The Neosho County Community College baseball team avenged a pair of losses to the Cowley College Tigers Saturday afternoon.

After falling behind 6-0, the Panthers forced extra innings to pull out the 9-8 come-from-behind victory. "We tried to give it to them early, but to the kids' credit, they kept fighting back," Coach Steve Murry said. "We had an opportunity at the end and took advantage of it to get the win."

In the bottom of the third, sophomore Evan Bourn recorded a one-out single to get the offense going, and sophomore Ryan Toliver put the Panthers on the scoreboard with one swing of the bat. Toliver's home run cut into the Cowley lead, but it was until the sixth inning when Neosho County really closed the gap. The Panthers defense only saw four Tiger batters in the sixth before the NCCC offense put up three runs in the home half of the inning. The seventh inning was much the same, Neosho County limited Cowley to only four batters, and it was freshman Josh Norlin who got the ball rolling for the Panthers in the bottom part of the inning. A single by Norlin and back-to-back doubles by sophomore Chad Thomas and sophomore Blake Tomasino tied the game at eight. Unfortunately, the Panthers stranded two bases runs which forced extra innings.

Cowley tallied two hits in the top of the eighth, but the Tigers had a runner thrown out at home by Bourn. In the bottom of the eight, the visitors recorded two quick outs, but freshman Cooper Minnick walked and Norlin singled. Thomas recorded his fourth hit of the day, driving the game-winning run. He ended the day 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI. "(Cowley) figured out, let's not let Brylie Ware hurt us," Murry explained. "Evan Bourn is a great player, but he struggled at the plate today. You can't count on one dude. You have to count on multiple guys. Chad Thomas had a great day. That's what propels you to doubleheader sweep." Freshman Craig Karnes picked up the win in 3 and 1/3 innings of work. He struck out four and walked only one. "Karnes did an amazing job," Murry said. "He competed, competed and competed. The funny thing is it came down to him choosing us or Cowley. His whole family has been at Cowley, so I'm sure it was sweet revenge for him."

In the second game, the Panthers had an answer for everything Cowley threw at them. Neosho County did most of the damage in the third and fifth innings, when the Panthers scored four runs in each frame. Heading to the sixth inning, the Panthers led 9-5, but the Tigers had one more push in them. Cowley scored twice in the sixth and once in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff double which came around to score, Panther closer Drew Johnson induced two ground-ball outs to earn his sixth save of the season. Riley Ulery picked up the win in relief of starter Trent Latta. Ulery went 1 and 1/3 innings with two strike outs. Offensively, Panther leadoff hitter Darian Abram with a  3-for-3 day, driving in two RBIs. Toliver, Thomas and freshman Nate Crossman also tallied two hits apiece.