Barton Softball drops Saturday games to conclude season opening Texas trip #GoBarton

After splitting its season opening games the day prior, the Barton Community College softball team dropped both its Saturday contests wrapping up its trip to Odessa, Texas.

The Cougars' morning woke up on the wrong side of the bed in being held to just two hits in taking a 16-1 five-inning loss to the host 4th ranked Odessa College. Returning to the field a short break later, Barton collected eleven hits but wasn't enough as Luna Community College avenged the prior day's loss to the Cougars with a six-inning, 17-9 victory.

Now 1-3 on the year, Barton has a couple of weeks in preparation for a trip to Oklahoma taking on Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa on February 16 before continuing south down I-35 for a Saturday date at Northern Oklahoma College-Enid.

RECAP vs Odessa College
The morning started off right for Alicia Goseland in striking out the first batter but the Wranglers strung a trio of singles to score one before adding four more runs on an additional three straight singles to take a 5-0 opening frame lead.

Having collected 14 hits in the day prior, Barton was held to just two hits, both coming in the top of the second frame as Elina Bartlett's one-out triple scored an out later on Mikaila Herring's single.

Odessa would go on to put solo runs on the board in the second and third inning before a fourth inning leadoff home run would spark a nine-run frame in putting the game away.

RECAP vs Luna Community College
Luna had revenge on their minds after suffering a one-hit, 11-0 shutout loss on Friday in waiting for Barton following the conclusion of the Cougars-Wranglers contest as the Rough Riders jumped on top 8-0 in putting three on the board in the first followed by five more in the second.

Barton got four of the runs back in the home half of the second frame, loading the bases on Chloe Enslinger hit, a Kelsi Gaston walk, and Mia Mascarenas' reach on error. Herring, who led the Cougars on the weekend with eight RBI, drove in two by connecting on her third double of the season with Laci Dryden's first of three hits out of the leadoff spot driving in two more with two outs.

With both teams going scoreless in the third and Luna again coming up empty in the fourth, Barton cut the deficit to one with a three-run, two-out rally in the home half.

The Dryden twins helped sparked the surge, Lani extending the frame lining the first pitch of her at-bat to left field with Laci's double contributing to her team leading 4 RBI in the game. Allyson McDougal also followed with a two-bag knock in being followed by Ally Lawrence's lone hit bringing the Cougars to within one.

The momentum was short lived as the Luna bats went back to work in the fifth inning with five hits while the fourth walk of the frame extended the at-bat resulting in a three-run home run pushing the lead back out to 15-7.

Enslinger's double for her second hit of the game led off the home half with singles by Gaston and Mascarenas pushing across the game extending run but the Cougars could only muster an additional run coming on Laci Dryden's two-out RBI for her third hit of the contest.

Luna answered Barton in the top of the sixth drawing three walks and collecting a pair of hits leading to the clinching two runs as the Cougars went down quietly in the home half.

Brooklynn Angielski took the loss in four innings of work with Barlett hurling 1.1 innings and Goseland tacking another turn in the circle for the final two outs.