Barton Baseball drops series opener at KCK #GoBarton

The Barton Community College baseball team dropped the first game of the three-game weekend set at Kansas City Kansas Community College, 8-3, on Friday afternoon at the KCKCC Baseball Complex.

Tied 1-1 after the first inning, the host Blue Devils capitalized off back-to-back leadoff walks in the top of the fifth later manufacturing a two-out two-run single with the decisive blow coming on a one-out grand slam in the seventh.

Snapping its four-game winning streak, Barton drops to 6-2 on the year while the Blue Devils move to 5-2 overall as the two teams will conclude the three-game set Saturday in a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader.

Held to just four hits through the opening eight innings, the Cougars fashioned two in the top of the first as Ayden Hadley delivered a two-out double scoring Jaron Cotton's reaching of a fielder's choice following Owen Clyne's one-out single for the lone lead, 1-0.

In the ninth, Owen Bailey opened a Barton rally attempt with one-out collecting the first of three singles in the inning trailed behind a Cole Schieffer walk. Going back to the bench, Cesar Gomez laced the first of back-to-back two-out RBI singles with Hunter Seier driving in the final Cougar run.

On the mound, Nathan Bowman suffered his first loss of the season (0-1) working the opening four innings allowing three runs on four hits, walking six and striking out two.