Free passes doom Tigers in 15-4 loss at Barton
Issuing a season-high 14 walks, the Cowley College baseball team had its five-game win streak snapped with a 15-4 seven-inning run-rule defeat at Barton County on Tuesday at Jimmy Lawson-Danny Biggs Field in Great Bend, KS.
Cowley (14-13) has dropped six games in a row to Barton (22-7).
On Tuesday, Cowley's pitching allowed seven runs in the bottom of the first inning despite allowing only two hits. The Cougars benefited from six walks and a hit-by-pitch in the inning.
Barton's lead would grow to 15-1 after four innings of play. The Tigers would scratch across single runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but it would not be enough in the 15-4 defeat.
After scoring 88 runs in its previous five games, Cowley managed only five hits on Tuesday. The Tigers were led by freshman shortstop Josiah Sems, who went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and a run batted in. Over his past nine games, Sems is batting .440 (11-of-25) with two home runs and eight runs batted in.
Peyton Gosch (0-2) started on the mound for Cowley and retired only one of the six batters he faced before being relieved on the mound. A bright spot in the defeat was Tiger pitchers Hudson Roberts, Carter Rose, and Cameron Mock finishing the game with a combined 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Daegen Vinduska (1-0), the second of four pitchers used by Barton, earned the win by allowing only two hits and one run in three innings.
Centerfielder Rhett Winchester led Barton at the plate by going 2-for-4 with a home run and four runs batted in. The homer was the ninth of the season for Winchester.
Cowley will return to conference play when they host Coffeyville in a doubleheader on Thursday at 1 p.m. The Red Ravens are 12-18 overall and 3-9 in the Jayhawk East.
Score by inning: R H E
Cowley 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 – 4 5 0
Barton 7 5 1 2 0 0 x – 15 9 1