Cougars 5-3 over Spring Break Trip
It was a trip of splitting games most of the time for the Barton County Community College baseball team during its jaunt South over Spring Break. The Cougars split games on 3 of their 4 dates, taking a doubleheader sweep at Midland College on the final stop of the tour. Barton split twinbills at Northern Oklahoma-Enid, Howard College, and Odessa College before earning the sweep. The 5-3 mark moves Barton to 11-7 for the season.

Highlights
During the early portion of the trip the Cougars struggled getting batters out. Barton, whose pitching had been very good heading into the trip, allowed 25 runs to Northern Oklahoma-Enid in two games. The Cougars won the 1st by a 16-9 margin then dropped a 16-6 decision to Northern Oklahoma. In the opener Andrew Giambrone collected 3 hits and drove in 2 runs for Barton. Ryan Phillips earned the win despite 9 earned runs in 5 innings of work. Barton fell behind 8-2 in the 2nd game and never was able to retake the lead.

The next day was more of the same as the Cougars allowed Howard College 18 runs in two games. The Cougars won the opener 9-8 then fell 10-8 in the nightcap. The Cougars led 8-0 in the opener before an 8-run inning by Howard in the 5th tied the score. Barton won in the top of 7th when Andrew Small's sacrifice fly scored Wes Renfro. Small and Jeff Christy each had two hits and two RBI in the contest. Brendan Bump earned the win in relief for Barton. Barton trailed nearly the entire 2nd game but score 3 times in the 6th to make it 10-8. That would be all the closer the Cougars would get however. Jerry Cook had 4 hits for Barton and Matt Hafner 3. Christy hit a homer for Barton and Harrison Harber drove in 2 runs.

The pitching began to improve on during as the Cougars headed to Odessa for a pair on Wednesday. Barton scored a 5-4 win before losing a 2-1 decision. The Cougars jumped to a 5-0 lead in the opener as Renfro, Christy, and Troy Spahn each drove in runs. Spahn hit a solo homer in the 2nd. That would hold up as the Cougars held off Odessa. Brian Knipplemeyer took the win for Barton and Bump picked up the save. In the nightcap, Ronnie Morales took the loss on the mound despite allowing just 2 runs and 5 hits while striking out 10 over his 6 innings of work. Barton's only run came in the 3rd when Small doubled in Newton for a 1-0 lead. Odessa tied it in the bottom of the 3rd and took the 2-1 lead in the 4th.

The Cougars finally swept a twinbill on Thursday, the final day of the trip. Barton won 6-4 and 13-2 at Midland. This time it took a rally for the Cougars to earn the win in the opener. Barton led 2-0 thanks to RBI by Small and Elson in the 2nd but fell behind 4-2. That is where the score stood heading into the 7th and final inning of action. In the 7th inning, the Cougars put 4 runs on the board to grab the win. Small tied the game with a 2-run single that scored Blake Esfeld and Brooks Clark. Christy then singled in two more runs to give Barton the lead as Elson and Small scored to give A.J. Knight the win on the mound. Ryan Phillips came in to pitch the bottom of the 7th and pick up his 1st save. In the 2nd game, the Cougars blew open a 5-2 game with an 8-run 5th inning and a 13-2 win in 5 innings. Marcus Lara drove in 3 while Christy and Elson added 2 RBI for Barton in the win. Derek McDaid improved to 3-2 with the win.

Stats
Stats can be found at the Barton County Website at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Wed., March 24 – v Cloud County, 4 pm (West doubleheader at Cougar Fields)