The No. 24 Barton Community College baseball team found itself on the wrong side of a pair of offensive shootouts Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium, dropping both ends of the doubleheader to Garden City Community College by identical 18-16 scores.
The Cougars saw multiple lead swings across the twinbill, rallying from an early deficit to take control in the opener before the Broncbusters answered with a big inning late. The nightcap followed a similar script with both sides trading runs throughout, as Garden City answered a late surge with a walk-off home run to complete the sweep.
Snapping its seven-game winning streak and splitting the four-game set, Barton falls to 21-7 overall and 7-5 in conference play following the setbacks, while Garden City improves to 10-18 on the season and 4-8 in league action. The Cougars will look to bounce back Tuesday afternoon hosting Cowley College in a non-conference nine-inning contest beginning at 2:00 p.m. from Jimmy Lawson-Danny Biggs Field.
Barton's offens0e produced throughout the doubleheader, combining for 32 runs on 33 hits including 11 doubles, four triples and three home runs. Kyle Walker led the lineup across the pair of games going 8-for-11 (.727) with a triple, six RBIs and six runs scored while Kyle Graves followed hitting .667 (4-for-6) with two doubles, a triple, four walks and team-high seven RBIs. Rhett Winchester extended his multi-hit streak to nine straight games, turning in a pair of two hit performances including a triple and home run with six RBIs, while Carter Helm and Jaxon Case each chipped in four hits as the Cougars hit .418 as a team on the afternoon.
Despite the offensive output, Barton was hindered by six defensive errors, 14 walks issued, and 10 hit batters while also surrendering 12 home runs across the two contests.
Game 1 Recap
Barton dropped the opener 18-16 despite rallying from an early deficit and building a six-run lead midway through the contest. Trailing 7-0 through four innings, the Cougars erupted for 12 runs in the fifth and carried a 14-8 advantage into the bottom of the sixth.
Garden City responded with a decisive 10-run sixth inning to swing the game, and despite Barton threatening in its final at-bat by loading the bases to open the seventh, the Cougars managed just two runs on an RBI walk by Hayden Oviatt and a one-out sacrifice fly by Graves, falling short of the comeback bid.
Offensively, Barton generated 11 extra-base hits among its 19 hits in the loss, including home runs from Case, his third of the year, and Oviatt, his third of the season. Graves paced the Cougars going 3-for-3 with five RBIs, while Walker, Case and Helm each added three hits.
On the mound, Barton used six arms in the contest, allowing 18 runs on 14 hits with eight unearned runs stemming from four defensive errors while issuing six walks and four hit-by-pitches. Jake Field (1-1) took the loss in relief, suffering his first blemish of the season.
Game 2 Recap
The nightcap turned into a back-and-forth slugfest featuring multiple lead changes throughout. Barton erased an early deficit and used a four-run fifth inning to build a 14-9 advantage, but Garden City answered with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to even the contest
The Broncbusters regained the lead in the home eighth, but the Cougars answered in their final at-bat. Down to their final out, Dalton Jorgensen draw a two-out walk to spark the rally before Karston Wall kept it alive with a pinch-hit double, setting up Walker's clutch two-run single to tie the game at 16-16.
In the bottom of the ninth, Garden City responded with their own two-out rally, using a hit-by-pitch to set up the walk-off two-run home run and their ninth of the contest.
Barton's bats continued to generate extra-base production, tallying seven extra-base hits among its 14 total hits in the nightcap. The top of the lineup delivered the damage, combining for 11 of the Cougars' 16 runs, with Walker leading the way out of the leadoff spot going 5-for-6 with a triple, five RBIs, four runs scored and a walk. Winchester followed in the two hole with a 2-for-6 effort, highlighted by his team leading eighth home run of the season and four RBIs, while Graves added a pair of RBIs to round out the multi-RBI efforts.
On the mound Barton utilized five pitchers, allowing 18 runs on 15 hits including nine home runs, with 13 earned runs. Command and field remained a factor as the Cougars issued eight walks, hit six batters and committed two errors. Drew Koch (1-1) was tagged with the loss in relief over 2.2 innings of work.