TOPEKA, Kan. --- Washburn baseball continued its success at Falley Field on Friday where it picked up its third-straight victory at home, thanks to a 7-4 result against Pittsburg State in the series opener.
 
The Ichabods, which improved to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play, did so in part as result of a five fourth inning after PSU tied the afternoon affair at 2-2.
 
With no outs and bases loaded, Cole Gardner pushed across Kasey Clark for the first WU run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. Gabe Franklin then made it 4-2 as the Gorillas' attempt to catch Bowe Behymer stealing second failed and diverted their attention enough for Franklin to race home from third.
 
The scoring surge continued two batters later as Riley Krane reached on dropped strike three before an errant throw to first allowed him to proceed to second providing Behymer the opportunity to score. Josh Crosby then drove Krane in to make it 6-2. The frame was eventually capped with an RBI double from Brett Nickle to give WU a 7-2 margin.
 
Washburn then cruised behind starting pitcher Nick Silva who went left Pittsburg State hitless during the next three innings en route to collecting the win.
 
A late runs for the Gorillas in the in eighth and ninth innings trimmed the gap to 7-4. PSU had an opportunity to do greater damage to the Ichabod lead in the ninth with bases loaded but were limited to the lone run as Marcus McKinney earned his sixth save of the season.
 
The result allowed Silva to improve to 3-3 on the season as he worked 7.2 innings giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out four and walking one. Drew Johnson accounted for two outs in his relief appearance before making way for McKinney.
 
Behymer was responsible for two of the Ichabods seven hits with the balance coming from five different batters. With three stolen bases on the day Behymer tied a career-high, which he previous accomplished last season on April 23. Gardner finished with two RBI while Abram, Crosby and Nickle each had one.
 
Washburn continues the series with Pittsburg State tomorrow, Saturday, March 18, at 1 p.m.