HIGHLAND, Kan. - Despite being eliminated from postseason contention earlier in the week, Highland's offense exploded in Tuesday's doubleheader, as the Scotties (8-46, 4-26 KJCCC) picked up a split against Labette Community College (13-31, 10-20 KJCCC), winning the first game 10-8 and coming up just short on the comeback attempt in game two, falling 22-17. HCC posted three home runs in game 2, including a two-run shot by Bradyn Rose for his first collegiate hit.

Labette opened the scoring in game 1, with Edwing Lemus connecting on a two-run shot to the furthest part of Highland Community Ballpark, but Highland answered back in the bottom of the first as Solomon Holmes laced a double down the left-field line to score Isaiah White and Dylan Zimmerman.

The Scotties parlayed a great defensive play into a two-run lead in the second inning, as Grayson Wroten, Gage Handzel and Brett Burks erased a leadoff walk with a big double play and Parker Jansen struck out Branden Floyd to retire the Cardinals. Burks led off the bottom of the second with a single into shallow left and Wroten collected a one-out walk. After moving up 90 feet on a wild pitch, back-to-back singles by White and Zimmerman pushed Burks and Wroten across home plate.

Highland retired Labette in order in the third and worked out of a two-runner jam in the top of the fourth as Jensen sat Connor Taylor and Brodie Russell down after drawing a harmless pop-up from Nick Dunn.

The Cardinals took advantage of the wind blowing out in the top of the fifth, scoring three via home run - a leadoff shot by Floyd and a two-run effort by Wiljery Santiago - to take a 5-4 lead.

Handzel sparked a rally for the Scotties in the bottom of the fifth, as Highland connected five consecutive hits and went through the entirety of the batting order to reclaim the lead. Parker Hansen picked up a two-RBI bases loaded single to start the scoring, as HCC moved back in front 8-5 in the fifth.

After adding a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, Highland found itself in a bit of trouble in the top of the seventh. Labette drew a pair of walks to start the inning and managed to work around a fielder's choice and a strikeout to load the bases with two outs. Ryan Vann poked a single into left to plate a pair of Cardinals, and after reloading the bases, Gabriel Viera drew a hit-by-pitch to narrow the gap to two runs.

A quick call to the bullpen brought Pierre Bousselot to the mound, where the southpaw was able to convert the save opportunity by drawing a routine grounder to short.

The nightcap started off in similar fashion, with Labette plating four thanks to a grand slam from Santiago, but Zach Neer shrugged off the blast and picked up a pair of strikeouts to close out the inning.

White started the bottom of the first in emphatic fashion, sending a first pitch fastball into the lawn of the house across the street from Highland Community Ballpark. The Scotties leveled terms at 4-4 and Neer posted three more strikeouts in the second inning to keep Labette off the board. A two-run shot by Handzel in the second put Highland up 6-4, but neither team was able to score in the third.

Highland exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out rally, but Labette fell into an offensive groove in the fifth and sixth innings, turning a six-run deficit into an eight-run lead with 10 and eight runs respectively in the frames.

The Scotties were not prepared, however, to go down without a fight and as Landon Hay reached deep into the bench as the game passed the three-hour mark, the reserves stepped up. Connor Nowak picked up a leadoff single to set Rose up for the fireworks in the eighth and Zach Polubinski turned in a perfect sac fly in the ninth, but the comeback ran out for Highland.

Highland closes out the four-game series and regular season on Saturday against Labette Community College with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The game is set to be played at Fort Scott Community College's Lions Field due to extended weather concerns in the Parsons area.