Cowley picks up run-rule victories over Neosho in final home games

The Lady Tigers (28-20) went 17-5 at home and have won 13 of their past 14 games, improving to 14-4 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley is in second place, two games behind conference-leading Johnson County (16-2) with two games remaining.

"This being the final home games of the season for the sophomores, it was good to see the team play together and earn a couple of wins," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "The sophomores mean a lot to this year's team and our program. These games were such a proud moment as a coach."

Trailing 1-0 in the second inning of game one, Cowley would tie the game at 1-1 as Kiki Warner's sacrifice fly scored Carsen Carpenter from third. Norah Macken would add a two-run double, and Bre Curry came through with an RBI single in a five-run second inning.

Sophomore Gracy Smith would add a two-run single in the third inning, and Curry's sacrifice fly in the fourth inning scored Taverli Tennant to increase Cowley's lead to 8-1.

The Panthers would score two runs in the top of the fifth to close within 8-3 before Taylor Clay hit a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth, and a sacrifice fly by Tennant scored Macken with the final run.

Sophomore Dacey Morris allowed six hits and one earned run in the five-inning win of game one. Morris improves her record to 16-8.

Cowley finished with 11 hits in the opener and was led by Clay, going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in.

"Taylor continues to be a tone setter at the top of the lineup," Hoyt said.

Panther starting pitcher Kamden Bray (7-7) allowed five runs in two innings.

Neosho jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in game two, scoring a run in the first and second innings.

Freshman Taylor Clay's two-run single in the bottom of the second inning tied the game at 2-2.

Hannah Howard gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead with an RBI double, and Gracy Smith added a two-run single to increase Cowley's lead to 5-2.

The Panthers would close within 5-3 with a run in the top of the fifth inning before Cowley erupted for six runs to run-rule Neosho 11-3.

Norah Macken scored the final run of the game on an infield single by Aubrie Martinez.

Cowley hit seven doubles and finished with 13 hits in game two.

"We executed many times throughout the game, and that's been our focus lately, getting better at working more together to create those executions," Hoyt said.

Neosho starting pitcher Pilar Cox allowed 10 hits and nine runs while falling to 4-10 on the season.

Clay continued to swing a hot bat, going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in.

Smith drove in two more runs in the second game and finished 4-for-6 with four runs batted in and three runs scored.

Morris also had a good day at the plate in the doubleheader, going 3-for-3 with three walks and three runs scored.

Cowley will finish the regular season by playing a doubleheader at Cloud County on Thursday at 1 p.m. The T-Birds are 18-16 overall and 9-9 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Score by inning:

Game one              R H E

Neosho 1 0 0 0 2 – 3 6 3

Cowley  0 5 2 1 3 – 11 11 1

Game two              R H E

Neosho 1 1 0 0 1 – 3 6 1

Cowley  0 2 3 0 6 – 11 13 1