The Neosho County Community College baseball team picked up two more wins in a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Hudson Field. The Panthers picked up 10-6 and 7-3 wins over the visiting Highland Community College Scotties.

After three scoreless innings, Highland broke the tie with two straight hits that gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, freshman third baseman Brylie Ware got the offense going with a leadoff single. It was the start of eight-run fourth for the Panthers. Neosho County batted around in the frame, and with two outs, Ware sent a shot over the right field fence for a grand slam, giving the Panthers an 8-1 lead. The Panthers added two more runs in the fifth, but the Scotties made some noise late. The visitors added three more runs in the top of the seventh to close the gap, but sophomore Drew Johnson came in to record the final two outs of the game.

Sophomore Tyler Mitzel picked up the win in six innings of work. He struck out 11 and only walked one, while surrendering only two earned runs. Offensively, Ware, sophomore Evan Bourn, freshman Josh Norlin tallied two hits apiece, while Minnick picked up the other hit.

In game two, sophomore second baseman Chad Thomas drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the second as the Panther completed the twin bill sweep 7-3. The Panthers added a second run two innings later in the fourth inning, an inning  highlighted by Neosho County's defense. Thomas threw out a runner at first from the seat of his pants near second base, and center fielder Darian Abram recorded a running grab and then picked off a Highland runner trying to scramble back to first base. Highland scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning, but Neosho County had the bases loaded before the Scotties recorded an out in the bottom of the sixth. That led to three runs, including an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Blake Tomasino and a two-RBI single by Thomas.

The Panthers added two more in the home half of the eighth. Freshman Nate Crossman led off with a single and later came around to score on a double by Ware, also scoring Thomas. Freshman pitcher Mason Knopp picked up the win, going seven innings. He struck out six, while freshman Riley Ulery closed out the game with two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth. Thomas paced the Panther offense, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs, while Crossman and Ware added two more hits apiece.

Neosho County (19-2 overall and 8-2 in the KJCCC) was scheduled for a return trip to Highland (6-16 and 2-8) on Saturday, but the doubleheader has been moved to Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 pm.