Tiger baseball team walks it off for second straight game

The top-seeded Cowley College baseball team is showing they will be a hard team to beat at the Region VI Tournament played at Kansas State University's Tointon Family Stadium as they rallied to win for a second straight game. After defeating Butler 9-8 in extra innings earlier in the day, the Tigers defeated fifth-seeded Johnson County 5-4 in a game that finished near midnight.

Against Johnson, Cowley fought back from a 3-2 deficit by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead 4-3. After Tiger reliever Miguel Fulgencio tossed a scoreless eighth inning, he would allow just his third earned run in 35 innings pitched as the Grizzlies tied the game in the top of the ninth.

However, once again, Cowley bounced back in the bottom half of the inning. Seldom used freshman Trayson Miller walked as a pinch hitter, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Haden O'Toole, and two batters later scored the winning run when sophomore Trey DeGarmo smacked a ball off the right-field fence.

For the second straight game the Tiger players rushed the field in celebration as Cowley advances to face third-seeded Kansas City Kansas Community College (49-10) Thursday at 4 p.m. The Tigers are now 48-9 on the season.

Cowley had only three hits in the win over the Cavaliers as they took advantage of seven walks by Johnson County pitchers.

Carson Pierce started on the mound for the Tigers and did not allow a hit in four innings pitched. Chance Cox followed on the mound and allowed three runs in three innings before Fulgencio pitched the final two innings to improve his record to 5-0 on the season.

Johnson County's Hayden Minton limited Cowley to two hits in 6 1/3 innings, and Grant Garza (5-3) surrendered the winning hit to DeGarmo in the ninth.

Score by inning:               R H E

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 – 4 6 1

Cowley  0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 – 5 3 1