The Barton Community College softball team split a Friday trip to Iola, Kansas, claiming a 9-6 opener before host Allen Community College salvaged the doubleheader with a timely, darkened shortened walk-off 6-5 sixth inning victory.
The split leaves Barton at 4-6 on the season, while Allen's game two win improved the Red Devils to 1-7. The Cougars will now turn their attention to Tuesday's 1:00 p.m. home opener, welcoming No. 21 Rose State College for a doubleheader.
It took five innings for Barton's offense to find full rhythm in the opener, but once it did, the bats arrived in a hurry. Mollie Steiner ignited the surge with a fourth inning two-run shot for her first collegiate home run. The Cougars then broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning fueled by four doubles, capped by Steiner's RBI single.
Charley Wheeler kept Allen largely contained, improving to 3-2 behind a career-high 10 strikeouts. The Red Devils mounted a three-run rally in the home half of the seventh, prompting relief help from Ellie Crawford. After issuing a walk to her first batter, Crawford settled in and stranded the tying runs at the plate by striking out the final two hitters.
Steiner's two-hit effort was matched by Laney Wood, whose third inning double gave Barton a 3-1 edge at the time. Peyton McCormick went 3-for-5 on the day, collecting two of those hits in the opener, including a sixth inning double that helped spark the decisive frame.
Barton carried that momentum into the nightcap, jumping ahead 2-0 behind Steiner's RBI double and Morgan Thatcher's run-scoring fielder's choice.
Allen answered in the bottom half, stringing together four consecutive hits before a three-run home run flipped the scoreboard to a 5-2 Red Devils advantage.
The Cougars chipped away in the fourth. Wood delivered a two-out RBI single scoring Karter Alvord's leadoff base hit. Steiner then extended the inning with a walk, setting the stage for Chalyn Boone's first collegiate RBI on a single to left field.
An inning later, Thatcher's double plated McCormick's leadoff hit to knot the contest at five.
As the sixth inning unfolded under fading light, Barton's offense came up empty, and Allen seized its opportunity in the home half. A leadoff single and two-out hit put runners at second and third. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, a ground ball up the middle eluded the infield just long enough, with the throw to first arriving a step late to seal the walk-off victory, the Red Devils' first of the season.
McCormick was charged with the loss, falling to 1-4 on the year.
Steiner once again paced the Cougars offensively, finishing 4-for-8 across the twin bill to complete a .500 afternoon at the plate.