JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Washburn baseball team dropped the series opener at No. 25 Missouri Southern, 6-5, on Friday afternoon. A seventh inning grand slam hit by the Lions gave them the 6-5 advantage and the home team closed the door in the ninth inning, leaving two Ichabods stranded on base.
Missouri Southern put up the first run of the game in the second inning on a bases loaded walk. Washburn answered with a run of its own in the next half inning.
Mitchell Lady reached first on a fielder's choice bunt and advanced to second on a ground out.
Eric Hinostroza battled at the plate and worked an eight pitch 3-2 count before sending a single through the left side to drive home Lady.
Washburn kept the score knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when the Lions were caught stealing home for the third out of the inning. Washburn starter
Brock Gilliam struck out the side in the fifth inning and got some run support in the sixth with three runs on three hits.
Zion Bowlin led off the frame with a single and
Brett Ingram followed that up with a walk.
Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli sacrifice bunted the runners up one place on the bases. Bowlin and Ingram both scored when
Parker Dunn sent the first pitch to right field for a double. Dunn came around to make it 4-1 on
Kros Bay's single.
A Missouri Southern solo home run in the home half of the sixth cut Washburn's lead to 4-2.
The Ichabods added one more run in the seventh inning. Hinostroza legged out a one-out triple when the Lions started to struggle with control on the mound. Back-to-back hit by pitches loaded the bases and then a passed ball scored Hinostroza to make it 5-2. Missouri Southern hit
Peter Shearer for the third hit batter of the inning to load up the bases with two outs, but a fly ball ended the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, two singles and then a walk juiced the bases for the Lions. The next batter sent a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam as the Lions reclaimed the lead at 6-5.
The Ichabods had one more chance in the ninth inning as they had runners on first and second with two outs, but a strikeout ended the game.
Bay finished the day 2-for-4 with an RBI. Defensively behind the dish, he threw out two runners attempting to steal. Hinostroza also had two hits, going 2-for-5 at the plate, and scored one run and drove in one more. Dunn was a part of three Washburn runs, finishing with two RBI and scoring once.
The Ichabods will play game two against the Lions tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
