Needing a sweep to work into a third place tie in the final Jayhawk West standings, the Barton Community College softball team left the Great Bend Sports Complex Wednesday evening with the taste of a disappointing doubleheader split against Pratt Community College.  The Cougars scored nine second inning runs in winning a five-inning 9-1 opener but dug a ten run hole in the nightcap eventually falling 12-3 in six innings.   The split leaves Barton in fourth place in the final standings at 12-12 and 31-17 while Pratt finishes the conference regular season in ninth place at 6-18 and 9-35.   

The Cougars next action will come with the season on the line as Barton hosts Dodge City Community College at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday in a best of three series in opening round play of the Region VI Tournament.  Should the teams split Tuesday's games, an if needed game will be played again at Cougar Field beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the winner of the series advancing to El Dorado, Kansas, for double elimination play for the Region VI Championship. 

Six consecutive hits with two outs produced a nine run second inning giving Barton all it would need in the opener as the Lady Cougars sent thirteen to the plate.  Kylie Everill got things started with a walk and Holly Posegate reached on an infield error allowing Everill to move to third.  Posegate then stole second giving the Lady Cougars two in scoring position but Pratt starting pitcher Caitlyn Randolph then got the next two outs on infield pop-ups and was on the verge of getting out of the inning as Braydee Bakovich's grounder to shortstop was fielded clean and slung across the diamond to first.  In a bang bang play at the bag, Bakovich beat the throw and Posegate hustled around from second giving Barton a two-run lead.

Following singles by Caitlin Garcia and Bailey Hensley driving home Bakovich, Brianna Ward pushed the lead out to 6-0 with her tenth homerun of the season.  An Erica Harper single and a Pratt pitching change, Everill's second time to the plate in the inning greeted the new pitcher Lauryn Schooler with a two-run shot to left center for her twelfth of the season.   Posegate also reached for the second time of the inning getting struck by a pitch and scored following a Jenna Hosey walk and two illegal pitches.

The Beavers pushed across their lone run in the fifth getting a one-out walk, two two-out singles, and a bases loaded RBI hit by pitch.

Posegate earned her fifteenth win of the season tying for the third most single season wins in school history improving to 15-7 on the season in scattering five hits.  Everill and Bakovich led the Barton 8-5 advantage with two hits each.

Similar to the teams' doubleheader in March in Pratt, game two started out in favor of the Beavers as the Cougars dug a four run first inning deficit.  Defensive lapses led to the first run while Pratt's Erica Edison put the final dagger in the inning with a three run drive to deep left field.

Barton starter Taylor Bugner, who would drop to 12-8 on the season, was one out away from stranding a one-out single in the second before another single and walk preceded a double to center clearing the bases for three runs.

Pratt would add to its lead in the fourth getting three singles and double building the Lady Cougar deficit to ten runs.

Hosey followed Posegate's leadoff double in the home half with her second hit of the game with a double of her own getting Barton on the board but two strikeouts and a ground out would end any kind of rally.

Facing run rule in the following inning with two outs, Everill connected on her second home run of the day and thirteenth of the season extending the game to the sixth with the Lady Cougars trailing by seven.  

Pratt responded in the top of the next inning capitalizing on two walks and a single with a bases loaded ground rule double plating two pushing the lead back over the eight run mark.  The Lady Cougars had no response in the home half and Pratt prevailed for the split sending Barton to the fourth seed in the upcoming Region VI tournament.

Four errors and being out hit 13-7 led to Barton's demise as Hosey was the lone multi-hit in the Barton lineup going 2-for-3.