Saints Seal Series with Two Wins Over Barton

The Seward County Saints and Barton Cougars finally wrapped up their four game series on Thursday at Brent Gould Field in Liberal after a six day wait to get in their final two games of the set.  In game three of the series, game one of the double header Thursday, Pete Macke pitched brilliantly for the Saints, holding Barton without a hit for the first five innings of the game to keep the Cougars in check.  But, it took a walk off hit by Jake Fuller to seal the win for the Saints as his single gave Seward a 3-2 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the series.   In the series finale, a six run 4^th for Seward was the difference as the Saints sent 12 hitters to the plate in the inning to take the lead and they never relinquished it, going on to win 9-5 to win the series 3-1. 

Pete Macke took the hill for the Saints in game three of the series and he was sharp early on.  The sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska fanned four Barton hitters through the first two innings, but the Saints offense couldn't get anything going either as it remained a scoreless game to the 3^rd. 

Macke remained locked in in the 3^rd, retiring the side on just 10 pitches and this time the Seward offense did throw their lefty a bone.  After a one out double from Mason Marshall, Brandon Uriquizo came through with a big two out single to score Marshall to put the Saints on the board, up 1-0. 

Barton had their first scoring chance in the 5^th as Macke hit the leadoff man and a Seward error put two on with nobody out.  After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet, Macke came up with a huge strikeout followed by a fly out to get out of the mess and keep the Saints up 1-0. 

Jake Fuller led off with a single for Seward to start their half of the 5^th and with two outs in the inning Alex White came through with a single to drive him home to make it 2-0 guys in green. 

Barton broke up Macke's no-hit bid in the 6^th, getting a leadoff double and then broke up his shutout chance with a two out RBI single to score a run to cut the Saints lead to 2-1. 

Seward closer Thomas Garland came in from the bullpen for the Saints in the 7^th and had a chance to nail things down despite a walk and a hit batter, but another two out Cougar single brought home a run to tie the game at 2 after 6 ½. 

Connor Smith led off for Seward in the 7^th with a  walk and he was replaced on the bases by Reed Thompson who then moved to second on a wild pitch.  Two pitches later, Fuller was the man on the spot and flipped a single to right field to score Thompson from second and the Saints were walk off winners with a 3-2 victory. 

There were just 8 hits in the game, 5 for Seward and 3 for Barton.  Fuller was the only Saint to finish with more than 1 hit in the win as he was 2 for 3, driving in a run and scoring a run for Seward.  Macke was solid for Seward on the mound, going 6 innings and allowing just 2 hits and 1 run while striking out a career high 9 in a no decision.  Garland earned the win in relief, giving up 1 run and 1 hit in 1 inning of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/BARTON GAME THREE BOX SCORE

The scoring took significantly less time to get going in the final game of the series as Barton took a quick 1-0 lead after a 1^st inning single and double to hold their first lead of the day. 

The Saints got even in the bottom of the 2^nd as after two quick outs, Thompson singled to start things and after a throwing error on the Barton pitched he moved to third, just 90 feet from tying things up.  On a 1-2 pitch, Seward third baseman Brandon Rix came through with a single to dive Thompson home to tie the game at 1-1. 

It was zeroes for both sides in the 3^rd, but Barton used some two out magic of their own in the top of the 4^th, getting a double followed by a home run to take a 3-1 lead. 

Seward responded in a big way in the bottom half of the inning, getting a leadoff double from Kevin Connolly and a bean ball to Rix to put two on with one out.  Uriquizo then singled to score Connolly as Barton went to their bullpen and after a fly out, Fuller came through again with a single to bring Rix home to tie the game at 3.  Seward's hit parade continued as Bryson Allen got into the act with a 2 RBI single to put the Saints on top 5-3 and he scored later in the inning as Jordan Leinweber ripped a single to make it 6-3.  After another hit batter, Brent Williams drew a walk for Seward to force a run home and when all was said and done in the inning the Saints led it 7-3. 

The offensive support settled down Saints starter Austin King who breezed through the 5^th and 6^th innings for Seward to keep them in front 7-3. 

The Saints added two more runs in the bottom of the 6^th as Leinweber doubled to score Allen who singled to lead off the inning and another double later in the frame off the bat of Thompson scored Leinweber to extend Seward's lead to 9-3. 

King worked into the 7^th before being replaced by reliever Adam Guay who was rudely greeted into the game with a double by the Cougars to get them back to within five, 9-4. 

Barton made some noise in the top of the 9^th, scoring a run on a two out single and bringing the tying run to the on deck circle, but Guay picked up a strikeout to work his way out of the trouble and to seal the Saints 9-5 win to take the series. 

After just 8 hits in game three of the series, there were 24 in this one.  The Saints finished with 13 knocks while Barton had 11.  Eight of the nine Seward starters had hits in the win including Allen, Leinweber, and Thompson who each had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the Saints.  King earned the win, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing 8 hits and 4 runs while striking out 8 and not walking a batter in his first outing since suffering a broken jaw earlier in the year.  King has now struck out 27 opposing batters without walking a single hitter on the year.  Guay pitched well in relief for Seward, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run in 2 1/3 innings of relief work.  He struck out 4 and didn't allow a free pass. 

SEWARD COUNTY/BARTON GAME FOUR BOX SCORE

Seward improves to 12-8 with the wins and opens the Jayhawk West slate at 3-1 while Barton falls to 7-7-1 overall and opens conference action at 1-3.  With the Saints taking the series, it marks the fifth straight year without a win in the series for Barton. 

The Saints hit the field once again in a quick turnaround on Sunday and Monday as they travel to Cavalier Field in Dodge City to take on the Conquistadors in another Jayhawk West four game set.