The Barton Community College softball team wrapped up its weekend play at the BUCO Bash in El Dorado, Kansas, with a 6-5 victory Sunday over Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa. Finishing the four-game weekend at 2-2, Barton moves to 21-12 on the season. The Lady Cougars will stay on the road and head south to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, playing a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader against the junior varsity squad from Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
In the final game of the weekend, the Lady Cougars scored three in the third and added another in the fifth but had to survive a three-run sixth inning NOC rally to hold on for the win.
Going a perfect 4-for-4 from the plate, Erica Harper led an 11-8 hitting advantage by the Lady Cougars. The top of the lineup consisting of Bailey Hensley and Brianna Ward each collected two hits, as did Braydee Bakovich in the lower lineup. Ward delivered her seventh homerun of the season with a two-run leftfield shot in the third giving the Lady Cougars a 3-1 lead.
Holly Posegate went the distance season striking out seven with three of those coming in the NOC three-run sixth inning. Winning the week-end's opening game against NOC-Enid, Posegate's two victories improved the freshman's record to 9-6 on the season.
Harper, who has won the conference player of the week three times including the last two weeks straight, finished the weekend batting .643 going 9-for-14 including two homeruns to bring her nation's homerun lead to thirteen on the season.
The Lady Cougars opened play in the Bash on Saturday splitting a pair of games. Barton scored two in every other inning to lead by five but had to hold off a late Northern Oklahoma College-Enid rally to win 6-5 but then were shut out for the first time in the season in dropping a 6-0 decision to 20-2 Jefferson College.
The heart of the lineup did the bulk of the damage against NOC-Enid as the trio of Ward, Harper, and Kylie Everill were a combined 6-for-11. Harper led the way going 2-for-3 with a first inning double giving Barton a two-run first inning lead. Ward's first of two doubles kick started the Lady Cougars' two-run third inning while back-to-back homeruns by Harper and Everill increased the lead to 6-1 in the fifth.
Stranding eight base runners against Jefferson, the Lady Cougars had a runner aboard in all but two innings being limited to only five hits in recording a goose egg for the only time this season. Hensley, Ward, and Posegate were the lone Lady Cougars to get a hit as Ward and Posegate both collected two hits each. Everill and Taylor Bugner split the six innings pitched with Everill taking the loss falling to 3-2 on the season.
A five-run seventh inning rally wasn't quite good enough Sunday as the Lady Cougars fell in eight innings 14-11 to North Central Texas College. In playing the first of two games Sunday, Barton pounded out fourteen hits including five coming in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings but three of NCTC's twelve hits in the eighth proved to be the difference.
Harper continued her hot bat going 3-for-5 driving in four runs including three coming on her nation leading 13th homer of the season tying the game in the first inning. Jenna Hosey also had a big game going 3-for-4 connecting on her third homerun of the season two outs after Harper's first inning homer. Bakovich and Caitlin Garcia both anchored the lower lineup each going 2-for-4, none bigger coming in the bottom of the seventh as Bakovich's two out two RBI double drew Barton to within one and Garcia's single to cap the Lady Cougars' five run seventh inning to tie it up.
Bugner worked the final 6.2 innings taking the loss dropping to 9-4 on the season.