Baseball | 3/22/2025 6:41:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Cloud County Community College baseball team plated eleven runs in the second inning, freshman Joey Marino added a grand slam in the third, and the T-Birds batted through the lineup twice in the first four innings to salvage its Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference series with a 21-4 victory over Barton Community College in the second game of a home doubleheader on Saturday, March 22.

The bounce back win was very satisfying for the T-Birds, who fought hard but came up short in the first game of the doubleheader, 2-1. Late-inning runs helped Barton take the first two games of the series, 6-4 and 7-5, on Thursday, March 20.

Freshman Lucas Laukkanen got the scoring started in game two by launching a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.

The T-Birds broke the game open with an 11-run outburst in the second frame. In all, 15 batters came to the plate and the T-Birds collected seven hits, including five doubles, while sophomore Cam Macleod drilled his sixth home run of the season with a two-run blast to center field. Marino and freshman Kaden Budke scored multiple runs. Budke had a pair of hits in the inning with a stand-up double to left field, followed by a two-RBI single to center field. Sophomore Easton Mould had two doubles in the second, driving in three runs and scoring one. Redshirt freshman Matthew Evans and sophomore Austin Coyle also had run-scoring doubles.

Sophomore Hunter Alvord put the Cougars on the board with a solo homer in the top of the third before Marino blasted a grand slam in the bottom half of the frame, scoring Laukkanen, Coyle and sophomore Nolan Freund to make it 16-1.

The T-Birds erupted for five more runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a one-out two-RBI single to center field by sophomore Eric Bradicich and a two-out RBI single to center by freshman Zach Miller.

The Cloud County offense finished with 17 hits. Marino led the T-Birds with four runs scored and five RBI. Mould went 2-for-3 with one run scored and three RBI. Budke was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Laukannen finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI. Coyle ended up 2-for-5 with three runs scored and one RBI. Sophomore Nolan Freund went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI.

Freshman Cohen Nelson earned the win. Nelson went four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Ben Soke started, going two innings and finishing with one earned run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Though it had plenty of opportunities, Cloud County had a hard time cashing them in, leaving ten runners on base in their 2-1 setback in game one.

Freshman right-hander Cole Linton went the distance in the loss. Linton allowed two earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts.

At the plate, Macleod went 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored. Marino also had two hits with one RBI. Coyle, Evans, Freund and Laukkanen helped out with one hit each.

Cloud County will travel to Arkansas City, Kansas for a single, nine-inning non-conference game against No. 9 Cowley College on Monday, March 24. The Tigers are 19-5 overall, including 11-0 at home this season. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm.