Story by Alex Hammeke
The Barton Community College Baseball squad protected home turf Saturday afternoon at Lawson-Biggs Field earning a sweep over Dodge City Community College. The Cougars fought of a late Conquistador rally in the opener earning an 8-5 win, while getting a solid start in the nightcap cruising to a 9-3 victory.
Barton's fourth straight win improves the Cougars to .500 in the conference at 5-5 and 17-6 on the year with Dodge City slipping to 2-4 in league and 12-6 overall.
The series will shift to Dodge City on Sunday to finish the four game set, as Thursday's original scheduled contest at Cavalier Field was washed out. First pitch of the doubleheader between the Cougars and Conquistadors is schedule for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Game One Recap:
Barton kept the Conquistadors at bay, as the Cougar defense sent Dodge City down in order through the first five frames. Starter Graham Brunner struck out eight Conqs' as the sophomore from Alberta worked a no-hit bid into the seventh.
The Barton offense looked to rely early on the two-out rally, but the Cougars could not get things done in the first two innings, stranding three baserunners early. Barton would finally strike in the third, with four straight baserunners. Carson Pracht would get hit by pitch, and Micah Grover would advance on catchers interference. Connor Scott's single to left would get the scoring going, bringing in Pracht. Grover would score on Connor Allen's single, and Scott would make it home on the sac fly from Caden Bressler.
Barton would hang up four more runs on the board in the fourth, as a Pracht triple would score Shawn Marquis and Jordan Ellison, and Pracht would score off the left field double from Grover. Conner Allen would finish out the scoring, as his center field double would score Grover.
Barton would tack on their final run of the contest in the fifth inning, as Colter Maldonado would score off Marquis' first collegiate triple. The Cougars would be sent down in order in the sixth, in part from a double play from Dodge to grab the first two outs.
Dodge would make the ballgame interesting in the final inning, as the Conqs would break up the no-hit bid from Brunner one out into the seventh inning. Dodge would break the shutout quickly, as Dodge City would get six runners on base in the final frame. Ian Lanik would slam the door shut, grabbing the final two strikeouts in three batters.
Game Two Recap:
Barton would jump out to a quick 5-0 lead after two innings, with Grover's first home run of the season would score Scott in the first. Barton would tack on three runs in the second inning, with a ground out RBI from Marquis scoring Bressler, and a single from Scott scoring Pracht and Shively. Jake Kuntzendorf would only allow three hits in the first three innings, as the freshman from Illinois would strike out five Conquistadors in his five innings of work.
Dodge would get on the board in the fourth, when a sacrifice fly from Daneff would score Schmidt. Barton would respond quickly with a leadoff home run from Carson Shively. Barton would extend their lead to six runs with a triple from Pracht that would score Marquis.
Both teams would not score in the fifth, and Dodge would cut down the lead to four in the top of the sixth. Hunter Hesseltine would keep Dodge scoreless to finish out the contest, striking out five while only allowing three hits. Barton would bring the lead back out to six in the bottom of the frame, when Maldonado's triple would score Shively, and Marquis' ground out would score Maldonado on the very next play. Barton would go down in order in their final two innings.