Errors doom Barton Baseball in split with Midland University JV

Six errors in game two Monday ruined a potential sweep as the Barton Community College baseball team split their doubleheader with the junior varsity squad from Midland University.  Barton shut out the Warriors in game one 6-0 before squandering a two-run lead in the seventh to fall 8-6 in the eight innings.  With the split Barton's record goes to 6-4-1 while Midland goes to 2-2 on the season.  The Cougars will return to the field on Wednesday as Barton hosts the junior varsity squad from Bethany College in a 4:00 p.m. nine inning affair at Lawson-Biggs Field.

Game 1
The Cougars jumped on the Warriors in the bottom of the first with three runs on four hits.  Trevor Turner set the stage drawing a one out walk, advancing to second on Scott Tyler's single to centerfield.  Braxon Byfield drove in the first run with a ground ball through the infield scoring the speedy Turner from second.  Following a Regan ground out to advance Tyler and Byfield, Jace Bowman drove in Tyler.   Bowman then went for the steal of second base, drawing the throw allowing Byfield to sneak in from third.

Both teams would go scoreless the next 2.5 innings until the Cougars' Bowman led off the fourth with a triple to spur a two run inning.  Grant Watkins followed with a walk and Evan McDonald's fielder's choice would allow Bowman to score. Erik Benson, who was 2-for-3 in the nine hole of the lineup, kept the inning rolling with a single to left to advance the runners.  Leadoff batter Jacob Richardson followed with a deep fly to left to push home Watkins.

Barton added a single run in the fifth getting singles from Brian Regan and Watkins before a Benson shot through the infield drove Regan home.

Barton ace Brandon Mercer shut down the Warriors for three innings to earn the win striking out four while walking one and scattering three hits.  Michael Turner took over in the fourth and was equally impressive only giving up two hits while striking out three.  Alexander Evans worked the seventh to nail down the win striking out two of the three batters he faced.

Game 2
The first inning proved to be a sign of the times as the Cougars were guilty of an error and two passed balls to spot the Warriors an early 1-0 lead.  A Jace Bowman two out triple to deep center field scoring Trevor Turner evened the score heading to the second inning.

The Warriors regained the lead in the next inning aided by two hit by pitches and an error. A Dylan Sutton single to right finalized the damage by driving home two runs. Two Warrior errors in the home half opened the door for Barton as an Eric Benson left field fly scored Caleb Cherryholmes to cut the Cougar deficit to one.

Barton regained the lead in the bottom of the third scoring from two Midland errors and an RBI single from Trevor Hughes.  The Cougars appeared to add an insurance run in the fifth as Scott Tyler led off the inning with a triple then came home an out later from a Hughes single to left.

Striking out the first Midland batter of the seventh inning, Tanner Shoemaker gave up a double to Elliot Haack but got the next batter to ground out and have the victory within reach.  Two consecutive Barton errors kept the inning alive and resulted in two runs crossing the plate to tie it at five.  Dylan Drews rode the momentum to drive in the go-ahead run lacing a single to right field.

Needing a run to tie, Bowman gave Barton life leading off the seventh with a single. Moving over to second base one batter later on a Hughes sac bunt, Bowman would eventually score to tie the game courtesy of two Midland passed balls.

The Warriors wasted no time in getting to relief pitcher Craig Hamil, hitting back to back singles to get the inning rolling. After a Lance Hansen strikeout, Haack singled in the first of two Midland runs scoring Connor Gann who led off the inning.  Following a passed ball and Adam Fleming walk, Jon Greiner came up with the insurance run with a sac fly to right.

Eric Benson led off the eight with a single to third base but that was all the Cougars could do in the inning and lose 8-6 decision.

Jaime Lovelace pitched three strong innings to cool the Midland bats in the fourth through sixth innings, striking out four and giving up only one hit.  Hamil took the loss giving up two runs on three hits in one inning of work.