Barton Baseball rallies for doubleheader split at No. 20 Hutchinson #GoBarton

Dropping game one 8-3 Thursday afternoon at Hobart-Detter Field, the Barton Community College baseball team rallied back with three runs over the final two innings in the nightcap to salvage a key early season conference doubleheader split at No. 20 Hutchinson Community College.

The split puts the Cougars at 5-1 in conference play and 10-4 overall while the Blue Dragons move to 4-2 in league play and 17-5 overall.

Due to impending weather on Saturday, the final two games of the four-game series have been moved up a day to tomorrow (Friday) afternoon at 1:00 p.m. from Lawson-Biggs Field.

Game 1 Recap
A trio of Hutchinson pitchers held the Cougars to five hits leading to the Blue Dragons 8-3 win.

Cesar Gomez first blast of the season in the top of the fourth put the Cougars on the board before adding their final pair of runs in the sixth on John Connors RBI triple and Kyle Graves bases loaded walk.

Sophomore Anthony Treto (2-1) pitched 5.1-innings, allowing 11 hits and seven runs, six earned with six strikeouts in the loss. Kiernan Meredith closed out the sixth inning retiring his lone two hitters faced.

Hutchinson scored five of their eight runs on two-outs finishing with 11-hits powered behind two doubles and three home runs.

Game 2 Recap
After being limited to five hits in the first game, the Cougars scored five runs in their first four at-bats in the nightcap.

Ayden Hadley's first of three singles in game 2 broke open the scoring in the top of the first bringing home Hunter Alvord's leadoff double. Kyle Walker's RBI groundout in the top of the second added to the lead before a three-run top of the fourth lengthened the Cougar advantage to 5-1, following Tate Blasi's solo homerun for his first of the year and Graves two-run blast just two batters later for his second on the season.

Hutchinson began to chip away at the deficit plating two in the home fifth before chasing the reigning Jayhawk West Pitcher of the Week Antonio Mendez in the sixth. One of two Barton errors in the game to open the sixth ultimately extended the frame as back-to-back RBI singles knotted things up and third two-out single plating a hit-by-pitch and walk handed the Blue Dragons their first lead, 7-5.

Down to their final six outs, the Cougars began the rally attempt in the top of the eighth getting a run back following back-to-back Alvord and Hadley singles before the third single of the inning coming off the bat of Connors drew things even at 7-7.

Drawing back-to-back 1-out plunking's from Blasi and Walker in the top of the ninth, Graves supplied the go-ahead run with a single to right field pushing Barton back in front 8-7.

Coming on in relief and tossing the final 3.1-innings, Andrew McCarthy (2-0) locked down his second victory of the season pitching out of a 1-out jam with tying run at third. McCarthy induced a fielder's choice with Connors throw from first gunning down the possible tying run at the plate and final out occurring on a ground ball deflecting off the Blue Dragon baserunner at first.

Hadley led the Cougars' 11-hit attack going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. A trio of Cougars turned in two hit performances, Alvord going 2-for-6 with a double and two runs in the leadoff spot, Connors adding an RBI and double finishing 2-for-5 and Graves 2-for-4 performance leading the run production with three-RBIs behind his two-run home run and game winning single in the ninth.

Mendez earned the no-decision working 5.2-innings surrendering six runs, three earned on six hits, walking two and striking out three.

McCarthy yielded one run, off one hit with a walk and two punchouts in the 3.1-innings worked in relief.