Cougar Softball heats up in pair of wins at Garden City #GoBarton #RoarCougs

The Barton Community College softball team began their six-game road swing with a pair of victories as the Cougars defeated Garden City Community College 13-3 followed by a five inning 19-9 win.

The victories improve Barton to 14-2 in the Jayhawk East and 20-9 on the season while dropping Garden City to 4-10 in league play and 11-15 overall.  The Cougars will next head to Seward County on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader with next Wednesday's trip to Hutchinson wrapping up the road swing.

Barton's offense started out slow but heated up as the day went on, collecting thirty-three hits in twelve innings of action.

Game One Recap
Coming up empty in Friday's first two innings, Jaelyn Carter got the Cougars on the board in the third driving in a pair before capping the seventh frame's six run explosion in launching her sixth home run of the season on a two-run shot to center.

Outdone in the RBI category, Demi Kunkel went long ball twice in her official two at-bats, with the first pushing Barton's lead to 4-1 in the third with a two-run fence clearer. Drawing two walks in her other at-bats, Kunkel became Barton's six run on the board in the sixth on Alexis Sharples' two-run jack with Jayden Solberg's solo shot to left kick starting the three run sixth.

Kunkel's second home run, her sixth of the season, provided three of Barton's six seventh inning runs with Sharples following Jade Phillips' double for her third RBI of the game before scooting home on Carter's home run.

Tia Kohl improved to 9-3 on the year by striking out six and scattering five hits, two coming off the bat of Audrey Graf as both left the yard on solo home runs in the first and fourth innings. Another pair of hits in the fifth led to Garden City's third run with an additional hit coming with two outs providing the final home team tally.

Karsyn Smith provided bullpen relief in both games, surrendering just single hits in each contest, throwing 2.2 in the opener and 2.1 for the closeout to get game two's win improving to 6-3 on the year.

Game Two Recap
Carter stayed hot in the back-end of the doubleheader with a perfect three trips to the plate, none larger than leading Barton's six-run deficit comeback with a third inning game tying three-run dinger on two-outs in the frame.

The Cougars rolled from that point forward, scoring eight in the fourth and four in the fifth to blow out the Broncbusters behind nineteen hits.

Garden City answered Brooke McCollough's bases loaded RBI walk in the top of the first with seven runs on two outs in the home half.

Emma Horsch got the first two batters out on a line out and strikeout before two singles and a hit batsman extended the inning in loading up the bases. Three more singles and a double, mixed in with an infield error, suddenly had the home squad out 7-1 at the inning's completion.

Phillips first of three hits in the game came on a triple in leading off the second, setting the tone for the Cougars come back in scoring on a passed ball with Nasadiya Salazar and Kunkel providing runs cutting the deficit to three.

Following Garden City putting two on the board in the third to regain the lead at 9-7, Phillips delivered another extra base hit, a double to center to tie it up. Six more runs crossed the plate with the final two scoring on Maggie Schuetz 0-2 two-out single up the middle to push the margin out to 15-9.

Sharples' leadoff double followed by a walk by Carter and single by Salazar loaded the bases in the top of the fifth. Hailey Pop cleared two off the paths with a double to left with McCollough driving in the final nails of the game with a two-RBI single.