Abilene Cowboys move into 4A West lead with sweep over unbeaten Clay Center Tigers

Apr. 19—In a NCKL matchup between two state ranked teams, the Abilene Cowboys baseball team handed the Clay Center Tigers their first two losses of the season with a double header sweep at Abilene on Tuesday night. With the pair of victories, the Cowboys improved to 11-1 on the season and temporarily moved into first place in the 4A West Division.

The Abilene offense powered itself to victory in both games by hitting four home runs on the night, in which two of them in game two were Grand Slams.

The Cowboys held on to their early lead in game one for a 16-10 victory. A combined pitching effort by Kyson Becker, and Stocton Timbrook secured the win. Senior catcher Zach Miller led the offensive attack by going five for five, with five RBI's.

A pair of home runs by both Becker, and Tommy Keener also helped highlight the victory.

In game two a first inning offensive explosion led by a pair of grand slams by freshman Jake Bartley, and senior Stocton Timbrook would lead to thirteen runs scored. Fortunately the big inning would be enough to hold on for the victory as Abilene would fail to score the remainder of the game. Drew Hanson would have a perfect four for four effort at the plate in the second game to lead the offense.

Game 1

Cowboys 16, Tigers 10

Game one would see both teams scoring a single run in the first inning. An RBI ground out by Heath Hoekman would drive in Drew Hansen for the 1-1 tie. Abilene would strike big in the bottom of the second inning with seven runs scored.

After loading the bases by way of a hit batter, and singles by Jake Bartley, and Levi Evans, Tommy Keener would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly to lead 2-1. Miller would then follow with a two run double to right field that extended the lead to 4-1. Heath Hoekman would then add his second RBI groundout of the game, and Timbrook would follow with a RBI single to push the lead to 6-1.

A two run home run by Kyson Becker over the right field fence would finish the second inning scoring, and give the Cowboys a comfortable 8-1 lead.

To Clay Centers credit, they would rally in the top of the third by getting back to within a single run by collecting five straight hits,that lead to six runs, making the score 8-7. Abilene would respond with another single run in the bottom of the third inning as Miller would drive in a run extending the lead to 9-7.

Both teams would score in the fourth inning, however the Cowboys would add four runs by way of a Keener double, and a Miller single. The lead would change to 13-8 with relief pitcher Stocton Timbrook coming in for Kyson Becker.

After two more scoreless innings pitched by Timbrook, Abilene would add some insurance by collecting three extra base hits, as Keener hit a solo home run, Miller tripled to right field, and Heath Hoekman doubled in a run for a 16-8 advantage.

A last effort rally by the Tigers would lead to two final runs, however it wouldn't be enough, as the Cowboys would hold on for the 16-10 victory.

Timbrook would earn the victory in relief as he pitched four Innings, allowing five hits, while giving up two runs.

Miller would lead the offense by going perfect at the plate by earning five hits, on five at bats, and driving in five RBI's.

Scoring Summary:

Tigers 1 0 6 1 0 0 2- 10-14-3

Abilene 1 7 1 4 0 3 x -16-16-2

2B: Hoekman, Keener, Miller; Hayes, Pladson, Tadman, Brumfield

3B: Miller; Hayes

HR: Becker, Keener

WP: Stocton Timbrook

LP: Pladson

Game 2

Abilene 13, Clay Center 8

A first inning offensive explosion in which the Cowboys scored all 13 runs were amazingly scored with two outs in the inning and would be enough to hold on for a 13-8 victory in the night cap against Clay Center. A pair of grand slams by both Jake Bartley, and Stocton Timbrook would account for eight runs total in the first inning. In all Abilene had 17 at bats in the inning in which they earned six base on ball walks, and eight hits.

Starting pitcher, freshman Jake Bartley cruised through the first inning, however ran into some difficulty in the second inning as the Tigers scored five runs to cut the lead to 13-5. Abilene would make a pitching change in the third inning, and Tommy Keener would then guide the Cowboys by limiting major damage through the middle innings .

With the Clay Center pitching staff holding the Cowboys offense scoreless the remainder of the game, the Tigers would manage to score a single run in in fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, however they would come up short on a comeback attempt.

Junior, Oklahoma State baseball commit, Cole Pladson led Clay Center as he hit two home runs in the game for the Tigers.

Senior second baseman Drew Hansen led the Cowboy offensive attack as he finished 4-4 with 2 RBI's, while Timbrook added 3 hits.

Keener would earn the victory by pitching three and two-thitds innings, and Timbrook would earn the save by pitching the final one and one-third innings.

Scoring Summary

Tigers 0 5 0 1 1 0 1- 8-9-2 Abilene 13 0 0 0 0 0 x-13-12-4

2B: Hansen, Bartley, Timbrook

HR: Bartley, Timbrook; Pladson 2

WP: Thomas Keener

LP: Owen Craig

S: Stocton Timbrook