The Barton Community College baseball team rode a seven-run first inning Tuesday afternoon at Jimmy Lawson-Danny Biggs Field, cruising past Cowley College 15-4 in a seven-inning run-rule victory.
The Cougars showed patience right out of the gate, drawing six of their 14 walks alone with a hit-by-pitch in the first to fuel the decisive seven-run frame. Barton added on over the next few innings, highlighted by a five-run second while adding runs in the third, fourth and sixth to maintain separation.
Winners of six straight in the series, the Cougars improve to 22-7 on the season, while the Tigers fall to 14-13 overall. Barton returns to conference play Thursday afternoon, opening a four-game set at Colby Community College with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch before concluding the series Saturday at the friendly confines of Jimmy Lawson-Danny Biggs Field.
Barton's offensive approach paid off, drawing 14 walks while producing nine hits in the victory. Rhett Winchester led the way with a 2-for-4 performance, highlighted by his team-leading ninth home run of the season while driving in four and extending his multi-hit streak to 10-straight games. Jaxon Case added a 2-for-3 effort with his fourth home run of the year and three RBIs, while Kyler Horsman paced the Cougars with three hits and three RBIs.
Kyle Walker reached base five times with four walks, extending his steak of reaching safely to 27 consecutive games, while Graves' team-leading 10-game hitting streak came to an end as Winchester pushed his to 10 straight contests.
On the mound, Daegen Vinduska (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory in relief, working three innings allowing two hits and one run. Barton utilized four arms in the contest, limiting Cowley to just five hits.
Game Recap
Trailing 1-0 before coming to the plate, Barton broke the game open in its first trip to the dish, sending 13 batters to the box and capitalizing on seven free passes. After loading the bases three batters in, Horsman delivered a two-run double to get the scoring started before a wild pitch and Jordan Raposo's sacrifice fly added on. Walker later drew a bases-loaded walk, with Winchester capping the inning with a two-run double to push the Cougars in front 7-1.
Barton continued to add on in the second, Case delivered the first damage delivering a three-run home-run in the second, while Walker later drew a bases-loaded walk and Horsman followed with an RBI single to extend the advantage to 12-1.
The Cougars pushed the lead to 15-1 over the next two frames, with Raposo's second sacrifice fly adding a run in the third before Winchester delivered a two-run home run in the fourth, his team-leading ninth of the season.
Cowley would plate the game's final three runs with a run in each of the final three innings, while Case provided a defensive highlight to end the sixth, making a leaping grab at the fence in left field to rob a potential Drake Fittro three-run home run.