A complete box score currently not available.MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Washburn Baseball fell to Oklahoma Christian, 7-3, in its opening game of the SAU Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 13.
WU (2-3) struggled at the plate, striking out 13 times as a team while leaving five runners on base and two in scoring position. The Ichabods did muster six hits, including doubles from
Parker Gibson,
Kyle Carnahan and
Riley Krane.
Mike Hefferan (1-1) took the loss, throwing 4.0 innings with four runs allowed and four strikeouts.
Maustin Otterstatter,
Jacob Head,
Greg Mason,
Derrick McGreevy and
Braden Larkey all threw one inning to close the game. All relief pitchers had one strikeout except for Larkey, who had two.
Scoreless through the first three innings, WU fell behind 4-0 after OCU strung together six hits in the fourth before leaving the bases loaded as Hefferan got out of the jam to limit the damage.
WU struck back in its half of the fourth as Krane and Carnahan started the inning with back-to-back doubles before
David Gauntt and
Lance Barkley followed with singles, making it 4-2 quickly. A double steal during
Tanner Triggs' at-bat moved both runners into scoring position, and with one out in the inning,
Kasey Clark reached first after a dropped third strike as Gauntt scampered home to cut the deficit to one (4-3).
OCU added two more runs in the fifth off two hits and a WU error, and a solo home run in the eighth closed the scoring for the Eagles at 7-3. A leadoff double bottom of the eighth allowed WU to threaten after Gibson reached third, but the rally never came to fruition for the Ichabods.
Washburn closes the weekend with two games on Sunday, Feb. 14, taking on Central Oklahoma at 12 p.m., and host Southern Arkansas at 3 p.m., in non-conference matchups.
