#11 Barton Baseball splits twin bill at Dodge City, twelve game win streak snapped on final play #GoBarton

The No. 11 ranked Barton Community College baseball team had their twelve game win streak snapped on Saturday as the Cougars split the final two games of the series at Dodge City Community College. Getting a sweep of the Conquistadors on the home turf Thursday, Barton appeared headed for another sweep winning 12-3 in the opener before surrendering two ninth inning runs at Cavalier Field in a streak snapping 6-5 loss.

The result leaves Barton at 3-1 in conference play and 16-4 on the season while Dodge City sits at 2-6 in the Jayhawk and 10-8 overall. Barton will step out of conference play on Tuesday hosting Division II receiving votes North Iowa Area Community College in a 2:00 p.m. single nine inning contest before traveling to Garden City Community College to resume conference play on Thursday.

Dodge City put three on the board in each of the games' first innings with starters Jarrett Seaton and Zach Curry settling down thereafter.

Surrendering three first inning hits, Seaton quieted the Conquistador bats to just two hits while striking out six of his seven total the rest of his seven innings of work to improve to 2-2 on the season. Seaton also benefitted by two double plays rolled up by the combination of Brett Erickson to Paul Claassen to Carson Engroff to eliminate any threat until the Barton bats came alive.

Five Cougars collected multiple hits in the opener being led by Brett Huelsmann three RBIs, the first providing the game winner in the top of the fourth with a single to left and a two-run single pushing Barton's lead to 8-3 in the fifth.  Brett Bonar and Jared Maneth each provided two RBIs, Bonar doubling up the Cougars' lead on his 9th double of the year coming in the fifth inning and Maneth driving in his on a sixth inning single to center.

Curry also settled down from a two-hit three-run first inning of game two, striking out four of his six and scattering just three more hits in his four total innings of work.

Barton chipped away at the deficit in the second with Chandler Kelley knocking out his second home run of the year. The Conqs got the run back two innings later as a one-out double sandwiched between a pair of Curry strikeouts would score on a single.

The Cougars went down in order the next two innings but began to wake in the sixth as Kaden Fowler laced a one-out single up the middle, scoring on Carson Engroff's triple to right field with Bonar's fielder's choice plating Engroff drawing the Cougars to within 4-3.

Following the Cougars third infield roll up of a double play during the doubleheader, Barton would continue to roll into the seventh getting Clay Lockett and Dawson Pomeroy singles before the reigning KJCCC player of the week Fowler delivered a game tying RBI double for his eleventh of the year.

Kelley collected his second hit of the game to lead off the ninth, with Lockett moving the Maize freshman to second on a sacrifice bunt. Huelsmann then jumped on the first pitch driving a triple to right field for what looked to be the game winner on his fourth three-bagger of the season. Dodge City would escape further damage repaying the Cougars back with a double play as Huelsmann was thrown out at the plate on Pomeroy's right field fly.

Shutting down the Conquistadors in Thursday's walk-off victory allowing just one hit in four innings, Pomeroy again took the mound looking to close the door and protect the win streak. Dodge City had other plans, getting a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt to place the tying run at second base.

The leadoff hit was all Dodge City would need as consecutive hit by pitches loaded the bases with consecutive infield errors to follow allowing the repayment of the walk-off win for the Conquistadors dropping Pomeroy to 1-1 on the season.

Fowler continued his tough out at the plate as the nation's sixth leading batter went 5-for-8 with three extra base hits. Huelsmann drove in a team leading four of the Cougars' runs with Bonar driving in three for his team leading 26th of the year.