As the College World Series began on Saturday, former Barton Community College baseball catcher Mitch Slauter became the second Cougars player to compete on college baseball’s biggest stage. 

Slauter joins former fellow catcher Jeff Christy to reach Omaha as Christy was the starting catcher for the University of Nebraska during their 2005 appearance. 

Slauter and his unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs beat the No. 3-seeded Oregon State Beavers 5-4 on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the double-elimination CWS.

Hampered by a mid-season injury, Slauter’s action has been limited throughout the latter part of this season. Batting .242 on the season, the senior started 27 of the 36 games he’s played this season with a .986 fielding percentage behind the dish. In Slauter’s junior season he started sixty-two of the Bulldogs' 64 games, batting .232 with a .990 fielding percentage. With his .364 batting average in last year’s Tallahassee Regional, Slauter landed on the region’s all-tourney team and later was named to the Southeast Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Playing in 107 games for the Cougars, Slauter started all but two of those batting .348 with 13 homers. Named the Kansas Jayhawk Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year his sophomore season, Slauter also received second-team all-conference honors his freshman year. The Olathenative and 2011 Barton alum finished his Barton career with a .983 fielding percentage solidifying his place as one of the best backstops in Cougars history.  

The Bulldogs reached the CWS by sweeping Virginia University in two games at the Virginia Super Regional.

Now a volunteer assistant coach for his Huskers, Christy spent five years playing in the professional ranks after being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2006.

Additional information regarding Barton Baseball can be found online at www.BartonSports.com