Carrying momentum from Thursday's run-rule victory, the Barton Community College baseball team continued its offensive surge Saturday on the road, sweeping Butler Community College 8-6 and 16-4 (7 innings) to claim three of four games in the Jayhawk Conference series.
The Cougars improve to 14-14 in conference play and 30-16 overall, while Butler drops to 12-12 in the Jayhawk and 23-21 on the season. Barton returns to action Thursday traveling to No. 5 ranked Cloud County for the opening leg of its conference-closing four-game set, with the backend shifting to Lawson-Biggs Field on Saturday. Each doubleheader is slated for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Barton's offense turned the doubleheader into a sustained barrage, producing 24 runs on 19 hits while launching six home runs and adding six doubles in a relentless attack. The Cougars hit .306 as a team and consistently created traffic, drawing 11 walks and four hit-by-pitches, generating scoring in ten of their fourteen innings across the two contests.
Rhett Winchester and Carter Helm powered the offense with two runs each, Winchester driving in six runs, while Helm added four RBIs. Kyler Horsman supplied a .571 performance at the plate on four hits, including his program record tying 17th home run with three RBIs, while JJ Spafford and Kyle Walker each scored four times, combining for six hits and four extra-base hits.
Barton's aggressiveness on the bases also paid off, finishing a perfect 7-of-7 in stolen bases to apply pressure despite stranding 14 runners.
On the mound, the Cougars spread the workload across four arms, countering 10 runs on 14 hits with 10 strikeouts over 14 innings, with Brian Justice and Horsman each earning victories.
Game One – Barton 8, Butler 6
Barton built a lead and withstood a late Butler surge to take the opener 8-6, getting on the scoreboard first and adding late runs before holding off the Grizzlies' push.
After a quiet start, the Cougars broke through in the third as Winchester' sacrifice fly plated Spafford's leadoff hit, with Horsman following with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Barton added separation in the fifth behind a pair of swings, Helm launching a two-run homer scoring Winchester's leadoff walk, followed one-out later by Hayden Oviatt's solo shot for his seventh of the season.
The Cougars continued to apply pressure in the sixth, Walker doubling in Spafford's leadoff walk before Horsman delivered again with two-outs, driving in his second RBI pushing the lead to 7-0.
Held to one hit through five innings, Butler began to dial in at the plate in the sixth, drawing within three with a four-run frame. The Grizzlies strung together a pair of hits and a walk to begin the inning, with three runs crossing on a double before tacking on another off reliever Daegen Vinduska to cut the deficit to 7-4.
The Grizzlies helped gift the Cougars an insurance run in the seventh, as Micah McGavran reached on an error and later scored following Oviatt's walk and Dalton Jorgensen's sacrifice bunt.
A leadoff double began the Grizzlies' home half, with a one-out home run cutting the deficit in half, but Vinduska held firm on the bump inducing consecutive groundouts to protect the victory.
Horsman's five innings of four-run ball on four hits earned the win, improving to 8-1 on the year, while Vinduska handled the final two innings.
Despite just six hits, Barton made them count as five produced runs to compliment the Cougars' base running pressure of seven stolen bases.
Game Two – Barton 16, Butler 4 (7 inn.)
The nightcap turned into an offensive avalanche as Barton scored in each of the first six frames, erupting early and never let up in piling up 16 runs on 13 hits, including nine extra-base connections.
Winchester wasted little time igniting the offense, launching a two-run homer scoring Walker's leadoff double, as Horsman followed with his record-tying solo shot putting Barton out to a 3-0 start.
After the Grizzlies plated one on a sacrifice fly in the home half, Barton broke the game open with a six-run second. Spafford began the surge with an RBI double before Winchester's second home run of the game, a three-run blast for his 14th of the season, was followed by Helm's second of the game coming on a two-run homer for his 9th of the year pushing the lead to 9-1.
Barton added two more in the third, as Mitchel Kramer's leadoff hit and Spafford's double each came around to score on Walker's single.
A three-run home run in the home half cut into margin but the Cougars responded with two in the fourth setup by Oviatt's leadoff double, added two more in the fifth on Kramer's bases-loaded walk and a wild pitch, and capped scoring in the sixth on a bases-loaded throwing error.
Winchester led the charge with a 3-for-5 performance, two home runs, and five RBIs, while Walker added three RBIs out of the leadoff spot. Kramer and Spafford were .500 from the bottom of the lineup.
On the mound, Brian Justice provided a steady six innings to earn the win, countering seven hits with six strikeouts improving to 4-5 on the year. Jake Field closed out the final inning with a hitless frame and one strikeout to seal the run-rule victory.