Weather interruption, late swings deal Barton softball pair of tight losses at Hutchinson #GoBarton

The Barton Community College softball team saw momentum slip away across two tightly contested games at Hutchinson Community College, dropping a 3-0 decision Saturday before eventually falling 5-4 in eight innings Monday afternoon in the weather-suspended resumption game.

Following the game one loss, Barton carried a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning of game two before play was halted due to weather. Upon resumption Monday, the Blue Dragons regrouped with a seventh-inning rally before claiming the doubleheader sweep with the extra-inning victory.

The results drop Barton to 14-8 in Jayhawk Conference play and 22-18 overall, while Hutchinson, winning three of the season's four meetings, improves to 18-4 in league action and 29-11 on the season. The Cougars will look to rebound Wednesday traveling to Butler for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch doubleheader.

Barton outhit Hutchinson 16-15 across the two games but managed just four runs. Karter Alvord drove in three of those runs behind a pair of doubles. Shaylee Spears (.500) and Carly Erpelding (.429) combined for six hits at the top of the order, while Hailey Horton contributed the Cougars' lone RBI outside of Alvord's production.

Despite the offensive opportunities, Barton stranded 13 runners in the twinbill and produced just two extra-base hits.

In the circle, Ellie Crawford delivered 6.1 strong innings in game two, allowing three runs while striking out three, while Peyton McCormick took the game one loss. Hutchinson capitalized on late opportunities, scoring five of its eight runs over the final two innings of the series.

Game One – Hutchinson 3, Barton 0
Game one ultimately turned on a single inning, as Hutchinson capitalized for three runs in the bottom of the third. The Blue Dragons broke through with the first three batters of the frame reaching, using a leadoff single and hit batter ahead of Riley Dreher's RBI double. After recording the next two outs, McCormick looked poised to escape further damage, but consecutive singles by Gabby Stauffer and Leyla O'Connor pushed across two more runs.

Barton scattered seven hits from seven different players but was unable to break through, stranding seven baserunners without drawing a walk. Alvord accounted for the Cougars' lone extra-base hit with a double, while McCormick was solid outside the decisive frame, allowing three runs on eight hits over five innings in taking the loss to fall to 4-9. Aubree Thomas earned the win to improve to 10-1, with Jessica Schmidt working the final 1.1 innings for her sixth save of the season.

Game One – Hutchinson 5, Barton 4 (8 innings)
Barton stranded two runners in the opening frame, but broke through in the third to build a 3-0 advantage.

Addison Crockett drew the Cougars' first walk of the day to open the inning and advanced on Kahli Fields' sacrifice bunt. Spears and Erpelding followed with singles to load the bases before Alvord cleared them with a deep double to left field, putting Barton in front.

Crawford kept Hutchinson relatively quiet before the game suspension Saturday, then resumed Monday by continuing to limit the Blue Dragons, holding them to four hits through 6.1 innings before the hosts mounted their rally.

Down to their final two outs and into the bottom portion of the lineup in the seventh, Hutchinson used a walk, single, and hit batter to load the bases. Leadoff hitter Dreher then drew a walk to force in a run and break up the shutout. Trista Rogers relieved Crawford in an effort to limit the damage, but No. 2 hitter Kaibryn Kruger had other plans, driving a double to the left-center fence. Two runs scored, but with the potential winning run waved around, the relay from Spears to Alvord to Erpelding cut down Dreher at the plate. Despite Kruger advancing to third on the throw, Rogers sent the game to extras by inducing an infield pop-up.

Barton answered in the extra eighth frame, as Alvord drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on McCormick's sacrifice bunt before Horton delivered an RBI single to put the Cougars back in front.

Hutchinson opened the bottom half in similar fashion, getting the leadoff runner aboard with a single before a sacrifice bunt moved the tying run into scoring position. Hadley Topping followed with a game-tying single up the middle, and after a walk and Barton's fourth hit batter loaded the bases, the Cougars turned back to Crawford in the circle. Dreher then delivered her first hit of the contest, sending a drive into left-center for the walk-off 5-4 victory while becoming just the fifth Blue Dragon to record a 20-game hitting streak.

Rogers took the loss after 1.1 innings of relief to fall to 2-2 on the year, while Schmidt earned the win with 1.1 innings of work to improve to 3-2.

Alvord led Barton with her three-RBI double, while Spears and Erpelding each recorded two hits as the Cougars again spread their nine hits across seven players.