The Barton Community College softball team opened up conference play Wednesday earning a doubleheader sweep over Dodge City Community College at Cougar Field. Having picked up their first victory of the season in the final game of this past weekend's Cloud County Tournament, the Cougars captured game one in 9-8 walk-off fashion before ending the nightcap in five innings with a 14-6 victory. Barton improves to 3-9 on the season with the pair of Jayhawk victories while Dodge City drops to 2-6 in conference play and 7-11 overall. The Cougars' next doubleheader comes Friday with a 2:00 p.m. first pitch at Pratt Community College.
Leading a thirty hit attack in the twelve innings played, Kat Frakes banged out three doubles within her 6-of-8 day including a seventh inning double before scoring the eventual game winner.
Morgan Michaelis drove in two runs in the opener, driving in the first on a one-out double in the first then sending a lined shot to the left center gap to drive in Frakes for the game winner.
Leadoff batter Alexis Sharples batted .500 in the leadoff position with two doubles in the opener, scoring on Michaels' double while scoring the tying run in the sixth on a Frakes single.
Leading the twenty Cougar RBI's on the day, Andreana Reynolds had a monster game two in driving in seven run to finish with eight in going 4-of-6 on the day. Joining Frakes as the lone sophomores on the squad, the Millwood High School product gave Barton a two-run first inning lead following Michaelis' single but her biggest contribution came in busting open a then-three run second inning lead with a grand slam for her third dinger of the season. Nasadiya Salazar and Sharples led off the inning with walks with Hailey Pop driving in a run with a single. Michaelis followed with a single to load up the bases and Reynolds cleared them clean with a missile launch to left center. The following inning Reynolds would again arrive at the dish with the bases juiced following Frakes' second double of the game, Pop reaching on an error, and Michaelis' 13th walk of the season to lift a ball deep in the outfield for a sacrifice fly. Reynolds then closed out her big day with the final run batted in sending a screaming line drive to the fence allow Pop to trot home for the run-rule victory.
Salazar also had a memorable day in blue, belting her first collegiate home run with a drive over the centerfield fence to lead off the nightcap third inning to spark a four run inning building the lead to 13-3.
Emma Horsch helped her cause going 2-for-3 in the game one win with a complete six-hit four-strikeout performance improving to 1-5 on the season. Allison Panning improved to 2-3 on the year with four innings of work scattering five hits with three strikeouts as Frakes nailed down the final inning with two strikeouts.