Cougars drop 3 of 4 to Hutch in Jayhawk West action

Cougars drop 3 of 4 to Hutch in Jayhawk West action
The Barton Community College baseball team wasn't able to win that final game of the 4-game series to salvage a split this past weekend. During the opening two series, Barton was able to do that and go 2-2 on the weekend but Hutchinson took a pair from Barton Sunday afternoon and left town winning 3 of 4 against the Cougars. The series leaves Barton 11-13 for the season and 5-7 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson is now 9-13 and 7-5. Butler leads the West with a 9-3 mark. Colby and Seward are both 5-3.

Highlights
The Cougars saw a lead disappear in the final 3 innings of the opener as Hutchinson recorded a 10-7 win. Barton grabbed a 7-3 lead in the opening 4 innings. Barton trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 3rd when the Cougars scored 4 runs to take the lead. Dustin Phelps scored the 1st run of the inning when David Allbritton drew a bases loaded walk. Kensley Dukes did likewise 1 out later as Austin Messerli drew a walk as well to tie the game. Brett Schwartz followed with a double to break that tie scoring Kent Urban and Allbritton for a 5-3 Barton lead. Urban tripled the next inning to score Phelps and later scored himself on a wild pitch to give Barton a 7-3 lead. Clayton Cuno would then prove to the thorn in Barton's side. Cuno hit a 2-run homer to cap off a 4-run 5th for Hutch and added another 2-run shot in the 7th to cap off a 3-run inning.

Barton responded in the 2nd game with a late-inning rally of its own for a 6-4 win. The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the 1st when Allbritton doubled in Urban and Brandon Hoefler. Barton increased it to 4-1 in the 4th when Lance Woltemath tripled in Messerli and scored on a Hugo Hernandez single. That lead vanished, however, in the top of the 5th when Hutchinson plated 3 runs. This time Barton had the late-inning pop in its bat when Messerli led off the 6th with a homer and a 5-4 Barton lead. The Cougars scored again later in the inning Hoefler drove in Blaine Clark. That was enough for Drew Smith who shut down Hutch in the 7th for his 3rd save. Smith's effort was part of a bullpen corps that shutout Hutch for 2 2/3 innings. Andy Hawkins earned the win in relief to move to 2-1.

The Cougars lost a slugfest Sunday in the opener with a strong wind blowing out to left field as Hutch won 13-9. The teams combined for 7 runs in the opening inning and 10 through the 1st 2 for a 5-all tie. Hutch took control of the contest with 4 runs in the 4th and 3 more in the 7th to take a 13-5 lead on Barton. That was too much to overcome for Barton, which plated 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to cut the deficit in half. Phelps had 4 hits in the loss and drove in 3 while scoring twice. Allbritton had 2 hits, 2 RBI and scored twice while Messerli had 2 hits and scored 2 times.

The Cougars were on their way to another split Sunday when miscues cost them in the 6th inning of a 9-6 Hutch win. Barton scored 3 times in the 2nd and had taken a 5-4 lead into the 5th inning when 2 errors allowed Hutchinson to score 5 unearned runs and take a 9-5 lead. The Cougars were able to cut the lead to 9-6 in the 6th but got no closer. Messerli continued to hit the ball well, collecting 2 hits, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored to lead the Barton offense.

The Cougars will be back home Friday for a contest with Iowa Western at 4 pm in a single 9-inning contest. Barton will travel to Pratt this weekend for another West 4-game series on Saturday and Sunday. The 1st pitch each day will be at 1 pm at Stanion Field.

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

Next
March 20 – v Iowa Western 4 pm (1 9-inning game at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend)