Cougars settle for series opening split with Dodge City #GoBarton

For the third time this season, the Barton Community College baseball team came away with a Jayhawk Conference doubleheader split with Dodge City Community College following a 7-3 win in game one before dropping game two by a 3-0 decision at Lawson Biggs Field Thursday afternoon.

Benefitting behind five Conquistador errors in the opener, the Cougars took control of a three run sixth inning as part of a 7-3 game one victory before being shutout 3-0 in the nightcap to split the home doubleheader. 

Snapping a two-game skid with game one's win, Barton now sits at 26-9 on the year and 13-5 in league play while Dodge City holds a 24-12 mark and 9-5 conference record.

Due to extreme windy conditions forecasted on Saturday, the final two games of the four-game series will be played Sunday at 1:00 p.m. from Dodge City's Cavalier Field.

Game 1 Recap (W 7-3)
Robby Bolin's first of two doubles in the game one setup the first run of the game as two separate Conquistador errors on a pick-off attempt produced the game's first run and 1-0 Barton lead.

Dodge City's third error on the backend of Owen Clyne's single upped the lead to 2-0 with Bolin's hit-by-pitch crossing the plate.

Holding the Conquistador offense to one hit through three innings, Dodge City knotted things up at 2-apiece in the fourth as a pair of singles created a sacrifice fly and third single of the inning tied it up.

Answering in bottom of the fourth, Grant Nottlemann's leadoff single followed by Ayden Hadley's drawn walk setup Cesar Gomez infield bunt single with the fourth Conquistador error scoring Nottlemann for the go-ahead run. The lead would increase two batters later a balk scoring Hadley for a 4-2 Barton lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars mounted the necessary insurance runs with Cole Schieffer reaching on the fifth Conq error scoring Gomez hit-by-pitch and Jaron Cotton's single both coming with one-out. Bolin finished his 3-for-3 day at the plate furnishing the Cougars lone RBI scoring Schieffer for a 7-2 advantage.

Reece Hemmerling (6-1) went six innings on the mound to notch his sixth victory of the season. The sophomore scattered five hits, two runs, a walk and struck out six.

Producing back-to-back singles in the top of the seventh, Dodge City managed just one run with Barton reliever Kyler Horsman inducing a 5-4-3 double-play halting any Conquistador comeback.

Game 2 Recap (L 3-0)
Barton looked to have Dodge City starter Bryce Chambers (6-3) on the ropes after the first two batters with Bolin and Clyne leading off with back-to-back singles.

After that, Chambers allowed just four hits over the final eight innings and quickly cooled off the Cougar bats with Barton rolling into a trio of double plays including a first inning twin killer.

Dodge City led 2-0 after three innings and put the game out of reach with a sacrifice fly in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.

Aidan Sowers (4-1) started and suffered the loss for the Cougars, working five innings. Colton Wahlstrom and Preston Golden worked scoreless outings out of the bullpen.