Friday's action at Cougar Field was going to snap either the Barton Community College softball team's five game win streak or Seward County Community College's ten game winning streak. Both events happened in six inning run-rule fashion as the Cougars took the first 12-4 while the Lady Saints shut out Barton for only the second time this season taking the nightcap 8-0. The split leaves Barton in third place in the Jayhawk West at 8-8 and 26-13 overall while Seward County remains atop the standings at 11-3 and 28-14. The Lady Cougars will take a few days off for the Easter break before embarking on a six-game road stretch beginning next Wednesday with a 2:00 p.m. conference doubleheader at Dodge City Community College.
A two-out rally produced Seward County's first run getting an infield single and stolen base by Kolby Hamilton before Grace Peterson drove in the first of her three runs with a double to the right center gap.
Reaching base getting hit on the second pitch of the home half, Bailey Hensley moved to second on a passed ball before Brianna Ward connected for a no-doubter blast to centerfield against the north wind for her ninth homerun of the season.
Peterson tied the game in the third after Kennedy Brunson reached on fielder's choice then stole second base before reaching third on a passed ball.
The home half of the third was disastrous for the Lady Saints pitching staff resulting in five Barton runs. McKenna Mauler fought off four 2-2 pitches before drawing a walk starting a string of six straight walked batters by three Seward County pitchers. Mix in a combination of six wild pitches and passed balls, the Lady Cougars batted around plating five runs without the benefit of a hit.
Rolling up a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play to erase a leadoff Lady Saint single, the Lady Cougars went back to work in the home half increasing the lead. For the second consecutive inning Mauler got things going with her first of two singles in game one with a hard shot through the left side. Hensley again reached on a hit batsman and Ward's five pitch walk loaded the bases for Erica Harper's fielder's choice pushing across the first run. Another Seward County blunder gave the Lady Cougars their next run as an illegal pitch force in Hensley.
Seward County answered with two of their own getting three singles to begin the top of the fifth scoring on consecutive hit by pitch and walk. The Lady Cougar defense prevented a big Seward County inning as middle infielders Jenna Hosey and Hensley rolled up their second double-play of the game getting Barton out of the inning.
A Braydee Bakovich line drive to left began Barton's answer in the home half advancing to second on Caitlin Garcia's groundout to first base. Mauler completed her 2-for-2 game with a line drive to left field driving home the speedy Bakovich pushing Barton's lead out to 10-4.
Harper, the reigning two-time conference player of the week, led off the bottom of the sixth with her nation leading sixteenth homerun of the season with a towering drive to left center.
Kylie Everill followed with a walk and one batter later, the Lady Saints' error on Holly Posegate's grounder resulted in pinch runner Brooke Panning rounding the bases sliding in home for the run rule clinching victory.
Improving to 12-6 on the season, Posegate struck out four in scattering seven hits for the victory. Mauler's two hits were the lone multi-hit performance as Seward County outhit the Lady Cougars 7-5 with nine Lady Saint walks proving costly.
Having broken a twenty-four game losing streak to the Lady Saints earlier in the season at Liberal and coming off game one's run rule victory, Barton came out flat on both the offensive and defensive ends for game two.
A one-out walk, double, and single off the body of starting pitcher Taylor Bugner scored the first of seven Seward County runs in the second inning. Four consecutive two-out singles added three more runs with a throwing error aiding in the tacking of two more runs. Joe-Ann Rapoza capped the seven hit inning with a double to left field as Seward County built a commanding seven run lead after just two innings of play.
Stranding seven base runners in the nightcap, the Lady Cougars stranded two in each the second and fourth innings as Jaclyn Wagner kept Barton off-stride in keeping Barton off the scoreboard for only the second time this season.
Seward County put the game away getting the mercy run in the sixth as a leadoff single would eventually score on the third Barton error of the contest.
Bugner took the loss dropping to 11-5 on the season after failing to get out of the second inning surrendering seven runs and nine hits in 1.2 innings of work. Everill finished out the remaining 4.1 innings pitching brilliantly limiting the Lady Saints bats to only three hits and one run while striking out five.
Bakovich was the lone multi-hit performance as for the second straight game the Lady Cougars were led by a player in the lower portion of the lineup as Seward County pitching held the top four of the Barton lineup to 4-of-18 (.222) in the doubleheader.