Barton sweeps Garden to move into 1st in West; beats Brown Mackie

Barton sweeps Garden to move into 1st in West; beats Brown Mackie
The Barton County Community College baseball team is off to a great start in Jayhawk West play, sweeping Garden City four games this past weekend at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend. The sweep moves to the Cougars to 7-1 in the West. Barton won the games 7-3 and 4-1 Saturday then beat Garden 11-1 and 9-4 Sunday for the sweep. The sweep coupled with a pair of wins over Brown Mackie a week apart have the Cougars at 12-7 on the season after starting the year 0-6. Barton will be back in West play this weekend with a 4-game series at Hutchinson.

Highlights
The Cougars had four solid efforts from their starting pitchers this weekend to key the sweep. Ryan Romo went the distance in the series opener, allowed just 3 unearned runs for the win to improve to 3-0 on the year. The Cougars took control early in the game, scoring 4 times in the 1st inning for a 4-0 lead. David Albritton drove in two in the inning and Clayton Karst and Blaine Clark added RBI as well. Barton led 6-0 when the Conquistadors scored 3 unearned in the 4th. Albritton ended the game with 3 RBI and Karst 2. Clark and Karst each scored twice as well.

Barton rode a strong outing from starter Matt Robertson in the 2nd game Saturday, allowing just 2 hits and 1 run through 6 innings of work. Barton trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd when the Cougars scored 3 times for the lead and eventual win. Karst and Clark each had RBI doubles in the inning. Drew Smith picked up his 4th save of the season in the win.

The bats cranked it up another notch to start Sunday, scoring 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st turn a 1-0 Garden lead into a 6-1 Barton advantage. Great Bend freshman Brett Schwartz delivered the big blow with a 3-run bases loaded double to give Barton a 4-1 lead. That was plenty for Austin Anderson to improve to 3-1, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run in the 5-inning run rule contest. Kenny Burkhead drove in 3 in the win, ending the game with a 2-run double in the 5th for the 11-1 win.

Big innings again propelled Barton in the finale as the Cougars took a 4-1 lead in the 2nd with a 4-run inning. Kent Urban tripled in 2 in the inning joined by RBI doubles from Schwartz and Bryce Scott. Marc Albers added 2 RBI in the win as well and has 2 hits for the Cougars. Spencer Blades went 5 to pick up the win with Cole Armitage and Smith throwing 2 shutout innings out of the bullpen.

The Cougars also won a pair of games against Brown Mackie in the past week. Barton got career win No. 800 for Coach Mike Warren in a 14-2 win over the Lions Thursday then won a 17-3 game Wednesday. In the 14-2 win that gave Coach Warren No. 800, Andrew Melanson drove in 4 while Schwartz and Clark each drove in 3. Andrew Lewton threw 5 innings of 1-hit baseball for the win. In the 17-3 win, Barton scored 8 times in the 4th to secure the win. Albers drove in 3 and Andrew Herrera threw 5 shutout innings for the win.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next 
March 15-16 – at Hutchinson, 1 pm (Jayhawk West 4-game series at Hobart-Detter Field in Huthcinson)