The Barton Community College baseball team completed a four-game sweep to open the season with a pair of 14-4 and 6-4 Sunday victories over Western Nebraska Community College.
Adding Saturday's 9-1 and 11-10 wins, the Cougars have now swept the last five series against WNCC with this year's contests venturing from its traditional use of wood bats.
Barton will next head to Kansas City for a three-pack of games beginning Friday at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Playing a single 2:00 p.m. nine inning affair on Friday, the teams will tangle in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon. As per KCKCC Fan Attendance Policy, no spectators are allowed in attendance. Updates and/or possible coverage links can be found at BartonSports.com and on social media platforms.
Game One Recap
As in Saturday's game one, the Cougars jumped on WNCC in the early innings plating seven through the first two frames.
Carson Pracht drove in the first run lacing a double to right field scoring Alex Rodgers' leadoff hit by pitch. Pract scored one pitch later on WNCC's first of six errors.
Two singles and a fielder's choice helped set up Barton's first of five runs in the second inning with Joel Nieves and Rodgers each driving in the initial two. Following a WNCC error plating another, Pracht drove in his second RBI as another error off the hard hit ball of Connor Scott scored the final run.
Logan Phillips got the starting nod, striking out two in the first two frames before running into trouble in the third. Walking the first two batters, Phillips battled back with a nine-pitch strikeout before giving up an RBI double. Another walk would end Phillips' day, with Will Hann taking the mound. A hit batsman and an error allowed two more runs to cross cutting the Barton lead to 7-4.
The Cougars got the runs back in the fourth, two coming on Caden Bressler's bases-loaded two RBI single and Connor Allen's two-out single driving in two more.
A trio of insurance runs tacked on in the home half of the sixth of the scheduled seven innings, the first on Allen's sacrifice fly and two more on WNCC's sixth error of the contest.
Hann picked up his first collegiate victory from his 2.1 innings of work in allowing just one hit and one walk.
Hunter Hesseltine closed out the remaining 2.1 innings in keeping the WNCC bats silent while striking out five.
Game Two Recap
Barton scored in each of the first four innings of the scheduled nine, putting two on the board in the first behind an error and Jordan Ellison RBI single before adding another in the second on another WNCC error.
A walk and a passed ball in the top of the third pushed WNCC's first run to cross, followed by a two-out single cutting Barton's lead to 3-2.
Cole Conklin's two-out double got both the runs back in the home half with the teams trading single runs in the fourth. WNCC produced an two-out 0-2 pitch RBI single driving in two walks that led off the top of the frame with Barton pushing across the answer as Rodgers' triple would score a batter later on Micah Grover's ground out.
Zach Thornton made the start on the hill, striking out eight in his 3.2 innings, turning the ball over to Hayden Baumwart who shut the door on the WNCC fourth inning stranding a runner at third.
A leadoff single in the fifth greeted Baumwart's second trip to the hill before getting two outs until WNCC came through with a RBI single cutting Barton's lead to 6-4.
Baumwart earned the victory with 3.1 innings of work with three strikeouts with Carson Cornelius earning the save striking out five in the final two innings.