Box Score ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Third-seeded Washburn Baseball was dealt a dose of bad luck of Friday, May 13 in a 12-4 loss to second-seeded Emporia State, falling in the second round of the MIAA Tournament.
Mike Hefferan (7-4) took the loss, allowed five runs in 0.2 innings pitched before Mason entered to close the opening frame, tagged for two runs with one strikeout.
Josh Ramirez went 5.1 innings in relief and kept the Hornets off the board for five full innings, striking out three before leaving in the seventh as
Ryne Dowling entered to finish the inning, not allowing a run.
Braden Larkey threw a scoreless eighth with a strikeouts and
Zach Linquist (two runs, one earned) and
Evan Payne (0.2 innings) combined to throw the ninth.
Parker Gibson (4-for-5) and
Riley Krane (3-for-4) led the Ichabod offense from the top of the lineup, as Krane had an RBI ground-rule double in the game and Gibson picked up an RBI on a single.
Tanner Triggs went 2-for-4 in the designated hitter role.
ESU opened the game on a tear, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning by taking advantage of four hits, two wild pitches and three walks as WU stumbled out of the gate and couldn't recover.
The Ichabod defense and pitching staff locked down over the next five frames, keeping the ESU offense off the board as the Ichabods cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the fifth.
Tanner Triggs started the fifth with a single into center, moving to second on a
Payton Soicher walk with one out.
Cole Gardner reached on a fielder's choice in a pinch-hit situation to put runners on the corners with two outs before
Parker Gibson came through with a single up the middle, scoring Triggs. In the next at-bat, Krane ripped a ball to left center, where it skipped over the fence for a ground-rule double. Gardner scored from third on the play, and Gibson was rounding third as the ball cleared the fence, being called back to the bag after time was called.
Within five (7-2), ESU added three more in the seventh before the Ichabods answered with two in the eighth. Back-to-back singles from Gibson and Krane started the inning and put runners on the corners. Gibson scored on a sacrifice fly down the right field foul line in the next at-bat, and after Gauntt was hit by a pitch, Barkley picked up a sacrifice fly with another deep fly to right, making it a six-run (10-4) game.
ESU scored two more in the top of the ninth, and though Gibson reached safely in the ninth, Washburn couldn't mount a comeback effort.
Washburn will take on seventh-seeded Central Oklahoma in an elimination game on Saturday, May 14. First pitch is set for 9 a.m., with the winner looking to advance to a 12:30 p.m., contest against either top-seeded Central Missouri or fourth-seeded Missouri Western.
