The Barton Community College baseball team opened the 2019 season's weekend with a win and loss but overall the trip to the Oklahoma City metro was a success as the nationally receiving votes Cougars completed the four games going 3-1.
Opening the season with Thursday's come-from-behind win at Rose State College, weather cancelled the teams' matchup on Friday. The Cougars played just one game on Saturday, a twelve inning 2-0 victory over Oklahoma Christian University, before splitting games on Sunday in a 7-2 victory over Indian Hills Community College before a 4-3 extra inning loss to Seminole State College.
Barton's next games on the slate are scheduled for the friendly confines of Lawson-Biggs Field, with the Cougars' home opener versus McCook Community College on Wednesday being moved to 2:00 p.m. Thursday due to weather conditions. The Cougars will then host the Cougars of Western Nebraska Community College in a four-game series over the weekend with 1:00 p.m. doubleheaders scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
The Cougars were solid on the mound throughout the weekend yielding just fourteen hits in the 29.1 innings played and just four earned runs.
Easton Smith set the stage in Saturday's extra inning affair, scattering three hits through seven with Coleton Crisp taking over in striking out four in his three innings on the hill. Patrick McClure took the ball for the eleventh in picking up the sophomore from Overland Park's first victory with Tanner Howe closing out the ninth.
Andrew Schrag picked a good time to collect his lone hit of four plate appearance, beginning the 12th with a single. Advancing on a wild pitch, Schrag would advance another base on Andrew Stewart's reach on error before scoring on Nolan Riley's bunt single. Stewart stole third two pitches later in trotting home on a throwing error to tack on an insurance run.
In Sunday's morning win over Indian Hills, the Cougar hurlers combined for seven innings of no-hit pitching performance with Jake Skala throwing the first five with fellow Nebraska freshman Easton Young and Joe Richter keeping the Warrior bats silent for the next two.
The Warriors chalked up their lone two runs in the eighth as a leadoff walk followed by a fielding error set up a two RBI single.
Barton got all the runs they needed in the home half of the fifth with Noah Geekie sending a two out 0-2 pitch to center for a base clearing double, scoring a hit by pitch later on Tyler Bandiera's single.
The Cougars tacked on another in the sixth on Riley's RBI ground out before answering Indian Hills' two runs in the bottom of the eight on Stewart's single and Geekie's sac fly to push the final margin back out to five.
Closing out the weekend against Seminole State, again the Cougars would go to extra innings and again the squad received good pitching from its hurlers with five combining to scatter six in 8.1 innings.
Alex Manderino ended up taking the loss as leadoff walk would score on a sac fly as a stolen base and throwing error put the winning run quickly on the third base bag.
Geekie led Barton with five RBIs in the three games, going 2-of-4 against Seminole in scoring the Cougars first run after leading off the second with a single before driving in the 2-1 go-ahead run in the fourth. Brett Erickson was 2-of-2 in the game with an RBI to plate Geekie with Chandler Kelley's lone hit of the game coming on a one out eighth inning triple to give Barton a then 3-2 lead.
Seminole led off the home half of the inning with its second solo home run of the game before producing the game winner in the ninth.