Producing 12 runs off 14 hits in Thursday's doubleheader sweep, the offense would be left back in Great Bend Saturday afternoon as the 5th ranked Barton Community College baseball suffered a pair losses to Cloud County Community College 2-0 and 6-1 from Concordia's Lee Doyen Field.
The teams combined for just eight hits in the opener with the Cougars being shutout for the first time since the 2021 when they fell to Butler Community College 6-0. In the nightcap the offensive woes lingered with Barton unable to produce the key hit stranding 13 runners and leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and ninth.
Despite dropping their first doubleheader and settling their first series split of the season, the Cougars remain atop the Jayhawk West standings with a mark of 19-5 and overall record of 40-7 while the victories keep the T-Birds in a fourth place tie in league play at 15-9 and 30-17 overall.
Barton will return home for a midweek non-conference nine inning tilt with national receiving votes Cowley College Tuesday afternoon for a scheduled 3:00 p.m. first pitch before resuming conference play Thursday with a trip to Hutchinson's Hobart-Detter Field to take on the Blue Dragons.
Game 1
Hits were at a premium in the opener, but Cloud County jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the home first with a leadoff triple crossing on a groundout before adding an insurance in the bottom of the sixth as a leadoff double, sacrifice bunt and Barton error produced the final tally.
T-Birds starter Jack Mount kept the Cougars in check for the seven inning game one victory, allowing just three hits, walking two and fanning six in his six innings of work. Cole Askew worked a perfect seventh striking out all three batters faced.
Robby Bolin, Ayden Blachowicz, and Grant Nottlemann were the only hits against Mount, coming in the first, fourth, and fifth innings. Blachowicz delivered the lone extra base hit with his 11th double of the season before being one of six stranded.
Barton starter Tegan Cain (6-2) took the hard luck loss despite scattering five hits, allowing one earned run and striking out eight.
Game 2
Scoreless over the opening two innings, Cloud County mounted all six runs with two outs in the bottom of the third. A leadoff walk to start the frame and the first of six straight two out hits produced the first run with three other singles, a double and triple adding five runs.
Held scoreless for 13-innings, Barton broke through with their lone run of the afternoon in the top of the seventh as a bases loaded Ricardo Sanchez two-out drawn hit-by-pitch brought home a Blachowicz leadoff single with the Cougars unable to produce more stranding Jaron Cotton and Sanchez hit-by-pitches and Riley Silva's walk leaving them loaded.
Down to their final three outs, an Owen Bailey leadoff plunking, one out Sanchez double and Cole Schieffer walk loaded the bases but the big hit never amounted for the Cougars with back-to-back strikeouts spoiling any rally attempt leaving them loaded for the second time in the final three innings and stranding their 11th, 12th and 13th runners of the game.
Starter Reece Hemmerling (5-1) lasted just 2 2/3 innings allowing six runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two. Ivan Cox, Colton Wahlstrom and Bryan Bartels combined to hold the T-Birds scoreless over the final 5 1/3 innings yielding six hits.
Sanchez and Blachowicz were the lone Cougars with multi-hit performances. Sanchez went 3 of 5 legging out Barton's lone extra base hit with a double in the ninth while Blachowicz mustard a 2 of 4 day at the plate.