Grizzlies Battle but Drop Saturday Doubleheader to Barton
EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Grizzlies fell to the Barton Cougars in a sweep on Saturday from McDonald Stadium as Barton takes the series 3-1.
EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Grizzlies fell to the Barton Cougars in a sweep on Saturday from McDonald Stadium as Barton takes the series 3-1.
Game 1 — Barton 8, Butler 6 (7 inn.)
Barton struck first and held off a late Grizzly push to take the opener 8–6. After two scoreless innings, the Cougars broke through in the third when JJ Spafford led off with a single and scored on Rhett Winchester's sacrifice fly. Kyler Horsman followed with an RBI single to make it 2–0.
Barton rebuilt its lead in the fifth. A leadoff walk and a single set the table for Carter Helm, who drilled a two‑run homer to left to push the margin to 4–0. The Cougars added another home run, this time from Hayden Oviatt, extending the lead to 5–0.
In the top of the 6th, Kyle Walker hit an RBI double to left field, and Walker later scored after Horsman's RBI single to push the advantage to 7-0.
The Grizzlies finally got the bats going in the bottom half of the 6th after Yusei Uzawa doubled to right center, scoring three runs. Uzawa scored after Logan Hicks RBI single through the left side to cut the deficit to 7-4.
Barton added one more run in the top half of the 7th, scoring on a wild pitch. In the bottom half of the 7th, Tanay Vyas homered to right field, scoring Blake Rogers to trim the deficit to 8-6, but ultimately falling to Barton in seven innings.
Despite the loss, the Grizzlies outhit Barton 7-6.
Whitley Rhodes (L, 3-3) started on the mound for the Grizzlies but suffered the loss. Rhodes threw 4.2 innings and allowed four hits, four earned runs, but had a stellar eight strikeouts.
Game 2 — Barton 16, Butler 4 (7 inn.)
The nightcap belonged entirely to Barton, whose offense erupted for 16 runs on 13 hits, including multiple extra‑base blows that put the game out of reach early.
The Cougars scored in each of the first six innings, jumping ahead 3–0 in the first on back-to-back home runs. They broke the game open with a six‑run second inning highlighted by Rhett Winchester's three‑run homer and another home run from Carter Helm, pushing the lead to 9–1.
In the bottom of the third, Jackson Ellison homered to right center, scoring three runs to cut into the deficit 11-4. Barton would eventually score five runs unanswered, ending the contest in seven innings.
The Grizzlies amassed just seven hits to Barton's 13, and suffered mightily defensively, committing five errors in the loss.
Next up: The Grizzlies will host Neosho on Tuesday from McDonald Stadium at 12 p.m. for a single nine-inning non-conference contest.