The Barton Community College baseball team jumped out to early leads over Pratt Community College in each of Saturday's doubleheader at Stanion Field, earning a pair of run rule victories taking the opener 12-0 before tackling on a 12-2 win to cap the day's sweep.
Earning a 3-1 series victory over the weekend, Barton moves into fifth place in the Jayhawk West standings at 13-11 and improving to 26-15 on the year while Pratt drops back into ninth in the west standings at 5-19 and fall to 10-26 on the season.
Barton will return home to begin the first leg of a four game set against the Broncbusters of Garden City (8-15, 17-21). First-pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Thursday at Lawson-Biggs Field.
Game One Recap:
Alex Rodgers kicked off the top of the first drawing a hit-by-pitch before swiping his 20th bag of the year advancing to third and crossing the plate on a pair of Beaver wild pitches giving Barton the lone run needed.
Allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the home half, starter Zach Thornton was perfect from that point on tossing five shutout frames and fanning six Beavers earning his second consecutive shutout and team tying fifth victory.
A one-out Pratt error opened the door for Barton in the second as back-to-back RBI doubles from Colter Maldonado and Peyton Sparks succeeded by a Rodgers RBI single capped a three run inning extending the lead to 4-0.
The Cougars ballooned the advantage to 11-0 piecing their second crooked inning in the fourth. A one-out Sparks single ignited nine straight Barton baserunners on four hits, a pair of plunked batsman, one walk and one Beaver error. Wade Reynolds drove in the first of the seven runs with an RBI single. A Beaver wild pitch scored Rodgers shadowed on a Carson Pracht RBI triple. One batter later Connor Scott blasted a three-run shot to left for his team leading eighth homerun extending the lead to 10-0. Sparks capped the scoring frenzy adding an RBI with a sacrifice fly to left.
Tanner Schrag stretched the lead to the final margin in the fifth drawing a bases loaded RBI walk.
Game Two Recap:
Looking to secure a series victory in the finale, the Cougars made the most of the opening frame as Pracht set the tone from the start adding another RBI to his name doubling to center. Barton would tack on two more with a Pracht double and Jackson Hartley single capping the three-run first.
Starting pitcher Payton Tinkler started his dazzling day striking out the side in the home half of the first. The righty was lights out on the bump tossing six innings allowing four hits, one run (unearned), walking a pair and striking out a career high nine Beavers collecting his third victory of the season.
A one-out Scott single and Hartley walk had Barton in business in the third with Shawn Marquis delivering an RBI single expanding the lead out to 4-0.
A leadoff infield error opened the door for Pratt in the third as a single four pitches later put the Beavers on the scoreboard cutting the margin to 4-1. Tinkler limited the damage inducing back-to-back groundouts and notching another punch out.
Threatening in the fourth but unable to account for a run, the Cougars countered in the fifth breaking through with a six spot. Sparks and Rodgers broke the doors open for the Cougars roping a pair of 2-RBI doubles as Rodgers and Austin Gerety added to the party with RBI singles giving Barton a 10-1 cushion.
Pratt would cut into the Cougar lead once more in the bottom of the seventh as Brenden Tauber launched his second homerun of the four game series digging the Beavers back to 10-2.
The Cougars put the game on ice as Marquis knocked in his second RBI of the day with a single. Hartley capped the scoring five pitches later on a dropped third strike wild pitch as Barton utilized the run rule victory for the second straight game.