Splitting Thursday's doubleheader, the 14th ranked Barton Community College baseball team jumped out to early leads Saturday afternoon on the road sweeping both ends of its' doubleheader with Dodge City Community College, taking game one 9-2 before clinching the series in the nightcap 13-5 at Cavalier Field.
Closing out the series with three straight victories, the Cougars improve to 7-1 in the Jayhawk West and 26-3 overall while the Conquistadors suffer their first conference series defeat falling to 7-5 in league play and 15-17 overall.
Barton will make their shortest road trip of the season Thursday traveling down south to open the first leg of its' four game series with the Beavers of Pratt Community College. First pitch of the scheduled doubleheader is 1:00 p.m. from Stanion Baseball Field.
Game 1 Recap
Tegan Cain came within three-outs of a perfect game as Cooper Schneider drew a leadoff walk in the seventh. Making his seventh start of the season retiring his first 21 batters Cain lost Schneider on a 3-2 pitch. Ensuing his ninth strikeout and plunking of a batter, the sophomore's no-hit bid would be spoiled with a clean RBI single to center while a following RBI single eventually closed the door on Cain's afternoon.
Reliever Nathan Bowman would enter recording a strikeout and groundout savoring the Cougars two-hitter.
Barton jetted out front in their first at-bat as a Quinton Robertson walk sparked a two-out rally leading to the first of three driven in by Ayden Blachowicz on a single bringing around a leadoff Robby Bolin single.
The 1-0 lead would grow out to a 5-0 Cougar advantage in the second as a leadoff Dryden Howse single came around to score on a Grant Nottlemann groundout. A succeeding walk to Bolin and Riley Silva hit-by-pitch loaded the bags leading to a bases loaded Ricardo Sanchez walk and two-out Blachowicz single plating a pair.
In the third, it was Howse once again generating the Barton scoring opportunity legging out a leadoff double later coming around on Silva's single after a Conquistador error lengthened the frame.
Producing four of their six runs with two outs through the opening five innings, the Cougar offense continued the tendency in the sixth as three straight two-out singles by Blachowicz, Jaden Wiley and Howse furnished another marker lengthening the lead to 7-0.
Putting the final touches on the scoreboard in the seventh, a Sanchez one-out RBI single would bring around a Bolin walk with a Dodge City wild pitch racing home a Silva single.
The Barton bats were fueled behind Blachowicz 3-of-5 performance in the first leg as the sophomore drove in a trio of runs recording his eighth multi-RBI game of the year. Howse was a perfect 2-of-2 at the dish bringing around one and scoring twice.
Game 2 Recap
Trailing for the lone time on the afternoon following a bottom of the first solo shot home run to right with two-outs, the Cougar offense quickly responded in their second turn as a Wiley double brought around a Blachowicz reaching on a fielder's choice.
Barton's half of the third would see a one-out Conquistador error allowing Bolin to reach and advance on a passed ball before coming around on the next pitch off a Silva single. Two batters later a Robertson double to center doubled the Cougar lead to 3-1 scoring Silva.
A two out rally for Dodge City in the bottom of the third would allow the Conquistadors to close back within one as three straight singles produced a run.
Answering the bell, Barton would be Dodge City in the top of the fourth as another two-out rally stretched the advantage back out to a pair on Henry Hayman's second blast of the season clearing the fences in left.
The Cougars count on the long ball once again in the fifth as Sanchez launched his third fence clearer of the season out to right lengthening the Barton lead to 6-2.
Faced in a sixth inning jam with two-outs as a leadoff error backed by a single and two-out walk loaded the bases, the Conquistadors would trim the lead in half on an RBI walk. Calling upon the bullpen with the bases still loaded, Ivan Cox would get Barton out of the jam recording his lone strikeout in his 0.1-innig of work.
Dodge City would make things interesting in the bottom of the seventh loading the bases again but with no-outs as a double followed by back-to-back walks aided a sacrifice fly and RBI single cutting the lead to 6-5. Faced in another bases loaded jam following a two-out walk, Hunter Jones locked in on the mound recording a strikeout and line out keeping the Cougars out front.
In the top of the eighth, Barton would respond loading the bases with no-outs off back-to-back Conquistador errors and Hayman hit-by-pitch setting up Owen Bailey's bases clearing double to right two pitches later. Far from finished, the third Dodge City error in the frame brought in Bailey while a Robertson sacrifice fly drove in Silva's one-out hit-by-pitch capping the five run response.
Barton's final tally would be setup off a Blachowicz leadoff ninth inning walk while racing around the bases four pitches later on Wiley's double to left extending the lead to 12-5.
Starter Reece Hemmerling earned a no-decision going four innings and allowing two runs on six hits, one walk and striking out three. Tyrus Riley would come on in relief to secure the win improving to 3-0 on the year throwing 1.2-innings and allow just one unearned run on one hit while adding a pair of strikeouts. Jones earned his second save of the season tossing the final three frames scattering two hits, walking two and punching out a pair.
Silva extended his hitting streak to nine straight games turning in a 2-for-4 performance in the opener and 1-for-3 in the nightcap, driving in four and scoring five times over the afternoon.