The Barton Community College softball team was limited to five hits Wednesday afternoon at Cougar Field in dropping a pair of conferences losses 6-2 and 9-0 to 8th ranked Butler Community College.
The Cougars drop to 15-13 in conference play and 21-19 on the season while Butler stays atop the conference standings on their ninth straight win improving to 22-2 and 34-2 overall.
Barton's next action comes Monday in a 2:00 p.m. non-conference doubleheader hosting Cowley College before returning to conference play on Wednesday at Dodge City Community College. The Cougars' home finale will also wrap up the regular season on Saturday, April 30, hosting Northwest Kansas Technical College in 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Game One Recap
The Grizzlies' Madi Young began her three hit game one with a triple to score one-out later on Emily Adler's single.
Butler plated the rest of their five runs on two-outs, two coming across on Alex Olsen's third inning single and three more crossing in the fourth. Mariah Wheler extended the frame on a single, scoring on Brianna Acosta double with Young capping the outburst with a two-run shot to center for her 12th home run of the leader.
Young's blast tied Teegan Krol for the Region VI lead briefly until Krol stepped to the plate in the home half driving a two-out pitch deep to right field for her leading 13th of the year.
Following a silent fifth inning, Barton loaded the bases with one out on Sydni Williams' double, Jaysa Anderson reaching on a dropped third strike, and Kennedee Lara's infield single. Reigning conference pitcher of the week Kendal LeGrand, who entered to begin the frame, surrendered just a Krol fielder's choice before ending the threat inducing a pop-up.
Williams took the loss dropping to 1-2 on the year, hurling 3.2 innings with Kayla Beers working the final 3.1 frames.
Emma Koeneke improved to 18-1 on the year, surrounding the Krol home run in her five innings with LeGrand protecting the victory in two innings of command notching her second save of the season.
The Cougars managed just three hits with Butler collecting eight as both defenses came up with stellar plays in not just the first game but in both legs of the doubleheader. Notable for the Cougars was the play of Lara at second base, making two spectacular gold glove efforts and accounting for a pair of double plays on her birthday. Lara's first came in game one making a diving catch on a blooped liner up the middle to then fire to first for a second inning double play then in the final seventh frame, kept Butler adding to their four-run lead covering first base on a bunt, receiving the throw from Beers to then fire home to Adreanna Lance thwarting Young's attempt to score from second base on the play. In the nightcap's fourth inning Lara made another spectacular play with a full laid-out effort to knock down a screaming grounder up the middle to rob a base hit firing a rocket from her knees to first base.
Game Two Recap
Butler went long ball in game two, belting five fence clearers accounting for eight of the nine runs.
Five of the Grizzlies plate crossers came in the third inning, Adler driving in an RBI before Alex Olsen's fourth home run of the season plated three more to chase Jessica Morgan from the circle.
Reliever Elizabeth Horsch got the first out of the frame on a fly out but Mariah Wheeler found Horsch's second pitch of the at-bat for a solo home run chalking up her fifth of the year.
Butler added another solo home run in the fourth on Adler's two-out connection for her fourth of the season.
The Grizzlies pushed the margin over the run-rule threshold in the ensuing fifth as a leadoff walk and double trotted home on Reece Briggs' eleventh home run to creep within one of Young's team leading twelfth.
Morgan dropped to 10-7 in the circle after her two innings of work with Horsch working the next two frames and Carey slinging the final fifth inning.
Barton put two aboard in the first inning with one out, one left on base in three other frames, but could manage just two hits against the Grizzly staff.
Three-time conference pitcher of the week Allyson Montgomery struck out seven in four innings with LeGrand keeping the Cougars quiet in the fifth as the duo held Barton to just two total hits.