ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Third-seeded Washburn saw its MIAA Baseball Tournament Championship hopes come to an end on Sunday morning, May 15 with a 16-8 loss to top-seed Central Missouri.
 
WU (34-20) finished the tournament as one of the final four teams eligible for the title, and reached championship Sunday after a walk-off win yesterday afternoon, winning two elimination games on Saturday, May 14.
 
Josh Ramirez started the game after appearing in relief earlier in the weekend, throwing 0.2 innings with four runs allowed before Jaren Kutzke entered.  Kutzke threw the next 3.2 frames and allowed just one run, striking out one while scattering four hits and three walks. 
 
Greg Mason (5-3) made his MIAA record 85th career appearance in the fifth inning, tossing 2.2 innings with three runs allowed and three strikeouts.  Lance Barkley started the eighth but was tagged for six runs (five earned), giving way to Ryne Dowling who finished the inning with two runs, two hits and a walk.
 
Riley Krane, Kyle Carnahan, David Gauntt and Lance Barkley all had two hits on the day for Washburn, as Krane had a solo home run.  Bowe Behymer went 1-for-3 on the day with a pair of RBI, adding a triple as well.  Gauntt and Payton Soicher remained tied for the team-lead in walks, both adding two on the day.
 
UCM jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, but Washburn battled back over the next two frames to take a 5-4 lead. 
 
Gauntt started the second with a single up the middle and moved to second on Barkley's one-out single up the middle.  From there, Gauntt dashed home as Behymer reached on a throwing error, and with runners on the corners a wild pitch allowed Barkley to score for the second run of the game.
 
Krane started the third with a solo home run down the right field line to cut the deficit to one (4-3), and Carnahan singled in the next at-bat to continue the rally.  Gauntt drew a full-count walk before both he and Carnahan moved up on Tanner Triggs' sacrifice bunt.  A sacrifice fly from Barkley scored Gauntt in the next plate appearance, and Behymer tallied an RBI of his own with a triple down the right field line as WU grabbed a 5-4 lead.
 
Two innings later, Behymer added another RBI with a ground ball, scoring Gauntt from third after the Ichabod catcher singled and took advantage of a UCM error and heads up base running to reach third with one out. 
 
Up 6-4, Washburn saw its lead cut to one in the fifth on a sacrifice fly, and a two-run double in the sixth put the Ichabods down one, 7-6. UCM tacked on one more in the seventh off another RBI double, but WU kept things close with a run in the eighth. 
 
Barkley singled to left field to start the eighth, took second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a passed ball.  After Payton Soicher drew a walk, a double steal attempt allowed Barkley to come home and draw back within one, 8-7. 
 
UCM put things out of reach in the bottom of the eighth, however, with an eight-spot to lead, 16-7.  Down to its last chance, Washburn loaded the bases with one out and got one back on a fielder's choice RBI from Cole Gardner, but that was it for the Ichabods.
 
Washburn will learn its NCAA Tournament face this evening (Sunday, May 15) with the NCAA Selection Show at 9 p.m.  Links for the show will be on twitter through @wusports, available here or through the link above.