Cougars sweep twinbill from Butler; alone is 3rd place

Cougars sweep twinbill from Butler; alone is 3rd place
The Barton County Community College baseball team is putting together a bit of hot spell that has moved them into 3rd place in the Jayhawk West by themselves. The Cougars moved into 3rd alone with a sweep of Butler County Wednesday on a windy afternoon in Great Bend. With the wind blowing out, Barton County won the opener 18-16 then captured the nightcap 8-6.

The sweep gives Barton County a 15-11 overall mark and 6-4 record in West play. Butler is now 14-15 and 5-7.

Highlights
The opener was a game that looked as though it may go all day. The Cougar bolted out a 7-0 lead in the 1st inning. A T.J. Liles 2-run homer and a Patrick Wallis 3-run shot triggered the 7-run inning.

But it didn't take long for the Grizzlies to begin answering back. Butler scored 7 runs over the next two innings to trim the lead to 8-7 heading into the bottom of the 3rd. The Cougars again gained control of the game as Glenn Jackson hit a grand slam home run for the Cougars to give them a 12-7 lead. That lead grew to 14-7 over the next two innings but a 9-run outburst by Butler in the top of 6th gave the Grizzlies their first lead of the game. Ryan Paskiewicz belted a grand slam in the inning for Butler as it built a 16-14 lead on the Cougars.

Barton immediately answered the call, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the inning. Two bases-loaded walks and a bases-loaded hit batsman helped the Cougars overcome Butler. Butler had one last rally in it as Brendon Bump hit the first batters he faced when he came on in relief in the 7th, but worked his way out of the jam with no runs scoring. Nick Derr took the win in relief and Bump picked up his 4th save.

Jackson had 5 RBI and scored 4 runs in the game for Barton. Travis Oosthoek had 3 hits to lead the Cougars. Every player in the Barton lineup had a hit as the Cougars pounded out 14 hits. Butler had 17 hits.

The second game was not nearly as wild. Butler jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st but RBI doubles by Glenn Jackson and Jeff Christy put Barton on top 3-2 in the bottom of the inning. A Mark Newton lead off homer in the 2nd made it 4-2.

Butler would rally in the 4th to even the score but once again the Cougars would have an immediate answer. Wallis hit his second home run of the day, this time a 2-run shot that scored Blake Esfeld, who was courtesy running for Newton. The Cougars pushed the lead to 8-4 in the 6th. Steve Elson singled in Wallis and later scored on a wild pitch. Butler did make one more push, scoring two unearned runs in the 7th, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Cougars.

Chris Klick went the distance to pick up the win for Barton - his first complete game of the season. Klick is now 2-1.

Stats
Stats can be found on the Barton County website at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Saturday, April 5 -- Barton at Colby, 1 pm
Sunday, April 6 -- Barton v. Pratt, 1 pm, at Cougar Fields in Great Bend