Barton Baseball takes two on the road to sweep series over Pratt #GoBarton #RoarCougs

The Barton Community College baseball team completed its four-game series sweep over Pratt Community College by traveling to the Beavers' Stanion Field and leaving Friday with a 6-3 and 6-4 pair of victories.

The Jayhawk West first place Cougars improve to 9-3 in league play and 19-6 overall in dropping Pratt to 1-11 and 13-14 on the season.

Barton's next game comes Tuesday in a double-dip at Redlands Community College before turning attention to a four-game conference set versus Seward County Community College beginning Thursday in Liberal.

Game one began ironically like yesterday's opener with the Cougars getting out to an early four run lead only to have Pratt answer with a three spot.

Charlie Peyla put the Cougars out front in the second inning driving the first pitch over the left field fence for his second collegiate home run in as many days to plate Andrew Stewart's leadoff single. Consecutive Tyler Bandiera and Trenton Ferguson walks would eventually score in the frame as Noah Rheinheimer and Noah Geekie laced RBI singles.

The Beavers countered in the home half with a leadoff single moving to second after a hit batsman before scoring on a RBI single. One pitch later Pratt cut the deficit to one on a double to left.

Two Barton infield errors began the bottom of the third as a call to the bullpen replaced starter Jake Skala with Joe Richter taking over the mound as the Beavers managed just a ground out run producer before two outs ended the inning.

Consecutive singles by Harrison Denk and Noah Geekie provided the game winning runs in the fourth driving in Brett Erickson's walk and Rheinheimer's double.

Geekie and Rheinheimer collected two hits each of the Cougars' total with Geekie and Peyla combined for four of the six runs batted in.

Richter completed the remaining five innings, shutting the Beavers down on three strikeouts and just two hits improving to 3-0 on the season.

The lower lineup was key in completing the sweep with six of the seven game two hits coming from the last four in the order.

Erickson drove in two runs on the first of his two hits driving a grounder up the middle plating Bandiera's single and Ferguson's hit by pitch that had previously loaded the bases. Peyla, who led off the inning drawing a walk, scored prior to Erickson's hit on a wild pitch for the Cougars first run.

Easton Young earned his first victory of the year in two starts on the mound, striking out five in five innings of work. The lone earned run blemish coming in the bottom of the third as a one-out walk crossed the plate after a two-out 0-2 pitch RBI double.

Two Pratt errors helped Barton increase the lead by one in the fifth with Erickson's single in the sixth scoring Ferguson's double to push Barton's advantage out to 5-1.

Pratt strung consecutive singles on Young to begin the sixth as an error allowed an unearned run to score. Following a third single in a row, Coleton Crisp took over commanding the mound to send the Beavers down in order.

The Beavers returned the favor in the top of the sixth with Nolan Riley's leadoff walk scoring on a two-out infield error widening the gap back out to four runs.

Crisp stranded a two-out single in the home half but the Cougars' third error of the game coming in the eighth put the final run in scoring position as a leadoff single would cross the plate on a ground out.

Earning the save pitching the final four innings, Crisp struck out three with no walks and scattered just three hits as the final one to lead off the ninth was erased on a middle infield rolled up double play.