KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Fifth-seeded Washburn led early but couldn't pull off an upset of No. 1 seed Missouri Southern in the MIAA Quarterfinals on Thursday, May 7, falling 10-7 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
 
Riley Krane doubled off the left center wall on the first pitch of the day, moving to third on a wild pitch during Parker Gibson's at-bat.  Gibson later drove Krane in for the first run of the day on a groundout to shortstop, and the Ichabods grabbed a 2-0 lead when David Gauntt blasted his 15th home run of the season into the Washburn bullpen in left center.
 
MSSU answered with a run of its own in the bottom half, scoring Chris Hoffman from second on an RBI single from Jesse Rall.
 
Tanner Triggs started the second with a bloop single into center, and after a sacrifice bunt from Corey Gragg (which moved Triggs to second), Tanner Johnson singled into left to put runners on the corners with one out.  Payton Soicher pushed the Ichabods' lead back to two (3-1) in the next at-bat, taking the first pitch he saw down the right field line to score Triggs on an RBI double. 
 
Two more runs followed quickly for WU as Krane's single into center scored both Johnson and Soicher, making it 5-1.  Later in the inning with two outs and runners on first and second, heads up baserunning from Krane gave WU another run after Gauntt reached on an error to shortstop, allowing Krane to score from second when the ball was mishandled in the infield.  WU led, 6-1, after the five-run second inning.
 
The Lions cut the deficit to two (6-4) in the bottom of the fourth with three runs, including a solo home run from Rall.  MSSU had the bases loaded with just one out to chase WU starter Maustin Otterstatter from the game, but Tanner Kilmer got a ground ball for an inning ending double play to get out of the jam.
 
Another four runs for MSSU in the sixth gave the Lions an 8-6 advantage, putting the Ichabods in a hole for the first time on the afternoon.
 
Held without a hit for three straight innings, WU broke out of the cold snap in the top of the eighth when Gauntt hit his second home run of the day and brought the Ichabods back within one, 8-7.
 
A bases loaded double for the Lions in the eighth put MSSU ahead three, 10-7, sending WU to bat in the ninth in its last chance.  The Ichabods put two runners on in the ninth but were held off the board in the comeback effort.
 
Maustin Otterstatter started the game on the mound, throwing 3.1 innings with four runs allowed on 10 hits.  Tanner Kilmer (8-4) took the loss, throwing the final 4.2 innings with six runs allowed (three earned) on eight hits.
 
Krane had three hits with two RBI on the day for WU while Gauntt (two home runs, two RBI) and Soicher added two hits.
 
Washburn will take on either No. 2 Emporia State or No. 3 seed Central Missouri in an elimination game on Friday, May 8.  Game time is tentatively set for 10:30 a.m., based on forecasted weather in the area.