PITTSBURG, Kan. – Washburn Baseball rolled to a 13-0 win in seven innings to open its weekend series at Pittsburg State on Saturday, March 19.
WU (11-9, 6-4 MIAA) needed just eight hits as a team for the win, taking advantage of 10 walks and two PSU errors.
Silva (4-0) was once again efficient in his start, throwing four complete innings with three strikeouts. He scattered five hits and did not allow a walk before
Greg Mason entered to begin the fifth inning. Mason finished with a line of two innings pitched, two hits allowed and one strikeout.
Evan Payne pitched the seventh, giving up a run on two hits before exiting with two outs as
Garrett Bryant gave up a walk but closed out the win with a fly ball out.
Wes Jones (three RBI) and
Payton Soicher (two RBI) each had two hits for the Ichabods, as Soicher blasted his third home run of the season and Jones was one of three Ichabods (joining
Zane Mapes and
Bowe Behymer) with doubles in the game.
Washburn jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, taking charge early and never letting up.
Parker Gibson walked, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before an out was recorded, and after
Kyle Carnahan was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and third,
Lance Barkley came through with an RBI single to plate Gibson for the first run of the day. Later in the inning with one out,
David Gauntt was intentionally walked to load the bases, but two at-bats later Jones took a pitch back up the middle to score two more Ichabods,
Kasey Clark (who pinch ran for Carnahan after he was hit) and Barkley. The final run of the inning came as Gauntt stole home.
Soicher's solo shot in the second put WU ahead 5-0, where it stayed until the top of the fifth when the Ichabods tacked on seven more runs to lead, 12-0. Clark and Barkley drew back-to-back walks to open the inning as wild pitches allowed both runners to move into scoring position for
Riley Krane, who drove in Clark with an RBI single and soon took second on a passed ball. Gauntt was once again intentionally walked to load the bases, setting the Ichabods up for success with no outs.
Triggs' walk pushed Barkley home, and a wild pitch during Jones' at-bat helped Krane score before the Ichabods' right fielder reached on a fielding error and Gauntt came home. With runners on the corners, Mapes laced a double into right field for an RBI (scoring Triggs) to make it 10-0. Later in the inning with the bases loaded once more (and one out), Clark reached for the second time in the inning off a fielder's choice that saw Jones and Mapes score thanks to a throwing error.
Behymer doubled to start the seventh and moved to third off a groundout, scoring Washburn's 13th run of the day as Soicher singled through the right side.
WU allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh but kept the double-digit lead intact to close out its first run-rule win of the season. The weekend series continues on Sunday, March 20 at 3 p.m.
