Cougars pick up mid-week run rule victory over Bethany

The Barton Community College baseball team scored nine runs in the final two innings to run rule the junior varsity from Bethany College 11-1 Wednesday evening at Lawson-Biggs Field.  Barton put one on the board in each of the first two innings then answered Bethany's lone run in the sixth with two in the home half before capping the victory with seven run seventh inning.  Barton improves to 11-8-1 on the season while dropping Bethany's JV to 0-5.  The Cougars will take a 4-4 conference record this weekend to Concordia, Kansas, for a four game conference series against Cloud County Community College.   The T-birds are 1-3 on the conference season and 2-11 overall.  First pitch of both Saturday and Sunday's first games of the doubleheader scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the Concordia Sports Complex.

Barton got their first run of the game generated by the one-out triple from Trevor Turner. Scott  Tyler stepped up to lace a double to right field giving Barton the early 1-0 lead.  The Cougars added another as Caleb Cherryholmes led off the inning hit by pitch and advanced to third on a Evan McDonald single to center, scoring on an Erik Benson sacrifice. 

Bethany scored their lone run in the top of the sixth getting a single, fielder's choice, and scoring on a passed ball to cut the Barton lead to 2-1.

Freshman Brian Regan got the run back for Barton in the home half blasting a 2-2 1-out pitch to right field for his first collegiate home run.  Folsing a McDonald triple to right field, Benson came up with a single to left field giving Barton a 4-1 lead to the seventh.

Freshman hurler Jordan Plank, who got the Cougars out of the sixth with a strikeout, sent the first two Swede batters down on strikeouts before inducing an inning ending flyout to center.

Richardson led off home half of the seventh with single to left field, then stole his seventh base of the season advancing to third on a Bethnay error on the play.  Turner's single to left field scored Richardson, then gets driven home a batter later from Trevor Hughes's double to center.  Jennings followed with a single to right field and advanced to second as Cherryholmes was hit by pitch for the second time of the game, his eighth time of being plunked this season. With the  bases loaded with only one out, Hughes scored on passed ball advancing Jennings to third and Cherryholmes to second giving Barton the 7-1 lead. 

Following a McDonald groundout for the second out of the inning, Benson drove in his third RBI of the day with a single up the box increasing the lead to seven.    Kyle Cromwell kept the inning alive with a drive up the middle to score Cherryholmes.  The Cougars put the game away as  Richardson reached on infield error but two errors on the play allowed Benson and Cromwell to score for the final 11-1 shortened game victory.

Brennan Walter made his first appearance on the hill for the Cougars and picked up his first victory of the season, pitching three innings of no-hit ball while walking two and striking two.  Zach Brummer, Jordan Plank, and Shane Adams were great support for Walter as the Cougar pitching staff struck out ten batters and surrered only three hits.

Erik Benson had a solid day batting in the eight-hole, going 2-for-3 with three runs driven in.  The Cougars amassed fifteen hits with five extra base hits driving in eight of Barton's eleven runs.