WNCC baseball defeats Barton County easily with 5-run first inning

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

GREAT BEND, Kan. - A five-run, first-inning outburst sparked the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team to a 10-4 win over Barton County Community College on Saturday at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend, Kan.

The Cougars, who earned their second win of the season with the decision, led 8-0 through five innings before putting things on cruise control the rest of the way.

"It was a good win for us," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. "It was great to get on top early and really settle in early in the game."

Victor Rubio evened his record at 1-1 by registering the win on the mound. Rubio didn't allow an earned run in six innings of work. He struck out four and scattered four hits. Three other Cougar hurlers tossed an inning each in relief of Rubio. Both Rodil Martinez and Armani Gonzalez struck out two.

"Victor competed well for us," Jones said. "He did walk some guys, but he threw a lot more off-speed pitches and really battled for us out there. We played good defense behind him."

The WNCC offense gave Rubio plenty of run support early. In their five-run first inning, the Cougars received a two-run double by Alex Arias and a two-run single by Scottsbluff High School graduate Trace Marsden.

The Cougars plated one run in the second and two more in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead. WNCC's final two runs came in the eighth and ninth innings. Ronald Miller and Jason Sloan both had run-scoring hits.

WNCC finished the game with 11 hits. Josh Parker, Sloan and Arias all collected two hits each. Elvis Garcia and Aurelio Monteagudo both scored three runs. Arias drove in four runs, while Miller and Marsden both drove in two.

It was the second straight game that WNCC put up double-figure runs. The Cougars scored 20 runs in a win over Pratt Community College earlier this week.

"The offense has been kind of a surprise," Jones said. "I knew we had the potential to be a strong offensive team, but I didn't expect us to be scoring runs like this so early."

WNCC, which has won its last two games, will be back in action against Barton County today. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for noon. Jones said Enrique Gonzalez and Ben Doran will get the starts on the mound today. Gonzalez is 0-1 on the season while Doran earned a no decision in his first start.

The teams will play another doubleheader on Monday before the Cougars return home to host their home opener on Wednesday at Cleveland Field in Scottsbluff against the Colorado State University club team.

WNCC (2-3) 510 200 011 - 10 11 1
Barton County (3-4) 000 001 210 - 4 10 5
WP - Victor Rubio (1-1). LP - Herrera.
3B - J. Hoefler. 2B - Josh Parker, Ronald Miller, Alex Arias.