It went just how it was supposed to. A midweek game against a junior varsity to give the Barton Community College baseball team a break from the rigors of conference play. Those are supposed to be easy wins. And it was.

The Cougars scored in every inning as they rolled to a 16-2 win over the Bethany College junior varsity Tuesday at Lawson-Biggs Field. In fact Barton scored at least two runs in every inning. The Cougars held the Swedes scoreless the final five innings of play to improve to 19-19 on the season.

“It was nice to get an easy win and let the kids have some fun,” First-year coach Brent Biggs said.

The break is a quick one as Barton steps back on the mound this weekend for a 4-game series over three days against Hutchinson.

Barton scored the big number without an extra base hit the entire game. The Cougars had 10 singles and drew nine more walks to reach 16 runs. Four Bethany errors aided the process as well.

“We showed patience at the plate,” Coach Biggs said. “We really didn’t drive the ball but we looked for good and pitches and put the ball in play when we got the pitch we wanted.”

Tyler Jennings had a big day for the Cougars offensively going 3-for-3 at the plate along with a walk. The Barton catcher drove in a pair of runs and scored two. Center fielder Trevor Turner also had a productive offensive day going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, two RBI and two runs scored.

Seth Troll reached base four times with a hit and three walks. The right fielder drove in a pair and scored twice.

On the mound Barton allowed just four hits and walked just two. Jayme Lovelace came on in the second inning and threw three scoreless frames for the win. Lovelace did not allow a hit and walked just one for his first win of the season.

Barton will turn its attention back to the Jayhawk West race with the Hutchinson Blue Dragons coming to Lawson-Biggs this weekend. The 4-game series will get underway Friday evening with a 6 p.m. contest. The clubs will play a doubleheader Saturday starting a 2 p.m. then wrap up the series with a 2 p.m. first pitch Sunday.

Hutchinson is in a 3-way lead for the top spot in the West with a 12-8 record. The Blue Dragons are tied with Butler and Dodge City. Garden City is percentage points back but basically tied with those three as well at 14-10.

The Cougars are still within striking distance of the leaders at 10-10 with 12 games remaining.

“There is a lot of baseball left in the conference race,” Coach Biggs said. “If we can put together a couple good series we will be right back near the top. I wish we were in a little better position but we can still make up a lot ground.”