Runs galore as Cougars sweep Pratt to wrap up regular season
Lawson-Biggs Field was not a pitcher’s paradise Sunday as the Barton Community College baseball team outscored Pratt Community College 20-16 to complete the series sweep to close out the regular season. With uncharacteristic sustained 40mph gusting to 50mph winds blowing out to left field, routine fly balls were leaving the yard as seven homeruns were hit on the day’s near three hour seven inning contest. Barton finishes the regular season 32-23-1 and finished sixth in the conference season at 15-17 while Pratt’s season comes to an end at 20-34 and 7-25 in the Jayhawk. The Cougars will head to the East’s No. 3 seed Coffeyville Community College, 35-17 overall and 25-11 in the Jayhawk East, for a three-game series set to begin Saturday at Coffeyville’s Walter Johnson Park. First pitch for Saturday’s nine-inning doubleheader slated for 1:00 p.m. with Sunday’s if necessary nine inning game also scheduled for the same start time.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 19 | 3 |
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1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 0 | X | 20 | 16 | 1 |
Lawson-Biggs Field was not a pitcher's paradise Sunday as the Barton Community College baseball team outscored Pratt Community College 20-16 to complete the series sweep to close out the regular season. With uncharacteristic sustained 40mph gusting to 50mph winds blowing out to left field, routine fly balls were leaving the yard as seven homeruns were hit on the day's near three hour seven inning contest. Barton finishes the regular season 32-23-1 and finished sixth in the conference season at 15-17 while Pratt's season comes to an end at 20-34 and 7-25 in the Jayhawk. The Cougars will head to the East's No. 3 seed Coffeyville Community College, 35-17 overall and 25-11 in the Jayhawk East, for a three-game series set to begin Saturday at Coffeyville's Walter Johnson Park. First pitch for Saturday's nine-inning doubleheader slated for 1:00 p.m. with Sunday's if necessary nine inning game also scheduled for the same start time.
The teams battled back and forth through four innings of play as neither team could cool off the other's bats. Combining for thirty-five hits in the contest the fifth inning proved to be the difference as Barton took command scoring eleven of the sixteen total runs to cross the plate.
Four Cougars drove in four three runs as ten of the eleven Cougars got a hit with six getting two hits each. Evan McDonald, batting .615 in the last six games, teamed with Kyle Cromwell to provide a 4-8 performance out of the eighth and ninth hole driving in six runs and scoring three times.
Alexander Evans pitched the ninth to thwart any hint of a comeback retiring the three batters he faced striking out the last two batters. Michael Turner picked up the win to improve to 5-4 on the season pitching 1.1 innings with four hits and striking out two while surrendering three runs.
