No. 16 Cougar baseball bounces back on Saturday to set up series finale

After dropping the first two games of the four-game series, the No. 16 ranked Barton Community College baseball team redeemed itself by winning game three against Pratt Community College to set up Sunday's finale.   Pratt put on a hitting display on Friday in cruising to an 18-6 win then scored five runs in the top of the seventh of Saturday's game one for a surprise 9-8 win.  In game two of Saturday's doubleheader the Cougars exploded for eleven runs in the fourth and shut out the red hot Beavers 15-0.   Barton, 15-5 on the season and 3-4 in conference play, will tangle again with Pratt, 10-5 on the season and 5-2 in conference play, on Sunday in a nine-inning game starting at 1:00 p.m. at Lawson-Biggs Field.  

Highlights
In Friday evening's series opener, the Cougars were simply outmuscled in the 18-6 defeat.  The Beavers pounded out twenty hits which included eight doubles and two home runs as they scored seventeen of their runs in last five innings.  
Friday Game Stats

The Cougars jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning of Saturday's game one and held a seemingly safe 8-4 lead into the top of the seventh.  After a leadoff walk, the Beavers strung together a double, single, and were aided by a Barton error to set up a Skylar Angood game-winning three run homerun.  Barton was unable to pose a threat in the home half of the seventh and Pratt had captured game two of the series 9-8.  Saturday Game One Stats

Having to regroup from a disappointing first two games of the series, the Cougars left little doubt of the outcome in game three.  Despite failing to get its first two batters aboard in the bottom of the first, a Federico Castagnini walk followed by a Clayton Garland triple gave the Cougars the energy it needed.  After a Dylan Turpin walk, a Ryan Tracy three-run homerun gave Barton an early 4-0 advantage after one inning of play. 

The teams would play scoreless ball for the next two and a half innings before the floodgates opened for the Cougars.   Aided by two Pratt errors, two walks, and a hit batsman, the Cougars  strung together five hits and two doubles in an eleven run fourth inning to put the game away.  Getting a solid two-hit shutout from Niccol Loardi, Barton ended the game by run-rule holding the Beavers to a scoreless seventh inning.
Saturday Game Two Stats

Photo Description:  Barton's Clayton Garland slides in safely at third base in game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Pratt Community College on March 10, 2012 at Lawson-Biggs Field on the campus of Barton Community College. In the first three games of the series, Garland is 7-for-10 with four runs batted in.