Cougars earn split at West leader Seward
The Barton County Community College baseball team earned a split over the weekend, ending a brief 3-game losing skid with a series-opening win over Jayhawk West leader Seward County in Liberal Saturday. The Cougars won the opener 9-5 then lost in the nightcap as Seward scored 4 5th inning runs to win 5-1. The split puts Barton at 13-12 overall this season and 5-5 in the West. The loss was just the 2nd West loss for Seward, which is now 6-2 in the West and 19-13 overall. Barton will host Hutchinson Wednesday at Lawson Field, where Barton is 5-2 this season.

Highlights
Barton received a strong pitching effort from starter Ronnie Morales and a 3-RBI game from Andrew Small and Troy Spahn to win the opener 5-1. Morales threw 5 shutout innings as the Cougars built a 9-0 lead on the Saints. Barton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd when Brent Biggs doubled to lead off the inning and eventually scored. The Cougars pushed it to 4-0 in the 5th as Spahn doubled in Biggs and Eric Whinery. Small singled in Spahn later in the inning to give the Cougars the 4-run lead.

Barton exploded for 5 runs in the top of the 6th Spahn added an RBI single and Small a 2-run double to give the Cougars a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Morales, who had given up just 4 hits while shutting out the Saints for the 1st 5 innings, ran into trouble in the 6th. Morales was roughed up for 5 runs and 7 hits, but got out of the inning with the Cougars still holding a 4-run lead. That was enough for Nate Smith, who closed out the game by throwing a scoreless 7th to secure the win. Morales improved to 4-1 with the win. The bottom part of the Cougar order – the 7, 8, and 9 hitters – were responsible for much of the offensive output as Whinery, Biggs, and Spahn combined to go 7-for-9, scoring 7 runs and driving in 3 more. Small, the No. 2 hitter, also had 2 hits and drove in 3.

The Cougars offense wasn't as productive in the 2nd contest, scoring just one run in the contest. But that 1 run kept Barton in the game until the 5th inning. In fact, Barton led 1-0 after Biggs drove in Wade Gubbels in the 2nd inning. That lead held up until the 4th inning when Seward finally scored on Barton starter Brock Nehls to tie the game 1-all. The Cougars fell behind for the 1st time of the day when Seward scored 4 more times in the 5th to take a 5-1. Barton missed several opportunities in the contest, actually out-hitting the Saints 9-7. But the Cougars stranded 11 base runners – including the bases loaded in the 2nd when Barton had a chance to take a big lead and leaving 2 runners on base in 3 of the last 4 innings.

Stats
Complete stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu

Next
Wed., March 30 – v Hutchinson, 4 pm (Jayhawk West doubleheader in Liberal)

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Check out Barton County Baseball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports