Box Score JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Washburn won its seventh consecutive game with its second straight run-rule victory, taking down Lincoln, 11-1, in eight innings on Saturday, April 23.
 
WU (28-13, 23-8 MIAA) climbed within two games of first place with the win and is now all alone in second in the MIAA standings after Missouri Western dropped a game against Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
 
Dan Gabler (2-1) had the win after going six innings, striking out four while scattering seven hits and one walk with one run allowed.  Zach Linquist threw the seventh with one walk allowed and Evan Payne finished out the game with a scoreless eighth inning.
 
Kyle Carnahan and Cole Gardner had home runs for the game.  David Gauntt and Bowe Behymer each had two hits while Payton Soicher had a double.
 
Washburn took a 5-0 lead in the second thanks to head-up base running and timely LU errors. Gauntt came home on Lance Barkley's steal attempt at second, and Barkley later scored (along with Behymer) after Behymer stole second and the throw sailed into the outfield.  From there, Soicher doubled after a Mapes single and Gibson reached on a Blue Tiger error.  Riley Krane picked up an RBI and the final run of the second for WU with a sacrifice fly, scoring Mapes.
 
LU got one back in the third, but the Ichabods soon pushed the lead back to five in the fourth.  Behymer singled and swiped second, racing around to score off another Mapes single.  Another Ichabod run was plated in the fifth as Carnahan came home off a sacrifice fly from Barkley, and in the sixth Carnahan blasted his 11th home run of the season to make it 8-1.
 
Later in the inning, a passed ball allowed Gauntt to come home and Triggs' sacrifice fly scored Barkley to push WU's lead to nine (10-1).  After a scoreless bottom half of the seventh, Gardner pinch hit in the eighth and ripped his second home run of the season to put WU in run-rule territory, and the Ichabods held on to end the game early.
 
This weekend's series wraps up on Sunday, April 24 at 12 p.m.  Live stats are not guaranteed for the game, so stay tuned to @wusports on Twitter and www.wusports.com for possible links.