The Cowboys were in Manhattan, Kansas to take on Kansas State and the Cowgirls were in Lawrence, Kansas to take on Kansas. Both teams were forced to adjust their schedules due to weather in both areas. The Cowgirls played a doubleheader on Thursday and had the finale on Saturday meanwhile the Cowboys moved their series to Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Softball:

Game 1:

It was a defensive battle as the Cowgirls took game 1 of the series 2-1 in extra innings. Madi Sue Montgomery hit a single to center field for an RBI to advance Taylor Lynch and bring Vanessa Shippy home in the first inning. KU would answer in the fourth when Shelby Gayre would hit a home run to left field to tie the game at 1-1. Maddi Holcomb would reach on a fielding error to bring home Chelsea Alexander for the run that would put it away for the Cowgirls.

Logan Simunek would get the win after pitching the last 2 ¹⁄₃ inning and giving two hits and striking out a batter. She moves to 7-3 on the season. Starter Samantha Clakley would go for 6 ²⁄₃ innings and give up seven hits and the Jayhawks’ only run.

KU’s Andie Formby pitched a complete game plus two extra innings. She would give up six hits two runs and five walks. Formby would get five strikeouts.

Game 2 :

The second game of the double-header would be much less dramatic than the first game. The Cowgirls would dominate the Jayhawks en route to a 7-0 win. The Cowgirls’ bats would be on fire with seven runs and 12 hits. Emmie Robertson dominated the Kansas lineup, hurling a complete game and only giving up three hits in the process. Sarah Miller took the loss for the Jayhawks after giving up five runs and eight hits as well as four walks and two strikeouts.

Game 3:

The Cowgirls completed the sweep of Kansas with a 9-3 win on Saturday. The Cowgirls found ways to get runs on the board in a multitude of ways. When it was all said and done, Coach Kenny G’s team compiled eight RBIs and nine hits. Logan Simunek and Samantha Clakley were on the bump again for the Cowgirls. Clakley would get the win this time after pitch 3 ¹⁄₃ innings and giving up just a hit and a walk and striking out three batters.

With the sweep, the Cowgirls move to 28-11 on the season and 7-2 in conference play.

The Cowgirls welcome UT-Arlington to town tonight for a non-conference matchup. First pitch will be at 5:30. Tomorrow, they will travel to Springfield, Missouri for a second non-conference matchup this week with Missouri State. The next conference series will be with Baylor this weekend. The Bears will be in Stillwater for a three-game set, starting at 5 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and a high-noon finale on Sunday.

Baseball:

Game 1:

The Cowboys took the opening game in Manhattan thanks to some home runs early in the game. In the third Trevor Boone got things going with a homer out out to left field then Carson McCusker would fire up the gap band again with another homer to left field. After that the Cowboys would just keep piling it on with small ball to score four more runs. The Wildcats only managed to score three runs in the 6-3 defeat.

Joe Lienhard earned the win after pitching five innings where he gave up three hits, two runs and seven walks. He also would get four strikeouts in his outing.

Reza Aleaziz collected his first save of the year after a near-flawless ninth inning where he gave up a walk and struck out a batter.

Game 2:

This game was very similar to the first one with the Cowboys taking this one 6-1. After starting the game a bit late after a rain delay, the Cowboys got the scoring started early with a fielder’s choice off the bat of Colin Simpson. Matt Kroon was retired on the play, but Andrew Rosa came in to score from third.

Kroon would later score from second. With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Michael Neustifter hit a high one-hopper to the third baseman. Rosa was thrown out at the plate, but Neustifter beat the throw to first to break up the double play. Kroon never slowed down and came all the way around after a poor throw and a bobble by the Wildcats’ first baseman.

Jon Littell finished the scoring for the Cowboys after he hit a three-run homer out to left field in the ninth. The Wildcats would score their lone run in the first on a couple of stolen bases off of errors from the catcher.

Carson Teel, normally the Cowboys’ closer, assumed the starting role for the second game and made his case to stay in the starting rotation. He hurled a fantastic game, going the distance and throwing nine complete innings, striking out nine while only giving up six hits and a run. He had no walks. He did throw 142 pitches in the outing, which is likely more than what Coach Holiday wanted him to throw, but apparently was comfortable enough to leave him in.

Kasey Ford would get the loss for the Wildcats after pitching 5 ²⁄₃ innings where he gave up seven hits and two runs and four walks. He did have one strikeout.

Game 3:

This was a great game for the Cowboy bats en route to a 13-8 win. They started off swinging with a two-run home run from Colin Simpson in the first inning. But Kansas State refused to curl up and quit. Each time the Cowboys were able to produce a tally on the scoreboard, the Wildcats answered.

The Cowboys stayed on top throughout the game. They headed to the bottom of the seventh with a 4-2 advantage.

It appears the seventh-inning stretch woke up the Wildcats. They clawed the Oklahoma State pitching staff with four runs, chasing starter Jonathan Heasley after he loaded the bases. C.J. Varela came on to try and cut down the rally, but was unsuccessful. After giving up a sac fly to narrow the gap to 4-3, Cameron Thompson deposited a pitch over the right-field fence to give KSU its first (and only) lead of the day.

It took exactly seven batters and 20 pitches for the Cowboys to retake the lead. Trevor Boone would connect with a 2-2 pitch in eighth and send it over the fence in right field as well for the first grand slam of the young Cowboys’ career and his third home run of the season.

The Wildcats managed to get a run back in the bottom of the eighth and another in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough. Especially when you consider the five additional runs the Cowboys scored in the top of the ninth.

Simpson, Littell, Neustifter and Cade Cabbiness all plated runs in the final frame, via two singles, a double and a sac fly.

After coming in for a 1 ²⁄₃ inning in the seventh, C.J. Varela would earn the win. He would give up three hits and two runs. He had no walks and no strikeouts.

Tyler Eckberg would get the loss for the Wildcats after coming in to pitch 2 ²⁄₃ innings where he gave up four hits, five runs and two walks. He earned four strikeouts in the outing.

This is the Cowboys second-straight sweep in Big 12 play. The 7-2 record in conference play is still not enough for the lead though, as the Cowboys trail only in-state foe Oklahoma, who boasts an 8-1 record.

Next up the Cowboys will take on the Wichita State Shockers tonight in Allie P. Reynolds. The Shockers come into tonight with a 22-7 record and have won their last two games against Tulane. The Shockers and Cowboys faced off last week in Wichita and the Shockers took that game 7-5.

The next conference action will be this weekend. The Cowboys are hitting the road again, this time heading to the land of burning couches a.k.a. Morgantown, West Virginia.