DODGE CITY, Kan. – The wheels would come off for the Dodge City Community College baseball team in a 14-0 six-inning loss to Garden City Community College before scoring five runs in the final three innings of game two to snag an 8-7 victory and split a Sunday doubleheader at Cavalier Field on Sunday, April 2nd.

DC3 takes three of the four games in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference series to improve to 22-9-1 overall and 11-4 in the KJCCC while the Broncbusters now sit at 23-17 overall and 11-8 in the Jayhawk Conference. At 11-4 in the KJCCC, DC3 is now tied for first in the KJCCC West with Hutchinson with the Blue Dragons heading into the final two games of their four-game series with Barton Community College tomorrow afternoon.

Offensive struggles would be the story of game one for the Conquistadors, who would be limited to just four hits on the day by GCCC starting pitcher Ryder Yakel. The Broncbusters would waste no time getting on the board, taking advantage of a one-out solo home run in the top of the first to put DC3 in an early hole. Dodge City would appear to have things going in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single by Cade Engle, but would be picked off to end his time on the base paths. A Brayden Cook single followed by a Talon Schaller two-out single would put runners on first and second for Dauson Tate and a chance to tie the game, but a strikeout would end the inning and the threat. Garden City would get a leadoff walk to start the second inning before a fouled bunt with two strikes would set up an inning ending double play on a line drive to the Conquistador pitcher Joe Buckendorff. The next nine batters would be set down in order to send things to the top of the fourth with the game still at 1-0 in favor of Garden City as the Broncbusters would put two runners on with one out and threatening to break the game open. Buckendorff would once again avert any damage by getting a strikeout and fielder's choice to end the inning. Schaller would pick up his second hit of the day with a one out single to left center field and put the game-tying runner aboard, but it would be of little use as Yakel would end the inning with a strikeout and popout to the second baseman.

The game would begin to unravel for Dodge City in the top of the fifth, as a leadoff walk would put a runner aboard before a pair of one-out hits would double the GCCC lead to 2-0 and runners on second and third. Garden City would continue their offensive output with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 4-0 and knock Buckendorff out of the game. DC3 would get out of the inning without any more issues and a chance to cut into the Broncbuster lead. A 1-2-3 inning by Dodge City would take the momentum out of the Conquistadors as Garden City would put an end to things with a nine-run sixth inning and end the game via run rule.

Buckendorff tossed four and a third innings while giving up five runs on eight hits and struck out two while Jeremy Hidalog threw 1.1 innings and struck out three while giving up seven runs on three hits. Eric Lindsay earned the final defensive out with a strikeout while facing three batters. Schaller would go two-for-two at the plate while Engle and Cook had the other DC3 hits in the game.

It wouldn't take long for the Conquistadors to get on the board as a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first would allow for a leadoff walk for Engle to bring Dauson Tate up and clear the bags with a two-run blast to left field. Garden City would be set down in order in the second as DC3 would do a majority of their damage with two outs. A one-out single by Isaak Snyder would see the freshman designated hitter steal second with two outs before moving to third on an Engle single. Cook would then drive in Snyder with an RBI single to right field and make the score 3-0 with starting pitcher Cole Brandon moving through the GCCC lineup. The Broncbusters would break through with six hits in the top of the third with five of the hits coming with two outs to plate four runs and take their first lead of the game. Dodge City would be set down in order in the third inning to send things to the fourth where Garden City would follow suit.

The bottom of the fourth would see Dodge City retired in order for the second consecutive inning as the Conquistadors would be unable to cut into the Broncbuster lead to send things to the fifth where each team would strand a single hit to keep things at 4-3 in favor of GCCC. A one-out hit-by-pitch would put a runner on for Garden City before a double would bring around the runner to score and double up the Broncbuster lead to 5-3. The two-run lead would be short-lived however as Snyder would draw a two-out walk in the bottom of the frame which allowed for Cole Bergdall to tie the game on a line-drive home run just inside the left field foul pole for his second home run of the year. Brandon would make quick work of the Broncbusters in the top of the seventh, working around a two-out single which allowed for DC3 to carry over the sixth inning momentum to put two runners on with one out. Following a strikeout by Jon Coss, Jake Pederson would deliver with an RBI single to right field before Robert Perea would take his turn to hit a two-out RBI single and give DC3 a 7-5 lead and put Brandon in line for the win. Closer Dalton Harvey would put down the Broncbusters in order in the eighth as Dodge City would add an insurance run to push the lead to 8-5 heading to the ninth and three outs away from taking the series three games to one.

Garden City would make things interesting in the top of the ninth by starting off the inning with back-to-back singles to put the tying run at the plate with no outs before a sacrifice bunt and strike out would put runners on second and third with two outs. Alex Nielsen would drive in both runs on a single to right field to cut the lead to 8-7 before trying to advance to second on the throw home where Perea would send a strike down to Bergdall covering second to throw out Nielsen and end the game.

Brandon improved to 4-1 on the year with the win, striking out eight batters and issuing just one walk while giving up five runs on nine hits. Harvey picked up his ninth save of the year and third on the weekend while striking out two in two innings of work. Cook and Tate each collected two hits in the game with Tate driving in three runs while Bergdall drove in two runs while scoring two runs. Snyder's stolen base was only DC3's sixth swiped bag of the year while Schaller hit his eighth double of the season.

Dodge City will conclude their home and home series with Lamar Community College on Wednesday, April 5th with a 3 p.m. home game at Cavalier Field. Earlier this year, the Lopes took a 14-4 decision in Lamar.