Mercer’s no-hitter helps Lady Tigers split doubleheader against rival Johnson County

The No. 10-ranked Cowley College softball team bounced back from a 5-2 loss in the opening game of a doubleheader played Wednesday at home against Johnson County by getting a five-inning no-hitter from sophomore Ashlynn Mercer in an 8-0 run-rule win over the Lady Cavaliers in game two. Cowley is now 19-2 at Ed Hargrove Field this season.

"Ashlynn really did a great job yesterday, she was in control of their hitters and got some big help from her teammates offensively," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said.

Cowley (27-110, which plays in the Jayhawk Conference Division A, and Johnson County (19-11), which plays in Division B, are each 15-5 in their respective divisions.

In game one, Cowley broke a scoreless tie when Kayla McClellan singled home Micah North in the bottom of the third inning. Elizabeth Luttrell walked with the bases loaded to force in another run as Cowley went in front 2-0.

However, Johnson County would rally for four runs in the top of the fifth inning and tacked on a run scoring triple by Katie Enneking in the seventh inning to lead 5-2.

Trailing 5-2, Cowley brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, Kayla McClellan flew out to end the game.

Kyla Etter went the distance on the mound for Johnson County to earn the victory.

Brooke Mason took the loss as she is now 12-4 on the season.

A two-run error in the first inning of game two allowed Cowley to jump out to the early lead. The Lady Tigers would get an RBI single by Paige Hughes in the third inning and a two-run double by McClellan in the fourth inning to lead 5-0.

A run-scoring sacrifice fly by Luttrell and an RBI double by Brylea Teufel made the score 7-0 after four innings of play. McClellan would end the game with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the fifth.

"I thought the players really kept the pressure on more in game two with runners in scoring position and this is why we got a big win," Hoyt said.

Mercer went all five-inning on the mound for Cowley and improved her record to 11-3 on the season. Mercer struck out nine and allowed only one walk.

Cowley will try to snap its road funk when they play a doubleheader at Allen Community College Saturday in Iola, KS. The first game will begin at 1 p.m. The Lady Tigers are only 6-8 away from home this season.

Score by inning:

Game one                     R H E

Johnson 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 – 5 11 0

Cowley  0 0 2 0 0 0 0 – 2 9 1

Game two              R H E

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 0

Cowley  2 0 3 2 1 – 8 7 0