Hovpensports.com - Lady Tigers off to impressive start in Texas

February 11, 2013

Rama Peroo, CCC-SID
Special to Hovpensports.com

Lady Tiger softball team gets off to impressive start in Texas

Taking part in the always-challenging season-opening Fort Worth (Texas) Cowtown Classic Feb. 8-9, the No. 3-ranked Cowley College softball team went 5-1 in its head-to-head match ups with schools from Texas and Oklahoma.

The Lady Tigers opened play on Friday with a 12-3 win over Trinity Valley (Texas) before knocking off Eastern Oklahoma 8-7 and Ranger (Texas) Junior College 14-3.

Cowley came back on Saturday to defeat Murray State (OK) 9-3 and Hill (Texas) Junior College before closing out the Classic with a 6-2 loss at the hands of Western Texas.

The five wins were the most Cowley has ever achieved at the Fort Worth Classic.

"I was thrilled with the five wins, we competed really good," Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove said.

Even more impressive was the fact Cowley played the last four games of the tournament without starters Laura Seemann, Colby Dresher and Austen Hilt, who were each sidelined due to injury.

Leadoff batter Haley Strawn had a big weekend as she went 9-for-17 with a home run; five runs batted in and 10 runs scored. Freshman outfielder Jordan Haya went 8-for-17 with four runs batted in and seven runs scored.

Freshman Caitlyn Cosme hit two home runs and drove in six runs as she now has three home runs on the season. While, Sierra Schumacher homered and drove in five runs at the Classic.

On the mound, Cowley was led by sophomore Keelyn Bonar, who earned wins over Trinity Valley and Murray State. She also tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in the loss to Western Texas. Bonar allowed four earned runs in 16 2/3 innings and is now 3-0 on the season.

"Keelyn has really taken hold of the top spot in our rotation," Hargrove said.

Freshman Jessica Seay tossed five scoreless innings in the 8-0 run-rule win over Hill Junior College. Seay struck out three and allowed only three hits in the victory. She also earned the win in the 8-7 victory over Eastern Oklahoma despite allowing three home runs. Seay is now 3-0 on the season.

Fellow freshman pitcher Brooke Benge pitched all five innings of the 14-3 win over Ranger. Benge struck out six as she picked up her first win of the season. Benge then started the finale vs. Western Texas and took the loss, giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Benge is now 1-1 on the season.

Cowley out-scored its opponents at the Classic by a score of 53-22 as they improved its record to 7-1.

The Lady Tigers will now prepare to take part in the Carl Albert JUCO Festival Saturday in Poteau, OK. Cowley will open against Paris (Texas) Junior College at noon before playing Carl Albert (OK) at 2 p.m. and Eastern Oklahoma at 4 p.m.

"It's basically the same type of competition we saw in Texas," Hargrove said. "We could lose all three games if we don't play well."

Score by inning:
Game one R H E
Cowley 1 5 3 3 0 - 12 14 1
Trinity Valley 0 1 0 2 0 - 3 10 1

Game two
Cowley 2 0 0 2 0 3 1 - 8 14
E. Oklahoma 2 0 0 2 2 0 1 - 7 7 0

Game three R H E
Ranger 0 0 2 0 1 - 3 6 0
Cowley 3 4 6 1 x - 14 14 1

Game four R H E
Cowley 0 0 1 0 0 8 0 - 9 9 3
Murray State 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 3 0

Game five R H E
Hill 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 1
Cowley 2 0 6 0 x - 8 5 2

Game six R H E
Western Texas 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 - 6 9 0
Cowley 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 2 8 0

Kansas NEWS

[More]

Latest Headlines:

Resources:

Click to see job openings »


			Quick links: Latest Team Rankings Free Text Alerts Member Services