EMPORIA, Kan. – No. 27 Washburn Baseball saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end in a midweek contest at Emporia State on Wednesday, April 27, falling 13-3 in eight innings.
WU (29-14, 24-10 MIAA) had 10 hits in the game, but couldn't slow a Hornet offense that had 16 hits and took advantage of two Ichabod errors. Despite the loss, however, Washburn did clinch the series win with victories in the first two midweek sets between the teams over the previous three weeks.
Maustin Otterstatter (1-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) off six hits and a walk. Otterstatter struck out four before giving way to
Zach Linquist, who entered with no outs in the third and struck out two, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits.
Braden Larkey threw the fifth in shutout fashion, and
Evan Payne tossed the rest of the game with a stat line of six hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
Kyle Carnahan was 3-for-4 and
Riley Krane was 2-for-4 as both Ichabods had a double and an RBI.
Lance Barkley came up with WU's other run batted in, and
Parker Gibson added two hits in the contest.
A two-run home run in the second set WU behind 2-0 early, before the Ichabods were tagged for five more in the third to trail, 7-0. That deficit grew further in the fourth, with four more runs, and Washburn couldn't recover despite scoring three runs late.
With one out in the sixth, Washburn strung together back-to-back doubles from
Riley Krane and Carnahan to get on the board. From there, Barkley came through with a single up the middle to plate Carnahan, making it 11-2.
WU got one more back in the seventh to cut the deficit to eight (11-3). With two outs, Gibson singled up the middle before swiping second and coming around to score on Krane's single through the right side. From there, Carnahan singled and
David Gauntt was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but that was it for the Ichabods in a comeback threat.
The Ichabods return to Falley Field this weekend for a three-game set about Central Oklahoma, beginning Thursday, April 28 after the series shifted due to forecasted weather. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
