The Barton Community College baseball team had its six game win streak snapped 3-2 in ten innings of the first game of Monday's doubleheader at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas. Scheduled for seven innings, the teams each scored one in the eighth before a Jared Winter walk-off homerun leading off the tenth gave Cloud County the victory. After getting twelve hits in the first game, Barton would manage only three hits in game two in falling 4-2 to drop the day's twinbill and split the four-game series. Barton sinks to 6-6 in Jayhawk play and 13-10-1 overall while Cloud improves to 3-5 in conference play and 5-14 overall. Next up for the Cougars will be a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game on Thursday at Lawson-Biggs Field against Brown Mackie College then will entertain Butler Community College over the weekend in a four game conference series.
Game One
Braxon Byfield's 3-run home run gave Barton a 3-0 early lead as Trevor Turner and Scott Tyler set the table with singles. Cloud County answered with a long ball of its own as Jackson Cain hit a two-run first pitch shot to left field. The Cougars' Trevor Hughes pushed the lead back out to two driving the first pitch he saw to right field giving Barton a 4-2 lead in the second.
Barton added a run in the fourth as Kyle Cromwell doubled to left with one out then easily came home as Jacob Richardson tripled to center. The T-birds would answer with one in the home half getting a Colton Kooser 0-2 count two-out single up the middle.
Evan McDonald led off the Barton sixth with a single to right, advancing into scoring position by Cromwell's sacrifice. Richards then increased the lead to 6-3 with an RBI single to left.
Following a leadoff single to Tanner Palmore and advancing to second on a wild pitch, Barton starting pitcher Justin Hersch looked to get out of the sixth inning with a strikeout and ground out to third. However Cal Zagurski kept the inning alive with a RBI single up the middle then scored on Kooser's home run to left.
Originally scheduled for seven innings, the Cougars stranded two in the seventh as the game headed to extra inning. Barton capitalized on a Cloud error to lead off the eighth to allow McDonald to reach base. Moving over to second on a Cromwell sacrifice, McDonald then stole third setting up Turner's two-out RBI single to right giving Barton a 7-6 lead.
Following a leadoff single by Palmore followed by a double by Cain, the Cougars reliever Alex Cain intentionally walked Jesse Rall to load the bases. The T-Birds would tie the game two pitches later as Palmore scored on a wild pitch. Intentionally walking Zagurski, Evans escaped further damage getting a short fly out, a fielder's choice force out at home, and striking out Cameron Zane to end the inning.
For the second consecutive inning the Cougars stranded two as Cherryholmes led off the inning and Bowman reached on a one-out error. Despite an error allowing Cloud's Austin White to reach base, Evans struck out three in the ninth to push the game to the deciding tenth inning.
As the Cougars couldn't muster anything in the top of the inning, Kooser ended the extra inning affair driving a 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to snap Barton's six game win streak.
Alex Evans took his first loss of the season working the last three innings giving up three hits while striking out five. Jared Winter pitched the tenth to win his first game of the season to even his season mark at 1-1.
Richardson, Turner, and McDonald each had two hits for the Cougars as Barton outhit Cloud 12-10. Byfield's three run home run in the first led Barton with three RBIs while Richardson drove in two from the leadoff position.
Game Two
Jacob Richardson got the first of the Cougars' three hits in the game leading off the first inning. Following Trevor Turner reaching base via hit by pitch, Braxon Byfield grounded out in a double play advancing Richardson to third. Braxon Byfield would then draw a walk and Grant Watkins gave the Cougars the early lead with a double to center scoring Richardson with Byfield also scoring on the throw.
Cloud cut the lead in the home half as Tanner Palmore drew a one-out walk, stole second, then scored on a double steal when the Cougars' Grant Watkins erased Jackson Cain's single with the throw into second.
The T-birds would again produce another scoring opportunity in the second getting a one-out single by Colton Kooser and a two-out walk by Trevor Reid. The number nine batter in the Cloud lineup Jared Zerr, who went 2-2 in the night cap, delivered the tying run singling on the first pitch he saw to drive home Kooser.
With Barton only drawing a walk in the third and a hit by pitch in the fourth, Cloud took the lead in the fourth on a solo shot by Reid to left field. Zerr followed Reid's homer with a triple to right and scored on the next batter as Austin Whiteed grounded out to second.
While the Barton bats went quiet the last three innings except for a McDonald leadoff single in the fifth, Cloud wasn't doing much better getting just a single and walk in the sixth inning.
Emilio Foden went the distance for the T-birds to improve to 2-1 on the season limiting Barton to the three hits, two walks and striking out five. The Cougars Jayme Lovelace dropped to 1-3 on the season on seven hits, four runs, three walks, and two strikeouts.