Cowley softball team lets a pair of leads slip away at Butler
Venturing out of conference to play at Jayhawk West foe Butler Community College on Monday in El Dorado, KS, the Cowley College softball team had leads of 7-1 in game one and 7-2 in game two of the doubleheader before losing both games 12-10 and 14-7.
Staked to an early 7-1 lead in game one, Cowley starting pitcher Dacey Morris (8-7) ran into trouble in the bottom of the second inning and was relieved by Madison Baker with the Lady Tigers trailing 8-7. The Grizzlies would go on to score in each inning but one as they held on for the 12-10 win.
Sophomore shortstop Taverli Tennant led Cowley at the plate by going 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored. Taylor Clay added three hits, and Kiki Warner went 2-for-3 with four runs batted in.
Butler's Haely Hagemann hit one of the Grizzlies' three home runs and went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and three runs scored.
In game two, Cowley scored a run in the second inning, three in the fourth, and three more in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer by Tennant, as the Tigers led 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Cowley starting pitcher Hannah Howard (5-4) did not allow a run through the game's first three innings before surrendering a two-run homer to DeShawnna Bryant in the bottom of the fourth inning and then allowed the first four batters of the fifth inning to reach base before being relieved by Kylie Cartwright, who promptly allowed a double and a home run before Lauren Howerton was called on to pitch.
Howerton went on to allow a grand slam to Kyplee Jacobson, and six more runs crossed the plate in the 12-run fifth inning, which turned a 7-2 Butler deficit into a 14-7 Lady Grizzlies lead.
Butler's Ellie Randall, the third Grizzly pitcher of the game, held Cowley scoreless for the final 2 2/3 to preserve the win.
Howard had three of Cowley's seven hits and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, while Tennant went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two batted in.
Cowley falls to 15-17 on the season, and Butler improves to 15-11.
The Lady Tigers will return home to face No. 15-ranked Johnson County in an important conference doubleheader on Thursday at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers are 19-9 overall and one game ahead of Cowley in the Jayhawk East standings with a record of 4-0.
Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cowley 3 4 0 2 0 0 1 – 10 11 0
Butler 1 7 2 1 0 1 x – 12 12 2
Game two R H E
Cowley 0 1 0 3 3 0 0 – 7 7 3
Butler 0 0 0 2 12 0 x – 14 14 3