It was a mismatch on paper but in between the chalked lines Wednesday at Cougar Field it wasn't pretty but the Barton Community College softball team survived against Seward County Community College to grab a pair of conference victories. A three-run third inning helped the Cougars to a 7-3 opening game victory but had to come from behind in the night cap behind another three-run third and a four-run fourth to pull way for an 11-6 win. The doubleheader sweep was the first Barton sweep over Seward County since 2002 improving the Cougars to 3-1 in conference play and 26-2 overall while the Saints drop to 0-4 in the Jayhawk and 7-17. Next up for Barton will be a trip to Dodge City Community College for a 2:00 p.m. conference doubleheader.
Barton took an early 2-0 lead in game one getting consecutive sacrifice flies from Jayden Gonzales and Brittany Wood scoring Maddison Schofield and Cadie O'Donnell respectively.
Brittany Corrales would cut the Barton lead in half getting the first of three Saints' homeruns in the game off Barton ace Madison Didion.
The Cougars would respond in the home half with three of their own set up by three consecutive singles. O'Donnell led off the inning with a single then swiped her fourteenth base of year before Gonzales' RBI single. Wood followed with a single and two batters later Holly Posegate's sac fly driving in another followed by McKenna Mauler's RBI double.
The Saints would add one in the fourth and sixth innings, both coming with leadoff homeruns. Venice Batts knocked her team leading fourth of the season off a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence while Hanna Lopez liked the first pitch she saw in the sixth to clear the fence in left center for her first collegiate home run.
With Barton lead cut to 5-3, the Cougars responded with two insurance runs. Mauler began things drawing her second walk of the game to lead off the inning scoring one out later on Schofield sixth double of the season. Following an infield error by the Saints' infield and a Gonzales walk to load the bases, Wood's sac fly scoring Schofield provided the final 7-4 margin.
Didion went the distance improving to 14-1 surrendering eight hits but striking out six as the freshman ranks in the top ten of the national charts. Barton outhit the Saints 10-9 with O'Donnell and Wood providing two each. Kelly Kearney took the loss falling to 5-5 on the season.
Seward produced single runs in the first couple of innings as Kennedy Brunson accounting for both. Getting hit on the second pitch from Barton starter Holly Posegate, Brunson would later score a fielder's choice then on her second at-bat coming with on two outs in the second delivering a RBI double to the right center gap.
Jenna Hosey would help Barton cut the deficit in half with a leadoff single then scoring from second base two batters later on Posegate's seeing-eye single up the middle.
Consecutive singles by Schofield and O'Donnell to open the third set up Wood's two RBI double giving Barton the lead. Hosey then lined a 1-2 pitch on the next at-bat to center scoring Wood and suddenly Barton had erased the early two run deficit for a two-run lead.
Barton increased the lead out to six in the following inning scoring four runs on two outs in the inning. Schofield beat out a potential double play ball keeping the inning alive then O'Donnell laced a right center triple before Gonzales's single to center pushed the lead out to four. Two pitches later Wood put the final touches on the inning launching a deep left field home run for her nationally third best twelfth and second best fifty-first RBI.
The Saints would go down without a fight responding with their own two out rally in the fifth. Lopez fought off a 1-2 pitch to find the grass in centerfield then an infield error kept the inning alive as Batts single to left scored Lopez just ahead of the tag. With the runners advancing another base on the throw to the plate, Callie Silvers-Harnly made the Cougars pay lining her second pitch scoring two cutting the Saints deficit to 8-5.
Posegate led off the home half with a single with Ertmann drawing a full count walk giving Barton two runners aboard with one out but couldn't add to the scoreboard.
A one out infield error for the Cougars' fourth of the game would chase Posegate from the game as Head Coach Marc Benjamin didn't want to take any chances going to the bullpen bringing back his ace. Didion closed the door on the threat inducing an infield put out before a lazy fly ball to center would end the inning.
Gonzales and Wood led off the Cougars' sixth with singles with Summers' one out walk would load the bases. A Posegate fielder's choice would push one run across with Mauler following with a sacrifice fly to add another. Ertmann then laced a shot up the middle with Schofield putting the final touches on the scoring with a hard ground ball causing the third Seward County error of the game.
Kristyna Garcia provided the final Seward County run in the top of the final inning with a left field home run marking her second the season.
Posegate earned the win in the circle as the sophomore improved to 11-1 surrendering only five hits and two earned runs while striking out three. Jaidyn Mawhinney took the loss dropping to 2-7 going 3.2 while Alexis Cuellar pitched the final 2.1 innings of relief.
Three Cougars recorded three hits in the game as O'Donnell, Wood, and Hosey combined for nine of the fifteen Barton hits with Wood's four runs batted in led all players. Gonzales provided two hits as did Posegate in helping her cause while also driving in two runs.
