Big first innings power Barton softball to sweep Pratt, Horsch with career high ten strikeouts #GoBarton #RoarCougs

The Barton Community College softball team won its fourth straight game in the minimum innings as the Cougars rolled to a 19-8 and 11-0 twin bill sweep Wednesday afternoon at Cougar Field over Pratt Community College.

The Jayhawk East leading Cougars improved to 9-1 in league play and 15-8 on the season with the Beavers dropping to 3-9 and 3-28.

Due to impending weather moving through the area in the next few days, the Cougars next games are pushed back a day to Sunday with Barton hosting Dodge City Community College in a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.

The Cougars were dialed in for the start of each game, putting up big numbers on the scoreboard with a combined sixteen runs in the two first innings with another ten lighting up the board in the second frames.

Barton connected on ten extra base hits in the opener but just one came in the first inning off of Brooke McCollough's sixth double of the year driving in two runs. Four additional runs crossed the dish with Betsy Parmley and Jade Phillips producing RBI singles.

The Cougars would bat-around for the second consecutive inning, beginning with Haleigh Pop's ninth double of the year. Parmley followed with a single before McCollough wiped the bases clean in launch her fifth long ball of the season.

Maggie Schuetz restarted the nine hit Barton inning with her first double of the season with Phillips putting two aboard with her second hit. Following the eleventh two-bag hit of Alexis Sharples' season to plate another run, leadoff hitter Jaelyn Carter connected on her fifth home run of the season growing the lead. Parmley's second at-bat of the frame resulted in another ball in the trees belting her league leading seventh long ball of the season pushing Barton's advantage to 15-0 after just two inning of action.

Tia Kohl (7-3) sent down the first seven batters behind four strikeouts before running into some trouble in the third as consecutive singles opened up the frame. A wild pitch helped break the scoreboard goose egg with an error extending the inning leading to another run before a misplayed triple and single drove in another pair of runs.

Pratt would put up another four spot in the ensuing fourth inning as Reagann Bennett led off with her first collegiate home run and Kenzie Anderson completing the scoring on a bases clearing triple.

Parmley wrapped up her 4-of-4 five RBI game with her eight double of the year to drive in one for Barton's six-run response inning with Lia Chan tacking on two more via her first collegiate double. Barton would get another run on a Pratt error with the final two of the six-run frame coming off the bat of Demi Kunkel's blast to center field for her third of the year.

The Cougars refocused for the start of game two, jumping on two Beaver pitchers for ten first inning runs.

Jayden Solberg provided the early back breaker driving a 3-run shot out to centerfield followed by RBI singles from Sharples and Carter. Salazar's sixth double of the year drove in another with Pop' third long ball of the year capping the inning with a two-run fence clearer.

Solberg provided the Cougars' final run, driving a two-out pitch deep to centerfield in highlighting the game two performances on the two home runs in three plate appearances with four RBIs.

Emma Horsch earned the game two victory improving to 4-2 on the year recording a career high ten strikeouts. The sophomore struck out four of the first six batters, stranding a pair of runners in each of the third and fourth innings by striking out three in the third and two in the fourth. One last hurdle faced Horsch in the fifth as an error and pair of two-out walks went for naught on exclamation point punch-out to end the day.