GREAT BEND, Kansas — The Cloud County Community College baseball team, fresh off its series win over Butler Community College last weekend, again showed it is trending upward at the right time as the T-Birds split Friday's doubleheader against No. 18 ranked Barton Community College.

Cloud County (26-28 overall, 11-19 KJCCC West) lost a tight 5-4 contest in Game One, but rebounded to hold on for a 10-9 victory in Game Two. The split, along with four losses by Seward County to Garden City this week, guaranteed the T-Birds a spot in the Region VI playoffs and a sixth-place finish in the KJCCC West standings.

"You want to be playing your best baseball at the end of the year. If one game is more important than the other, it's the ones down the stretch," said Cloud County head coach, Eric Gilliland. "I'd like to think that we're doing that right now."

The T-Birds made the Cougars pay for mistakes in Game Two, capitalizing on five errors in the ballgame. None was bigger than a throwing error by Barton's third baseman in the top of the ninth inning on a bunt by freshman Tucker Catlett as the throw sailed up the line and allowed sophomore Jacob Grady to trot home with the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the ninth, it was Cloud's defense that saved the day as freshman outfielder Ryan Simons made a sliding catch in center field, with Barton runners on second and third, to end the ballgame.

"Simons made multiple plays (Friday). You kind of take for granted a guy that can run around the outfield and make plays in center field," Gilliland said. "He's done it all year long and today was no exception."

It was an exciting end to a game that saw Cloud County jump out to a 6-1 lead following a five-run third inning, fall behind 7-5, and lose a 9-7 lead after Barton scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"Our guys just kept coming and kept coming. Barton is ranked No. 18 in the country for a reason. It is one of the best teams we've seen, but our guys have been scrappy," Gilliland said. "That's what got it done today."

Offensively, Cloud County had 14 hits in Game Two and at least one from all nine starters. Leading the way with two hits were sophomores Kolton Meyer, Jacob Grady and Garrett Graveline, as well as freshmen Trae McDaniel and Matt Bondarchuk.

Bondarchuk was 2-for-5 in Game Two and 3-for-9 on the day, which gave him 77 hits on the season to tie Jared Goedert's single-season record set back in 2004. The Canadian out of Edmonton, Alberta is riding an eight-game hit streak and has already set the record for singles in a season.

He tied Goedert's record in the top of the eighth inning appropriately on a RBI single that, at the time, gave Cloud County an 8-7 lead.

"I can't say enough good things about Matt. He's in pretty good company there with Jared Goedert, one of the best hitters to ever play at Cloud County," Gilliland said. "They are totally different types of players, but 'Bones' brings it every day and is a unique hitter. His speed plays big time. He's my type of guy and I'd take 35 of him."

As for Game One, it was a five-run third inning by Barton — aid by two Cloud County errors — that stopped the T-Birds from a possible sweep of Friday's doubleheader.

Cloud tried to rally from the 5-1 deficit, getting to within a run on an RBI sac fly by Simons in the top of the sixth inning, but couldn't push across the equalizer.

Sophomore pitcher Gabriel Jacobo, coming off a one-hit, complete-game effort in his last start against Butler, was solid again on Friday. The right-hander went six innings, allowed five runs, two earned on five hits and struck out seven.

Cloud County will look to finish the regular season out strong on Monday when it travels back to Great Bend for the final two games of the series with the Cougars. The games were pushed back to Monday due to heavy rains in the forecast for this weekend.

Start times for Monday's regular season finale are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

"We need to keep playing well because you don't want to stub your toe and go in to the playoffs on a negative note," Gilliland said. "Barton is a heck of a team, so we have to come in here on Monday and see if we can play well again."