Barton baseball rallies to open 2019 season with a victory at Rose State College #GoBarton #RoarCougs

The Barton Community College baseball team rallied from an early three run deficit Thursday to capture a 6-4 win at Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma, to open the 2019 season. The teams will play another nine inning game on Friday with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch slated.

Climbing back from the deficit, Barton loaded the bases in the eighth in the lead changing inning. Walks by Brett Erickson and Harrison Denk around Chandler Kelley's hit by pitch, Andrew Stewart drove in two with a liner to left field. Noah Geekie gave the Cougars an insurance run leading off the following ninth inning as the Canadian freshman cleared the left field fence for his first collegiate home run.

Tanner Howe worked the final three innings in surrendering just two hits while striking out four without a walk to earn the Overland Park sophomores fourth win of his Cougar career.

Barton outhit the Raiders 11-6 with Steward and Nolan Riley each collecting five hits in their five at-bats with Geekie collecting two.

The Raiders put three on the board in the home half of the first getting a leadoff walk, help from two Barton errors, and delivering a two out RBI single to put Barton in the hole.

Sophomore hurler Zach Curry then silenced the Raider bats for his next four innings on the hill, scattering a total of just two hits and striking out five to offset three walks in the five frames of work.

Barton got one back in their second trip to the plate as the Cougars' first run of the season came via a hit batsman as Denk won the badge of honor with the bases loaded to score Geekie's two-out single to extend the inning.

The Cougars again extended the inning in the sixth to tie it up as Denk's double and Stewart's single would score on RBI one bag hits from Riley and Chandler Bloomer.

Rose State also extended the inning in the home half, going back out in front on Ryan Walden depositing a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall.