Barton sweeps Pratt in West series to run winning streak to 6

Barton sweeps Pratt in West series to run winning streak to 6
The Barton Community College baseball team made it 6 straight wins with a 4-game sweep of Pratt over the weekend at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend. Barton won the Jayhawk West series with a pair of wins on Saturday and Sunday to improve to 6-2 in the West and 11-4 overall this season. The Cougars won Saturday by 6-5 and 11-2 scores then followed up Sunday with a 15-3 win the opener and a 15-10 win in the finale. Barton has won 11 of its last 13 games. The Cougars will stay at home to face Independence Wednesday in a double header starting at 2 pm at Lawson-Biggs Field.

Highlights
The Cougars had a little luck on their side to start the series, trailing most of the opening contest and not getting their 1st lead until the bottom of the 6th inning. Pratt scored single runs in each the 1st and 2nd take a 2-0 lead but Barton answered back with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd to even the game at 2-all. Pratt took a 5-2 lead with 3 in the 4th thanks to 3 unearned run. Barton trimmed that margin to 5-3 in the bottom of the 4th when Jordan Slade tripled in Brandon Hoefler.

That is how the game stayed until the bottom of the 6th when Pratt returned the Barton favor of 3 unearned runs and the 1st Cougar lead of the contest. Thanks to a Pratt error sandwiched by a pair of outs, the Cougars were still batting in the 6th.  The Cougars fortunes were made even greater when Hoefler's pop to deep short was lost in the sun, giving Barton runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Slade made Pratt pay with a double that scored both Ian Smith and Hoefler to tie the game. Slade scored on a RBI single from Hugo Hernandez on the next at bat to give Barton a 6-5 lead. Robbie Van Cour then shut down the Beavers in the 7th to lock up the win in the 1st of 4 games. Kyle Leroy took the win for Barton, pitching a hitless 6th inning. The Barton bullpen combined for 3.1 innings allowing just 2 base runners during that time.

Barton had an easier time in the nightcap Saturday scoring 3 times in the 1st and never looking back. Barton scored in 6 of the 1st 7 innings of the 9-inning contest on the way to an 11-2 win. Ryan Busboom had 3 hits and drove in 3 for the Cougars. Freshman left-hander Levi Schlick went 6 1/3 for the win, striking out 7 and walking 5. Schlick is now 2-1 on the season with a 1.56 ERA in 3 starts.

The Barton bats came to play Sunday, scoring 15 runs in back to back contests. In the opener, the contest was low scoring for the opening innings before the Cougars combined for 13 runs in the 4th and 5th innings for the run-rule win. Barton sent 10 batters to the plate in the 4th, scoring 7 times – the final 3 unearned. That gave Barton a 9-2 lead. The Cougars then strung together 6 straight hits to start the 5th inning, capped by a 3-run homer from Mitch Slauter to end the contest on a run-rule at 15-3.

The Cougars largest offensive explosion, though, occurred in the finale of the series when Barton posted 12 runs in the 2nd inning. Slauter highlighted that inning as well, belting a grand slam homer over the left field fence. He later tripled in 2 more, giving him 6 RBI in the inning on a homer and a triple. During the inning 16 batters came to the plate, everyone scored at least once and 3 players scored twice and the Beavers went through 4 pitchers. Barton would add single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 7th but Pratt continued scoring as well taking the game the full 9 innings by plating 10 runs of its own. Ian Smith picked up the win in relief for the Cougars and Van Cour came in to record the final out in a bases loaded jam in the 9th to earn the save.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
March 10 – v Indy, 2 pm (double header at Lawson-Biggs Field at Great Bend)