Cougars notch second ranked win in Wichita, eliminate No. 22 Hutchinson; advance to Friday night's elimination contest #GoBarton
Barton rides a 9-0 start and Hauschel's complete game effort to secure its second ranked victory in Wichita and remain alive in the Region 6/Plains District Tournament
The Barton Community College baseball team earned its second victory over a nationally ranked opponent in the Region 6/Plains District Tournament Friday morning at Eck Stadium, rolling to a 13-3 six-inning run-rule victory over fourth-seeded and No. 22-ranked Hutchinson Community College to keep its postseason run alive.
Racing out to a 9-0 lead through the opening three innings, the Cougars never looked back, answering the Blue Dragons' three-run response with four insurance runs in the sixth to put the run rule into effect and secure the six-inning victory.
The victory improves Barton to 35-21 overall and marks the Cougars' lone win over Hutchinson this season after dropping all four regular-season meetings to the Blue Dragons. Hutchinson concludes its season at 46-15. Barton will have a quick turnaround facing top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Johnson County Community College in Friday's evenings 7:00 p.m. elimination game, with the winner advancing to Saturday's consolation semifinal. The Caviliars advanced after defeating second-seeded and No. 2 ranked Cloud County 13-4 in seven-innings earlier on Friday afternoon.
The Cougars wasted little time taking control, manufacturing a first-inning run as Kyle Walker's leadoff double came across on Carter Helm's RBI groundout. Barton broke things open with five runs in the second, loading the bases with no outs on back-to-back hit batters to Micah McGavran and Hayden Oviatt and JJ Spafford's bunt single. Dalton Jorgensen started the scoring with an RBI groundout before Walker added an RBI single, Rhett Winchester following two-run single, and Kyler Horsman capping the five-run inning with an RBI double for a 6-0 advantage.
Walker added to the Cougar lead in the third with a two-run triple before Winchester added a sacrifice fly to extend the advantage to 9-0. Hutchinson trimmed the deficit to 9-3 through four innings, but the Barton bats put the finishing touches on the victory in the sixth as McGavran delivered an RBI triple, Oviatt followed with an RBI double, and Jorgensen capped the scoring with a two-run single to put the run rule into effect.
Braden Hauschel (6-4) turned in his second straight complete game effort, after limiting Hutchinson to three runs on five hits over six innings. The sophomore southpaw worked around six walks, struck out three, and threw 99 pitches in victory.
Barton pounded out 13 hits in the victory, led by Walker's 3-for-5 performance in which he finished a home run shy of the cycle while driving in three runs and scoring three times. Horsman also collected three hits, while Winchester and Jorgensen each drove in three runs as six different Cougars recorded RBIs.
