No. 23 Cougars rebound in nightcap to split twinbill with Seward County #GoBarton

The No. 23 Barton Community College baseball team closed out its four-game Jayhawk Conference opening series Saturday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with Seward County Community College at Brent Gould Field in Liberal.

The Saints clinched the series in the opener on a first-pitch walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-1 victory before the Cougars responded in comeback fashion in the nightcap with a 9-4 win to avoid the sweep.

With the split, Barton moves to 1-3 in Jayhawk Conference play and 15-5 overall while Seward County stands at 3-1 in league action and 9-14 overall. The Cougars will conclude their four-game road trip Thursday afternoon at Pratt Community College, opening a four-game set with the Beavers with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch from Stanion Field before wrapping up the series Saturday at Jimmy Lawson-Danny Biggs Field.

Barton finished with 16 hits across the doubleheader, led by Kyle Walker's 5-for-9 performance as he extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games. Kyle Graves and Jack Jewell paced the Cougar run production with three RBIs apiece across the two contests. Graves delivered the lone run in the opener and added two in the nightcap, while Jewell drove in two of his three RBIs in the backend behind his first collegiate two-run home run during the decisive three-run fourth inning.

Game 1 Recap
Seward County claimed the opener in walk-off fashion as Blaine Chancy's first-pitch swinging solo home run in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Saints to the 2-1 series clinching victory.

Barton grabbed its lone lead in the fifth inning as Graves's RBI single broke the scoreless deadlock, driving in Carter Helm following his leadoff single two batters earlier. The Saints answered in the home half of the inning, using a two-out RBI single to plate the tying run after a leadoff base hit.

The Cougars squandered a pair of opportunities late, unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded one-out chance in the sixth before stranding their seventh and eighth runners in the seventh, setting up Chancy's walk-off blast to right in the home half.

On the mound, Brian Justice (2-2) suffered the tough-luck loss, working 6.0-plus innings allowing four hits and two earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts on 76 pitches.

Walker generated the lone multi-hit performance for the Cougars with a 2-for-4 effort in the leadoff spot.

Game 2 Recap
Barton responded in the nightcap, overcoming an early 4-1 deficit with a four-run fourth inning on the way to a 9-4 victory to salvage the doubleheader split.

After Seward County built a 4-1 lead through the opening three frames, the Cougar offense surged ahead in the fourth behind Graves' RBI single and Jewell's two-run home run to seize control.

Barton continued to add on with Kyler Horsman's sacrifice fly in the fifth followed by RBI production from Graves and Jewell in the sixth to extend the lead to 7-4. The Cougars' final two runs came on a Saints error in the seventh and Rhett Winchester's run-scoring single in the ninth.

On the mound, Jake Field (1-0) notched his first collegiate victory in relief, working 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing two hits and striking out four. Drew Koch added 1.2 shutout innings before Trey Mackwood recorded the final out in the ninth to close out the victory.

At the plate, Walker led a trio of multi-hit performances in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Winchester and Graves each added a pair of hits including doubles. Winchester finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI while Graves went 2-for-3 driving in two runs.