KEARNEY, Neb. – Washburn Baseball opened its weekend series at Nebraska-Kearney with a 10-4 win, using six extra bases and a four-run fifth inning rally to pull away from the Lopers.
WU (16-12, 11-7 MIAA) had 14 hits on the day and five combined strikeouts as a pitching staff while UNK (12-15, 9-9 MIAA) had 10 hits and two errors for the game.
Nick Silva improved to 6-0 on the year after tossing seven full innings in the start, allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Maustin Otterstatter pitched the eighth and gave up one run while
Greg Mason finished the game with a perfect ninth inning.
Kyle Carnahan and
Tanner Triggs both went 4-for-5 on the afternoon, as Carnahan had a double and his sixth home run of the season, while Triggs racked up two doubles and three RBI.
Bowe Behymer (2-for-4) had three RBI on the day with his second career triple.
David Gauntt also went 2-for-4 with home run No. 11 for the year.
Washburn took an early 1-0 lead off Beymer's two-out single in the second, driving in Triggs who reached earlier with a single of his own and took third after a ground out and a single from
Zane Mapes.
The Ichabods extended their lead to 3-0 in the third, as Triggs came through with his own two-out clutch hit, a double down the left field line. Earlier in the inning, Carnahan singled and moved to second when Gauntt reached on a dropped fly ball. Triggs' double drove both Carnahan and Gauntt home.
UNK, however, got all three runs back in its half of the third off four hits, before Washburn broke things open with a four-run fifth inning. Back-to-back infield singles from Carnahan and Gauntt opened the inning before
Lance Barkley moved both runners up 90 feet on a groundout. Triggs then picked up his third and fourth RBI of the day with a single into left center on the first pitch he saw, making it 5-3. From there, Soicher walked and both he and Triggs moved up on Mapes' sacrifice bunt, and Behymer emptied the bases with a triple.
Up 8-4 after the fifth, Carnahan homered to lead off the sixth and pushed the lead to five (9-3), and after UNK scored one in the eighth, Gauntt hit his 36th career home run to open the ninth (and close the scoring for the afternoon).
The series continues on Saturday, April 2 with a 2 p.m., start as WU
