It wasn't the low scoring pitcher's duel it was set up to be as the Barton Community College baseball team outslugged the Blue Dragons of Hutchinson Community College Friday night at Lawson-Biggs Field taking the first game of the weekend four-game series 8-5.   Putting together their third straight ten-plus hit game, the Cougars outhit the Blue Dragons 15-13 as the teams heated up in the middle innings scoring a combined thirteen runs in 3.5 innings.   With a hotly contested race for the Jayhawk West title in progress, the Cougars remain in sixth place just two games in the loss column from the top spot at 11-10 and 20-19 overall while Hutchinson slips from second into fourth at 12-9 and 26-14 on the season.  The teams will resume the series with a pair of seven inning contests on Saturday before wrapping up the four game series with another nine inning game on Sunday.  First pitch for both days set for 2:00 p.m.

With the starting aces pitching a solid first four innings, it was the Cougars who drew first blood with freshman Seth Troll delivering the big hit with a triple to right field.  One out later Troll tagged up on Lance White's right field fly ball scoring not only the first run of the game but the first earned run in Hutchinson's right hand ace Max Simpson's phenomenal freshman campaign.

The Cougars would go on to add three more earned runs finally chasing Simpson from the game after getting eleven hits in his 5.2 innings of work.  Barton ace Alexander Evans got the no-decision after six innings surrendering only three runs on ten hits giving way to Jackson Rose for the seventh inning.   Being rejected during the recruitment season to don a Blue Dragon uniform, a determined Rose settled in on the mound in his Cougars' No. 26 jersey after Hutchinson plated two on three hits to retire the next 2.2 innings allowing zero hits.

Dylan Kuhn and Trevor Turner led six Cougars with a multi-hit game with three hits each with a combined six runs batted in, none larger than Kuhn's bases loaded two-out single driving home three in seventh giving Barton the win.