The Barton Community College baseball team picked up a key conference sweep Thursday at Lawson-Biggs Field taking the first leg of the series against Hutchinson Community College.
Zach Thornton struck out a career high thirteen in going the distance of the opening 4-2 win with the Cougars producing thirteen hits powered by Alex Rodgers' 4-for-4 performance in an 11-6 victory.
Barton's 9th straight win improves the Cougars to 14-4 in conference play and 25-9 overall while Hutchinson sees their nine win streak end, dropping to 8-6 in league and 18-14 on the season. The teams switch locations on Saturday for the backend of the series to Hutchinson's Hobart-Detter Field for a 1:00 p.m. pitch for the doubleheader.
Rodgers, the reigning KJCCC Player of the Week, led the offense going 6-of-8 from the plate while driving in four runs out of the leadoff spot. Batting behind Rodgers, Ricardo Sanchez stayed hot on the year going 4-of-6 in driving in a team high five runs in the doubleheader. Jace Stewart and Joel Nieves help set up the top of the lineup RBI opportunities going a combined 5-of-10 out of the No. 8 and No. 9 spots.