TOPEKA, Kan. – A small-ball approach and clutch pitching helped the Ichabods seal a 3-1 win over Lindenwood in game two of the series on Friday, April 15.
WU (24-13, 19-8 MIAA) had five hits on the day (compared to LWU's six hits) and limited the Lions to just one run and stranded 13 opponents on the evening.
Mike Hefferan (6-2) picked up the win with 5.1 innings pitched, scattering four hits and six walks with one run allowed. Hefferan struck out six before
Jaren Kutzke came in to record a strikeout, and
Greg Mason finished the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh.
Dan Gabler threw the eighth and gave up two hits but didn't allow a run and
Lance Barkley picked up his third save of the week (and sixth of the season) with the ninth.
Tanner Triggs led the team with two hits on the day, while
Payton Soicher (who drew two walks),
Riley Krane and
Zane Mapes each came up with a hit and an RBI.
Scoreless through three, the Ichabods took advantage of three walks and a pair of hits to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth. With one out,
David Gauntt and
Lance Barkley drew back-to-back walks and Triggs ripped a single into right field to load the bases for WU. Later in the inning with two gone,
Payton Soicher fell behind in the count 0-2 before staying patient and drawing an RBI walk. In the next at-bat,
Zane Mapes took a 1-1 pitch into center field to score Barkley.
LWU looked to strike back in the fifth with runners on second and third and just one out, but Hefferan picked up back-to-back swinging strikeouts to get out of the jam. The Lions did, however, get one back in the sixth off a bases loaded walk, cutting it to 2-1.
Small ball in the seventh helped WU get a security run to go up 3-1. After Soicher walked to start the inning, he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a groundout.
Riley Krane then beat out an infield single with a slide into first base, picking up an RBI as Soicher scored.
The weekend series concludes on Saturday, April 16, with a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m., from Falley Field.
