Cougars outscore Pratt for sweep to take fourth straight conference series #GoBarton

The No. 15 ranked Barton Community College baseball plated twenty-eight runs Saturday in sweeping Pratt Community College 9-3 and 19-11 to conclude the four game series. The fourth straight 3-1 conference series victory improves the first place Cougars to 12-4 and 27-7 overall while Pratt drops to 5-15 in the Jayhawk and 11-22 on the year.

Weather permitting, Barton currently has a 5:00 p.m. Tuesday non-conference nine inning game scheduled in hosting Hesston College before beginning a four-game series with Seward County Community College on Thursday.

Harrison Denk led off the Cougars' first time at bat with the third triple of the Andale freshman's career in scoring three pitches later on a wild pitch.

Barton would put three on the board in the ensuing pair of inning with Denk's sac bunt plating Jared Maneth's leadoff walk with Carson Engroff delivering the big blow with a two-out 2-2 pitch single to drive in two more. Three more crossed the dish in the third as Maneth's ground out scored Brett Bonar's leadoff single, Dawson Pomeroy's sixth double of the year driving in Brett Erickson's one-out single, and the final run scoring as Paul Claassen's live drive was misplayed in allowing Pomeroy's run for a 7-0 Barton lead.

A Pratt leadoff single and walk was followed by a Sean Johnson triple to open up the fourth with a groundout RBI cutting Barton's lead to four.

Erickson's second hit of the game produced a solo Cougar run in the fourth as the Owasso, Oklahoma, freshman then stole consecutive bases for this team leading eighth swiped bag of the year before scoring on Maneth's RBI ground out. Pomeroy also joined the multi-hit club of game one in following with the Topeka sophomore's first triple of the season but was stranded on the base paths.

The Cougars would tack on another in the home half of the sixth as Kaden Fowler reached via hit by pitch to begin the inning to score later on a passed ball.

Zach Curry scattered six hits in the complete game victory improving to 2-0 on the season.

Nolan Riley took the mound for game two, getting the aid of the middle infield protectors of Erickson and Claassen to roll-up their second double play of the doubleheader to erase a leadoff single.

Fowler's first of four hits in the nightcap followed later on Brady Michel's two out single gave Barton an early 1-0 lead.

Thursday's hero Carl Cooper gave Pratt their first lead of the nine inning finale with a two-out deep right field double to plate a Beaver one out single and walk.

Barton regained the lead in the home half as Claassen and Denk drew walks with Fowler driving in the first of his four runs in the contest with a tying RBI single. Engroff then plated Denk with his seventh double of the Topeka sophomore's season as consecutive Pratt infield errors adding the final two of the four run inning.

Two of Barton's four errors in the game occurred in the ensuing third inning as two crossed the plate, the last coming on Eric Escamilla's sacrifice fly.

Pratt gave a run back in the Cougars' half for the frame as Fowler's hard ground ball would allow Claassen to score after leading off the inning with one of his four drawn walks in the contest.

Michel's sixteenth double of the season followed by three consecutive two-out walks pushed the lead out to 7-4 headed to the fifth inning.

Three consecutive Pratt singles opened up the fifth inning but the third double play rolled up by Claassen and Erickson appeared to have Riley out of the inning in allowing just one run. The Beavers had other plans as consecutive singles would cut the deficit to one in sending Andrew Repp to the hill to try and get out of the inning. The Pratt momentum and the Cougars' struggles continued as Repp's pickoff attempt at first would roll to the right field in scoring one while advancing the runner to third. Two pitches later Pratt completed the four run inning with a wild pitch in taking a 9-7 lead as Patrick McClure put a stop to the frame inducing a groundout after surrendering a walk.

Fowler's first of two doubles in the game followed by an Engroff single began the home team's answer to adversity. Michel's RBI sac fly drove in Fowler with Pomeroy knocking in the tying run with a two out single to left field.

A tailor made double play ball to Claassen near the second base bag erased a Pratt leadoff walk but McClure struggled to find the shrunken strike zone resulting in three consecutive walks to load the bases. Tanner Howe took over on the mound getting ahead in the count before inducing a right field fly out to protect the tied score.

Claassen led off the home half with a walk, getting over to second from Kelley's sacrifice bunt. Denk then sent a missile back up the middle that caromed off Pratt pitcher Elijah Boyer's leg into right field for the go ahead RBI. Engroff's two out single to center would score Denk providing the Cougars with the 11-9 lead.

The Cougars tacked on four more in the seventh behind a two RBI Denk single and Fowler's team leading seventeenth double of the year driving in another pair on a blast deep to right center.

A leadoff reach on error and couple of singles followed by a fielder's choice would plate two for Pratt in the eighth but the Cougars immediately fired back in the home half in doubling up the production.

Michel's leadoff triple deep to the right center gap would score on a wild pitch to get the four run put away inning started. Erickson then followed by roping a liner to down the left field line for his ninth double of the year and following a Pomeroy walk, Claassen drove a 1-2-pitch to deep centerfield for the Whitewater sophomore's first collegiate triple before closing out the scoring by crossing the dish on a wild pitch.

Pomeroy, who pitched the final three innings, picked up his second save of the year in sending the Beavers down in order in the ninth. Pitching just a third of inning, Howe's pivotal inducement of the fly out to escape bases loaded in the fifth improved the Overland Park freshman's record to 3-1.

Engroff and Denk led the twenty-six hit attack with four hits each while driving in four runs apiece as well.