PITTSBURG, Kan. – A six-run third inning and nine extra base efforts carried Washburn towards a 14-11 win over Pittsburg State in its series finale on Monday, March 21.
WU (12-10, 7-5 MIAA) racked up 18 hits in the win and secured its third MIAA series victory of the season. Pitt State (6-15, 1-11 MIAA) used 11 pitchers in the game and had 12 hits.
Jacob Head started and threw 4.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) off eight hits while striking out three.
Josh Ramirez (1-0) earned his first win at Washburn, striking out two and allowing just one hit over 2.1 innings pitched.
Greg Mason threw a perfect eighth with a strikeout and
Ryne Dowling pitched the ninth, giving up five runs but securing the win.
David Gauntt,
Riley Krane,
Kasey Clark and
Cole Gardner all had three-hit performances, while
Tanner Triggs had two hits (both doubles). Gauntt finished 3-for-3 with four RBI, two home runs and two walks to pace the offense while Krane was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Clark (3-for-6) had two doubles and two RBI while
Payton Soicher blasted his third home run in the last five games. Gardner (double) and
Bowe Behymer (triple) had the Ichabods' other extra-base hits.
Washburn took a 1-0 lead in the first, but saw Pitt State strike back with two in the bottom of the inning for a 2-1 lead.
Parker Gibson singled to start the inning, reaching safely to lead off in the third consecutive contest before taking second off a groundout. After Gauntt walked, Krane poked an RBI single to center to plate Gibson.
Down 2-1 headed for the third, Barkley drew a one-out walk and stole second before Gauntt blasted home run No. 6 for the season to give WU back the lead. Krane restarted the rally with a single in the next at-bat and Triggs and Clark strung together back-to-back RBI doubles, pushing WU towards a 5-2 lead. The hit parade continued for the Ichabods after a wild pitch allowed Clark to move to third, as Soicher's two-run home run stretched the lead to five. Later in the inning, Gibson picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Behymer (who reached earlier with a walk and move to third on
Cole Gardner's single).
A solo home run for Pitt State in the third brought the deficit back to five (8-3), but Clark came through with his second RBI double of the day in the fourth to score Gauntt (who singled and stole second earlier) and make it 9-3.
Over the next inning and a half, the Gorillas struck with three more runs to bring the Ichabods lead to three (9-6), but Gauntt hit his second home run of the day to lead off the sixth to stop PSU's rally.
Leading off the seventh, Behymer tripled to right center and on the same play scored on a throwing error for WU's 11th run of the afternoon. After Behymer's run, Gardner doubled to left field and Gibson walked before a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet. Barkley then walked to load the bases and Gauntt earned an RBI after earning a free pass of his own. Krane then drove home Gibson and Barkley with a double to right center, making it 14-6 in Washburn's favor.
Washburn returns home for a busy week, with four games over the next five days. The homestand opens on Tuesday, March 22 at 4 p.m., against Fort Hays State.
