as the Tigers went on to the 8-3 win.
Cowley relievers Stetson Etheridge, Carter Rose, and Hudson Roberts followed Accord on the mound and combined to allow only one hit and no earned runs.
Freshman shortstop Josiah Sems had three of Cowley's 11 hits while Holden Groebl and Skyler Branam added two hits apiece.
Allen starter Miller Tavaglione lasted only one inning, allowing four hits and five runs.
Cowley will have a big week ahead as they will host No. 13-ranked Seminole State College (38-7) in a nine-inning game on Tuesday at 2 p.m. before hosting No. 1-ranked Johnson County in a doubleheader on Thursday at 1 p.m. Seminole State has won 17 in a row, and the Cavaliers, winners of 30 games in a row, are 46-2 overall and 24-0 in the Jayhawk East.
"These are the kind of games you want to be a part of as a college baseball player," Burroughs said. "These are some highly anticipated games, and I am glad we are playing them at home."
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Allen 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 – 2 6 2
Cowley 0 0 2 8 0 0 x – 10 7 1
Game two R H E
Allen 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 7 1
Cowley 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 x – 8 11 1