Baseball caps weekend series at Seward with big win

The Barton Community College team finished its weekend series against Seward County Community College on a positive note by winning 18-8 in game two of Sunday's doubleheader in Liberal.  The Saints won both Saturday games by the scores of 9-2 and 15-3 and captured game one 7-3 on Sunday.   In going 1-3 over the weekend, the Cougars slipped further down the conference standings to 4-8 and 17-9 overall while Seward improves to 8-4 in the Jayhawk and 15-14 overall.  Barton will take a break from conference action and travel to region foe Brown Mackie for a nine-inning game at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday in Salina, Kansas. 

Saturday Game One 
Barton got on the board first as Michael Edlefsen hit a double then later scored on a single by Alex Michaud.  The Saints tied the game at one in the home half of the second inning only to have the Cougars jump back ahead in the third as Adam Geisick scored on a Federico Castagnini double.  With two outs in the bottom of the third, the Saints took control by getting four hits which included three doubles in scoring five runs. Seward would add another two in the fourth and one in the sixth for the 9-2 final.

Saturday Game Two 
For the second straight game the Cougars struck first as Castagnini was driven home on a Clayton Garland two-out double.  The Saints quickly responded with five runs in the home half highlighted by a Troy Owen three run homerun on a full-count two-out pitch.  Seward tacked on ten more runs in the third through sixth innings before Barton would find the scoreboard again in the seventh.  After a Castagnini leadoff single Garland homered to left field giving Barton its final runs of game two falling 15-3.

Sunday Game One 
Seward carried a 4-0 lead until the sixth when the Cougars' Warren Lynes two-out single scored Garland to draw Barton to within three.  However the Saints countered in the home half with three of their own to stretch the lead out to six.  Barton tried to launch a seventh inning rally as Castagnini drove home Alex King and Garland singled home Geisick, who had doubled earlier in the inning, but the Saints were able to close the door and capture the 7-3 win.

Sunday Game Two 
Needing a win to avoid the conference sweep, the Cougars scored first for the third time in the series courtesy of a Castagnini two-out solo home run.  Seward appeared ready to sweep the Cougars as they would score four runs in the bottom half of the inning including three runs on a Sam Pack two-out homerun.  However Barton wouldn't go quietly as they would strike back with five in the top of the 2nd on four singles and with the aid of three hit batsman.

After two scoreless innings for each team, Seward was able to push across two runs to tie the game at six.  After an Adam Smith ground out, Barton batted around in the fifth inning scoring six runs.  After adding another run in the sixth, the Cougars put up another five runs in the top of the seventh coming via a Castagnini grand slam followed by a Garland single shot home run.  The Saints would score two in the home half but not near enough as Barton finished the series on a high note winning 18-8. 

Game Notes: 
- Federico Castagnini continues to lead the Cougars hitting as he batted .500 for the weekend on 8-for-16 at-bats while driving home thirteen runs, including eight in game two of Sunday's doubleheader. 
- Clayton Garland, who is close behind Castagnini in season batting average, also had a good weekend at the plate going 9-for-15 with nine runs batted in.  The duo, who anchor the heart of the Cougars' lineup, were a combined 17-for-31, good for a .548 average, and drove home twenty-two of Barton's twenty-six runs over the weekend. 
- Great Bend product Logan Buehler made his Barton debut appearing in Sunday's game two going 1-for-1 on a sixth inning double to left field.

Released:  March 19, 2012